The Long Way to Las Vegas - In Search of Wild Mustangs

Bishop to Fallon, Nevada

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Today we are going in search of wild mustangs, but we had a couple of errands to do before we hit the road.  First off, we headed for the famous Erick Schat’s Bakery to pick up some sandwiches for our lunch today.  Next, we stopped by the Bishop Visitor’s Center to see if they had any information on the best spots to find the wild mustangs.  The lady was very helpful, but she didn’t have any current information, but suggested we drive east from Bishop on US6 to the town of Benton and then take CA120 back towards Mono Lake and Highway 395.

Our route for the day as we take a roundabout way to get to Fallon, Nevada.

We took her advice and started towards Benton.  When we left Bishop, the weather was a bit brisk but fairly nice, but as we headed east, we could see dark clouds and rain ahead.  It was a beautiful drive out on Hwy 6 through a valley of ranchland surrounded by snowcapped mountains.  The weather got colder, and the temperature dropped into the 40’s and we started getting a few drops of rain.

The drive east out of Bishop to Benton was a remote area of ranchland and mountains.

After driving through the small town of Benton, we got on 120 and headed west.  It was a beautiful drive and about thirty miles west of Benton we found Dobie Meadows Road, a dirt road that Val had read was a great area to find the wild mustangs.

We knew we were getting close when we saw the sign warning us of horses on the road.

The turnoff for Dobie Meadows Road.

Doobie Meadows Road was a little rough, but not too bad.  We saw a dark spot off in the distance and realized it was a wild mustang.  We took a lot of pictures, but we were so far away, they really weren’t very good.  We drove on further north taking some dirt tracks along the way, but no luck finding anymore horses, so after a while we gave up and headed back.  We did see two more horses, but like the first one, they were so far away the pictures we took were not very good. 

The start of Dobie Meadows Road.  If we would have noticed the sign, our day would have turned out different - it says "Motorized vehicles use allowed on designated routes only".  Next time we'll know better.

That little dark spot just below the hill in the center of the picture is our first mustang sighting.

We saw two more wild horses off in the distant, but even a long telephoto lens didn't bring them very close.

We were pretty far in and the road started to head up into the hills, so we decided it was time to give up and head back.

As we got back to Highway 120 we noticed another 4Runner coming up behind us so Val waited as she wanted to ask the driver if he had seen any horses.  He told us there was a herd of about a hundred a little east of where we were and started telling us how to find them, but at one point he said, “why don’t I just lead you there”, what a nice guy.

We were about to turn back onto Highway 120 when Val noticed another 4Runner coming up behind us.  Val waited to talked to him and that completely changed our day.

We followed him back on Dobie Meadows Road the same way we had been in but then turned off on a small track we hadn’t even noticed.  After driving a little further we could see the herd, and then to our surprise he led us off the road and overland leading us across a small stream and through the brush.  He led us right up into the herd, but our presence didn’t seem to bother the horses at all.  We did have to be careful though, as these were wild horses and they could turn aggressive if provoked.

Our new friend checked to make sure we could find our way back and we said it wouldn’t be a problem, so he left us and started back.  Once again, I have to say, what a nice guy to go to all the trouble of leading us out there. 

This could have been a great photo, but unfortunately when shooting wildlife you can't predict what's going to happen, so you just quickly try to get the picture and sometimes, as is the case here, the camera doesn't lock in focus and you have a blurred photo, like this one.  I've included it because these two horses weren't done here.

There is definitely a power struggle going on here and the brown horse is not giving up.

These wild horses have a tough life, you can see the ribs on this one.  All of the horses looked pretty rough, and they were losing there winter coat.

We spent a long time viewing and photographing the herd, but finally it was time for us to head back.  There were a lot of colts that were probably only 3 or 4 weeks old and when we got back to the car, we found a mother and her colt close to the car.  The mother ignored us, but the colt just kept staring and edging closer, he (or she) was very curious.  When the mother thought he was getting too close, she would walk over and nudge him back, but soon he was coming over again.

This colt was only three or four weeks old and it was very, very curious about our vehicle, just stared and stared.

Every time it started walking closer the mother would nudge it away.  When we got back in the car, they both came over and sniffed around it.

After we both got back in the car both the colt and the mother came right up to the car and started sniffing around, I’m not sure what they thought they were finding, but it was interesting to watch.

Getting back wasn’t as easy as we thought, because we were just going overland, there was no road.  Luckily, I had my GPS in breadcrumb mode, and we were able to return the way we had come.  Our only problem was finding the stream crossing as our new friend had warned us there were some really soft, muddy spots that even 4-wheel drive wouldn’t help you get through.  We finally found the spot and crossed the stream and found the dirt track we had come in on.

As we drove back toward Dobie Meadows Road, we were surprised to find the herd we had been watching had drifted west and were blocking the road.  Another car was coming from the other direction and was on the other side of the herd.  We took some more pictures and edged our way forward.  The horse didn’t seem to mind our presence and as we got closer to them, they just took a step or two off the road and continued their grazing.

We felt sorry for this old horse, it was standing off by itself and looked like it had led a pretty hard life and was covered with scars.

We finally made our way back to Highway 120 and continued our drive west to 395.  After being initially disappointed and thought we wouldn't find the horses, we had a great time and exceeded our expectations.  On the way out, we talked a bit with the people in the car we passed, and they said they come out here pretty often and it was very rare to see so many of the wild mustangs that we were seeing today.  We felt very lucky.

