Sierra Spring Tour 2004
After an earlier ride over the Sierra two weeks ago, John
Woodfill who couldn't make the other trip and I headed for
Sonora in the Sierra foothills on Friday, 05 June. We took
our usual route across the Dumbarton Bridge from Palo Alto
over SF bay, taking Niles canyon to Livermore, and over
Altamont Pass to the California central valley. The route
passes Tracy, going through Manteca, Escalon, and Oakdale
from which HWY108 heads east to the Sierra over a dry hilly
grassland, spotted with oaks and volcanic outcroppings. This
usually hot landscape in summer was just warming up for its
first hot weekend but hadn't gotten uncomfortably warm yet.
Because I had just ridden over Sonora Pass and back over
Ebbetts pass two weeks ago, we chose to ride through upper
Yosemite Park over Tioga Pass and back over Sonora Pass. As
we often had for many such rides, we stayed at the Sonora
Gold Lodge Motel eating dinner at the Washington Street
Steak House, formerly Wilma's Flying Pig. We decided it no
longer deserved recommendation.
Saturday, 13 June:
As usual, we got on the road at 6:00 from Sonora (1796ft)
riding up HWY108 to Tuolumne City road from which we headed
south on Wards Ferry road, gradually climbing in cool air as
the sun rose over the horizon. Not admitting to any change
over the years we rode the same gears we have had for many
years. Only climbing speed has decreased. I am still using a
46-50t with 13-15-17-19-21-24t cluster and it works. Wards
Ferry road climbs gently for a bit before it crests,
gradually tapering to a narrow road, first giving up its
center strip and finally shrinking to driveway width, as it
reaches the rim of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. This is
not a place to go off the road and hope to survive.
Although scenic, Wards Ferry road is no shortcut with its
ancient narrow and tortuous route through this 2000ft deep
gorge of the Tuolumne River (816ft) from which it climbs
again to 3000ft over a ridge to Groveland (2844ft) on
HWY120. Wards Ferry Road having been resurfaced a couple of
years ago no longer reveals its hand laid stones, although
high ones were still exposed here and there. The road is so
narrow that a HUMVEE-I would have difficulty keeping its
outboard wheels from protruding over the abyss.
tinyurl.com2l99zOpen ↗ (Tuolumne City JCT)
tinyurl.com32mkcOpen ↗ (Wards Ferry)
Three pickup trucks, presumably of kayakers, were parked at
the bridge where many cliff swallows and white throated
swifts darted about feeding their young in nests under the
bridge. Beyond the bridge the road climbs steeply along the
south wall before leveling off a bit after a few sharp bumps
as it climbs up the rocky canyon to Deer Flat. This a
pleasant grassy valley from which Deer Flat road crosses the
ridge to Groveland. In mock caution, "stop-look-listen", we
crossed the trackless right-of-way of the Hetch Hetchy RR
used in building the SF water project of the same name,
years ago, in the grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. I like to
imagine what SF Mayor "Sunny" James Rolph and Michael
Maurice O'Shaughnessy did when riding, in Pullman cars with
diner and observation lounge, to camp Mather as Rudyard
Kipling might say, in more-than-oriental-splendor as they
took inspection tours of the project.
sierranevadaphotos.comhetch hetchy dam.Open ↗
asp sfmuseum.netmmo.htmlOpen ↗ (O'Shaughnessy)
sfmuseum.orgghiway.htmlOpen ↗ (G. Highway)
livingclassrooms.org3RhinoSkin.docOpen ↗
(Kipling)
We stopped for food and drink at the Market before
continuing to the Big Oak Flat entrance of Yosemite National
Park on "new" HWY120. Parts of old HWY120, Big Oak Flat Rd,
are still in use with steep excursions into adjacent valleys
serving small vacation settlements and camp grounds. I
recall climbing all those hills years ago on earlier tours
and was glad to be on the new HWY that only rises and falls
over gradual grades of about 200 feet height, staying
roughly at 3000 feet to near the park boundary. HWY 120
crosses the South Fork of the Tuolumne river three times on
our route.
At the Big Oak Flat entrance (4900ft) to Yosemite Park we
didn't try to sneak in as in the past. Instead I boldly
presented my "Golden Age Passport" that I purchased last
year that got us both in legally for no more than the cost
of one entry fee for the rest of my life. I think they don't
expect oldsters to make many trips to national parks.
Apparently the park service has changed its mind on charging
each bicyclist on a bicycle for entry while six bicyclists
in a van with a bicycle rack only once.
