do top of the morning to you from the eastern sierra yes i'm still in the eastern sierra i
have decided to take a different approach this year going into my third year of the nomadic life
and stay in each spot a little bit longer and especially if it's a spot that i love
uh it's easier on me it's easier on wear and tear on the truck and it just makes for a more
enjoyable experience and i get to see a lot more of the areas that i'm in and have it at least feel
like home for a bit having said that i've not been here the entire time since i checked in
with you last i did go home i went back down to southern california to attend my nephew's
graduation party visit with family and i spent a few days down there it was really nice i got to
hang out with my little new baby nephew and it was absolutely wonderful on the drive back here
uh unfortunately i had some excitement uh my steering seized up on my truck and my brakes were
not working properly i pulled over to the side of the road right off of highway 395 looked under the
hood and my serpentine belt had broke here's a little bit of how that went down good morning
i wish i could say it was a good morning however it isn't i am broken down on the side of the road
highway 395. north i was headed back up to the sierra after visiting family and attending some
family events and something went wrong with my car my steering felt really funky it kind of locked
up and i pulled over looked under the hood and my main serpentine belt has snapped so i'm currently
waiting for a tow truck to tell me to ridge crest california luckily i'm only about six and a half
miles away from ridgecrest and uh unfortunately they're telling me that the garage of triple a
has suggested that i'm in tow too it's very busy and it could potentially be a couple weeks out
temperatures have been record-breaking here in the hundreds i actually left at
about 3 30 this morning to try to beat the heat but now i'm stuck on the side of the road
and it's starting to get hot as i've said before life is not always peaches and cream out here
i will keep you posted after the tow truck arrives and i talk to the garage
i will know more after that how the next few days will unfold i keep you posted there's my tow truck
stephen my tow truck driver
got me uh all hooked up we've taken out the slack so that was when i put it in neutral
it doesn't roll backwards awesome you brought the big guns out so we don't have any issues
i want to thank stephen for as kind upbeat and positive
we're going to get you taken care of attitude it went a long way in alleviating my stress levels
well my truck will be done today but it's going to take all day so i'll be here
at the repair garage for a while both the towing company and the mechanic initially told me that
repairs were at least two to three weeks out they were so swamped i was thinking that i was
probably gonna have to leave my rig there and have a family member come get me from southern
california and just go back and hang out there for a couple of weeks but after the owner over at
rusty warren's automotive looked under the hood he saw that it wasn't too big of a deal and he
assured me that they could get it done that day i did however have to stay there the entire day
but i'm very lucky i consider myself extremely fortunate that not only did i break down close to
ridgecrest i was only about six miles away from ridgecrest which is a pretty big town but also
that i was able you know to get in there that they were so kind and squeezed me in and got me back on
the road as soon as possible it did mean however that i missed my entry date for a backpacking trip
i was supposed to start a backpacking trip uh later on that afternoon i left town very early
home very early at 3 a.m in the morning to try to make this backpacking trip and unfortunately
i didn't do it but i have some other adventures planned and it's still going to be awesome and
i'm going to try for another permit before i leave the area there is already a wildfire unfortunately
in the sierra it was caused by lightning and it's down in the mount whitney area the lone pine area
it's alabama hills fire they did shut down the mount whitney portal so that people who had
intended to some at mount whitney weren't able to go there was evacuations and i did see that
passing through on my way back up here fire season has started unfortunately i hope that uh they
get that under control and that there aren't many others starting anytime soon i won't be
having any big breakfast today because i do need groceries so it's just going to be a cliff bar
and i am going to go back into town and do some of the similar chores that i showed you
in the last video so i'll spare you that and then i think there are supposed to be
some thunderstorms today so i believe tomorrow is the day that i'll go out and venture and i'd like
to explore an area of the sierra that i haven't visited since 2018. so that is the plan as of now
anyhow i'm going to go ahead and get the day going i have to get camp finish being set up
i just rolled in you know late yesterday so i'll do that and then i'll head on into town
do
i'm hungry it's lunch time and i think i'm to stop at my
favorite mexican food place in mammoth and that is roberta's
you should never shop for groceries on an empty stomach so i'm making sure that doesn't happen
roberto's never disappoints my taco was
amazing
good morning i am picking up with you the next day after town i just came back to camp and
got some work done had a wonderful night's sleep it's so quiet and peaceful out here
i just love it today the plan is to head north and check out some of the beautiful scenery
and lakes around the bridgeport area it's been quite a long time since i've explored that area
and i think it's about time it's about due so that is what we're going to do and yeah let's get going
so
what a stunning drive up the wildflowers are going
off especially the lupine it was just covering the hillsides absolutely gorgeous
this is the virginia lakes area of the sierra it is about 15 miles south of the town of bridgeport
as you can see it's beautiful it's a little less crowded up here i actually had intended on doing
the rainbow falls devil's post pile hike today but after seeing how crowded town
was i decided to go somewhere a little less populated we will do some hiking around here
before moving on there's several stops that i'd like to make today
it smells amazing in here the pines smell awesome
that was so beautiful there are several alpine lakes if you keep continuing up the trail
which i highly recommend checking out if you have the time
it's a beautiful place to backpack as well right now i am going to head to the town of
bridgeport
inquiring minds want to know do you prefer the woods and the forest or do
you prefer above tree line in the alpine area let me know in the comments below
bridgeport sits at an elevation of 6463 feet it is in the middle of bridgeport valley
bridgeport is located at the intersection of u.s route 395 and state route 182.
the first post office opened at bridgeport in 1864.
i made the executive decision to have a soft-serve cone for lunch
bridgeport is a super cute town with lots of history and an amazing soft-serve cone
i'm heading off to twin lakes which is right outside of bridgeport it's a couple of alpine
lakes and i've never been there so this will be my first time and i'm excited to check it out
although it is drop dead gorgeous up here it's also super busy lots of people
it's pretty easy access and i guess these lakes are known for really good fishing so
pretty popular but absolutely beautiful
there's one more lake i want to check out before heading back to camp and that is lundy
lake
the day started out without a cloud in the sky and now the thunder clouds are rolling in and this
trip began with me breaking down on highway 395 but look how it unfolded it wasn't the trip that i
intended to bring to you the backpacking trip but that is called making lemonade out of lemons with
that beautiful scenery who could be mad nature makes everything better i will tell you that much
thank you so much for joining me on this adventure i always appreciate you
guys watching and coming along and i will see you on the next one see you soon bye
you