PatitucciPhoto is a team of three photographers and athletes, Dan & Janine Patitucci, and Kim Strom. Their commercial & editorial work has appeared around the world for countless ad campaigns, magazine stories, and communication for the outdoor industry’s leading brands. In 2021, along with Hjördis Rickert, the four produced Sierra Trail Runs : A Guide to the Eastside, a guidebook and online resource to trail running in the Eastern Sierra. You can follow them at @sierratrailruns
The Tungsten Hills sit directly beneath the Sierra skyline towering above Bishop. The rocky mounds are webbed with trails and OHV roads. With plenty of options, it’s a playground for winter trail running. This Tungsten City Loop is a 4 mile run that gets you close to the big mountains with no shortage of additional miles if you desire a longer run.
Less than five minutes from downtown Bishop, Rossi Hill is the quickest access to trails through Bishop’s sage and granite boulders. This 5.75 mile run serves as an ideal introduction to the Bishop winter landscape. Close to town, but within a warm-up jog, you’ll feel somewhere much further away.
Known as the Pipeline, the run actually spends very little mileage beside the prominent water pipeline. The route makes up a section of the Bishop High Sierra Ultras on a combination of dirt roads and trails, and takes you through some diverse landscapes; from Bishop sage to burns, old growth and high tundra terrain.
The trail angles evenly uphill for 4.5 miles where it meets Lower Rock Creek Road. Turn around and come right back down, or if you’d like a longer run, the trail continues up to Whisky Canyon and the top of the Sherwin Grade.
The lakes really steal the show. South Lake to start, and then Bull, Chocolate, Ruwau, and Long Lakes along the loop. Chocolate Peak itself is a sight with its unusual chocolatey-brown color surrounded by the more typical gray granite. From the top you’ve got a fantastic view of Cloudripper, Picture Puzzle, Mount Goode, Hurd Peak, and down on all those lakes.
Enjoy the mellow lake views, the playful running back down through the forest, and winding along the Rainbow Pack Station Trail to where you started.
Pick your path along these inspirational story maps that inform and inspire.
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