On the Road to Sabrina Lake

Hi Blog!

On Saturday, May 6, 2017, we moved north from Lone Pine to Bishop. It only took us about an hour to make the move. The views were amazing. We had the Eastern Sierra Mountains on our left and the Inyo and White Mountain on our right. As soon as we arrived in camp, we began making plans on how we were going to spend the next three days. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had plans of her own. A huge storm system with high winds had chased us all the way up the Owens Valley. With it came the first rain we had seen in weeks.

We awoke Sunday morning to misty rain in the campground and could see more snow in the higher elevations. According to the Weather Channel, there would be a brief break in the storm front and we would have a few hours to explore before more rain (and snow) blew in.

Last week, we had talked with a park ranger about our trip to Bishop and he suggested a possible snowshoe adventure around Sabrina Lake. When we stopped at the Bishop Visitor Center to pick up more detailed local maps, we were informed that the road to Sabrina Lake was closed about two miles before the lake. We were bummed, but decided to make the trip up the road anyway. Perhaps we would be able to snowshoe in and at least see the lake. The higher we drove, the clearer the sky became.

The road to Sabrina Lake follows the Bishop Creek drainage. This area saw several battles between Paiutes and white settlers in the Owens Valley Indian War between 1861 and 1866. Today, the valley is part of the Inyo National Forest and is home to The Bishop Creek Hydrolectric System.

There are five sets of independent, high-head-impulse water wheel, electrical power-generating sub-systems established at various elevations along the north, middle and south forks of Bishop Creek. Five powerhouses, one control station, two gauging stations, ten flowlines, ten intakes, seven penstocks, four diversions, four resevoirs, four dams, worker housing and other associated support buildings make up the system structures. Lake Sabrina is highest resevoir at 9,138 feet! Here is a photo of one of the early wooden flowlines.

As we approached the small hamlet of Aspendell, we kept our eye out for the closed gate. But to our surprise, the gate was open and the road plowed! We continued right on up to the lake. With several feet of ice still on the lake, there would be no kayaking today!

Local residents pronounce the lake "Sah-BRY-nuh." However, the lake was originally named after Mrs. Sabrina (pronounced: suh-BREE-nuh) Hobbs, wife of C.M. Hobbs first General Manager of California Nevada Power Company which built the dam. The reason for the lake's name pronunciation changing over the years is unclear.

Lake Sabrina was created by damming the middle fork of Bishop Creek. The dam was built in 1907-8 to supply a constant flow of water to the hydraulic power plants. Right now, the lake levels are low, but, once all that snow melts, the basin will fill up.

As we walked out across the dam to get a better look at the lake, we were greeted with strong winds and a wind chill factor of 24 degrees! We noticed the boat house cafe was open for business.

We decided to stop in and warm up. After ordering coffee and hot chocolate, we chatted with the proprietors, Rick and Patti, of the Lake Sabrina Boat Landing. They just opened up the cafe last week in anticipation of opening day of trout season. Last Saturday the lake was covered with ice fishers.

With the weather closing back in, we decided to forego the snowshoe and head back downhill. We made a few scenic stops along the way. This is the view up Bishop Creek.

Here is the view looking down Bishop Creek.

We got blasted pretty good on the way down. We got hit with big wet snowflakes, ice pellets, sleet and freezing rain before coming out of the clouds in the high desert. On the road to Sabrina, we passed the cutoff for Buttermilk Boulders. Since we had some extra time, we decided to take the Buttermilk Road and see what we could see.

We thought the name, "Buttermilk," came from the sandy soil that reminded folks of buttermilk. Turns out there used to be a dairy farm up the valley. The Buttermilk Road no longer carries dairy trucks from “Old Joe” Inman’s Dairy along its rough and rocky track that, according to local legend, could bounce and churn fresh milk into buttermilk on its way into Bishop. Now that the dairy has long since disappeared and workers from an all but forgotten sawmill no longer get cold cups of buttermilk on hot summer days from “Old Joe,” the landscape looks as pristine as it did to the early travelers of the mid 19th century.

A different type of traveler now frequents the Buttermilks, where the road is still rough and the tracks leading from it are rougher still. In this hilly terrain and vast expanse of high desert, studded with magnificent boulders, recreation opportunities abound. Dusty is ready for any adventure!

If the weather had been better, we would have loved to climb all over these boulders, but the chilly mist drove us back into the Jeep.

We bumped and bounced our way to Longley Meadow before turning around and heading back to camp. The rain was getting heavier. The clouds had settled in over the valley. Time for some nice warm soup!

Tomorrow, we hope to explore Rock Creek Canyon and the Little Lakes Valley. Stay tuned.