The dashed line is a representation where the wild horses were, but is not the actual route.

 

We have a SPOT Satellite Messenger for emergencies when we are in remote areas where there is no cell phone service, and you can also use it to track your route.  It only take a position reading every five minutes, but this is our actual positions where we were looking for the wild mustangs.  The dots to the left that are spaced pretty far apart is the first part of our search and the tighter groupings in the middle are where we actually found the herd.  Mono Mills Road is Highway 120, the paved, main road through the area.

Meanwhile the weather had deteriorated, and the temperature dropped into the thirties, and it actually started to snow lightly.  As we gained altitude, the snow became heavier and actually started to stick to the ground.  We had originally planned to stop at Mono Lake and have our lunch, but it was much too cold and wet, so we decided to save our lunch for tomorrow and find a place to eat in Lee Vining.

The weather got worse as we got back on 120 and headed west to Lee Vining.

We started getting into some light snow flurries.

Mono Lake

Blue sky at the western end of Mono Lake, but that didn't last as it started snowing again while we ate lunch in Lee Vining.

While we were eating it started snowing again and we were glad to be warm and dry inside.  Our destination for tonight is Fallon, Nevada and we had a two-hour drive ahead of us so we hit the road again.  We headed east on Highway 167 on the north side of Mono Lake until we got into Nevada where we headed north to Fallon on US 95.  There was no more snow, but we did have some rain, but otherwise it was an uneventful drive.  We got into Fallon around five, tired but happy.

Our search for wild mustangs had exceeded even our most hopeful expectations, it had been a great day.  Tomorrow we’ll be looking for ghost towns in Central Nevada, hopefully the weather will improve.

The Long Way to Las Vegas - Eastern Sierras

Tehachapi to Bishop, CA

Monday, May 12, 2025

After a quick breakfast we were on the road by nine as we headed over the Tehachapi’s and around the eastern end of the Sierras to US 395.  It was a nice drive up 395, but we saw there was quite a bit of construction ahead, so we decided to bypass it.

At the small town of Olanche, we turned east off 395 onto CA190 that is the back way into Death Valley.  It is a 4-wheel drive road into Death Valley, but the section we were on was all paved.  I have always wanted to take it all the way into Death Valley but today wouldn’t be that day.

Our side trip around Owens Lake and the town of Keeler.  Owens Lake is blue on the map, but is a dry lake.

(A note about the photos:  Once again on this road trip, I had my GoPro on top of the 4Runner taking videos as we drove.  Many of the pictures in this blog are frames taken from those videos which means they are often not very sharp and they are out in the elements so the lens can be dirty or wet at times.)

Before 190 turned towards Death Valley we turned north on CA136 that would take us back to 395 in Lone Pine.  These two highways and 395 form a triangle around Owens Lake, which has been a dry lake since the early 1900’s when the city of Los Angeles diverted most of the water from the Owens River into an aqueduct and that spelled doom for Owens Lake.  In recent years some water has been allowed back into the lake, but it is still mostly dry.  It is also very dusty and with the wind blowing today, we went through quite a bit of dust. 

The dry Owens Lake is off to the right.

It was quite windy and a lot of dust was blowing off the lake bed.

Turning right takes you the back way into Death Valley, but today we'll turn left towards Lone Pine.

We did have one interesting side trip into the very small town (population 50) of Keeler that sits on the shore of Owens Lake.  Here is a link with pictures of Keeler in its heyday.  It is mostly run down with some areas looking more like junkyards than a town, but we found it interesting, and it looks like its inhabitants like it just the way it is.  There is even a “beach club” which shows they do have a sense of humor. 

Entering Keeler

To the right is the sign for the Keeler Beach Club.  This once was a real thing, but now it's more of a joke.

This is a much clearer picture of the Keeler Beach Club sign.  This picture was taken by Rachael Blaser.

The Keeler "Beach Club"

Keeler does have a volunteer fire department just past this dilapidated trailer.

Back to 136

Back to 395 and Lone Pine.  The Interagency Visitor’s Center is on the right.

When we reached Lone Pine, we stopped at the Interagency Visitor’s Center to see if we could get some information on the wild mustangs that inhabit the area near Mono Lake, but they said they were too far south of the area for that kind of information.  We had been directed there by the Bishop BLM office, so it looks like we’ll be on our own.  It seems there is a shortage of rangers, so it makes information hard to get.

From Lone Pine we decided to take another side trip and took Movie Road through the Alabama Hills.  We have been to the Alabama Hills several times with the latest being in 2022 when we were here with my brother and his wife (here is a link to that trip).  We still found it so fascinating and beautiful we made quite a few stops taking pictures and enjoying the landscape.  Surprisingly, there were very few people there, which made it even nicer.

Movie Road through the Alabama Hills.  It starts out paved, but turns into a well maintained dirt road after that.

Movie Road rejoins 395 about 5 miles north of Lone Pine and from there we drove on to Bishop where we are staying tonight.  When we arrived in Bishop we went to another Visitor’s Center in search of information, but they were already closed.  We found a grocery store for some supplies for our lunches tomorrow and the coming days and then checked into our hotel.

We relaxed a bit, had some dinner and I caught up on the blog and then we called it a night.  Tomorrow we are off in search of wild mustangs.