At the information office and vending machines we tanked up
on soda pop and an extra one for the climb to crane flat. We
had bananas and medjool dates in the touring bag instead of
"energy bars". From here we took our usual route to the east
side of the entrance plaza, where a road heads off to
Hodgdon camp grounds and park maintenance station. This was
once the old Crane Flat road, no longer open to cars. It
branches off at the red cursor on this map:
tinyurl.com2m4xvOpen ↗ (Crane Flat entrance)
The road heads down past Hodgdon Meadows Campground where it
has an "Authorized Vehicles Only" sign as it continues to
the maintenance yard, just before which a narrow paved road
comes in from the left with a "One Way Do not Enter" sign.
This is it. Here pavement becomes narrow and shows many
years of deferred maintenance. We crossed Bull and Crane
creeks where dogwood trees, some still in white blossoms as
we got farther up the road. We saw many butterflies and of
these many were strikingly bright yellow Swallowtail
butterflies. At Tuolumne Grove big trees, we met hikers,
coming down from the parking lot about a half mile away on
HWY120. We persuaded a German tourist to take our picture in
front of the largest tree before continuing to HWY120 and
heading eastward toward Tioga Pass.
tinyurl.com3aplwOpen ↗ (Tuolumne Grove)
tinyurl.com2kwdoOpen ↗ (Crane Flat JCT)
We didn't backtrack to the Crane Flat (6190ft) junction but
turned east since we were well enough stocked with food to
the summit if need be. We climbed steadily to the third
crossing of the South Fork of the Tuolumne River, where it
is most spectacular with snow melt crashes down a steep
boulder strewn gulch that roars with energy and froth. It
was running well but with a light snow pack it wasn't as
spectacular as in some years. It was along here that a young
bear sauntered across the road, fortunately while there was
no traffic.
The road takes up its climb once more with an almost
continuous grade to White Wolf at 8200ft where it crosses
the divide between Tuolumne and Merced watersheds to descend
to Yosemite Creek (7480ft). It was running fairly high and,
no doubt, making Yosemite falls below in the Valley a good
show. This section of road gives a spectacular panorama of
the granite walls south of the Yosemite Valley. The view got
even better at Olmsted Point (8400ft) that gives a view down
Tenaya Canyon with a side view of Half Dome among other
expanses of glacially polished granite that surround it.
Tenaya Lake (8150ft) lies to the east from Olmsted at the
base of Tenaya Peak (10500ft) with its smooth grey face
rising directly out of the lake. We saw only two rock
climbers on the face, the season having just begun.
tinyurl.com35xnsOpen ↗ (Olmsted Point)
tinyurl.com2cv86Open ↗ (Tuolumne Meadows)
From the lake, two longer climbs got us over over a ridge at
8640ft that dropped us back into the Tuolumne watershed in
Tuolumne meadows. There was no snow here and the meadows
were rich with green grasses along Lyell Fork of the
Tuolumne River that was flowing briskly. The sight of ice
cold crystal clear water rushing by is always an inspiration
for me, possibly because I am too urbanized. We stopped at
the store to notice they had high elevation (elevated)
prices, but make up for that the big tent was well stocked.
The $3.06/gal regular gasoline was a first for me. With new
energy in our tanks we headed up the last climb that
gradually rises to the Tioga summit station (9943ft) where
the ranger wasn't interested in bicycles as we rode through
and took customary summit pictures in front of the sign.
tinyurl.com2u8vkOpen ↗ (Tioga Pass)
From the summit it's a swift roll down to Tioga and Ellery
lakes before the descent to Lee Vining (6700ft) where HWY120
meets HWY395. Although there were mixed breezes all day,
there wasn't much wind until rounding the turn for the last
straight run to the bottom of this 8% grade. In spite of
taking a flyer off an SUV and a Harley with side car, the
oft claimed 60mph was not quite achieved. Descending through
the narrows at the bottom of Lee Vining Canyon a panorama of
Mono Lake 330ft below the town of Lee Vining (6800ft) spread
before us in stark contrast to the granite landscape behind.
tinyurl.com36csaOpen ↗ (Tioga east slope)
tinyurl.com2gfrvOpen ↗ (Lee Vining)
We got a snack at the grocery store and headed north toward
Conway Summit whose entire climb is visible with two long
traverses of Conway mountain north of the lake. Mono is a
salt lake that supports a variety of crustaceans on which
gulls and terns, among other species, raise their young on
predator free Paoha Island. Predators don't like swimming in
dense brine. We saw mostly California Gulls and some Common
Terns as we rode along the lake.
tinyurl.com2bmssOpen ↗ (California Gull) mbr-mbr-Open ↗
pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i0700id.html (Common Tern)
As we descended to near lake level, on an essentially
straight section of road, various emergency vehicles with
traffic control and orange cones directed traffic around the
scene of a car that had overturned at full speed and slid on
its roof. People who have not experienced the road shoulders
of HWY 395 are caught unaware that the black shoulder is
deep black volcanic gravel spread for traction in winter. It
was this shoulder that caused my crash on Monitor Pass 50
years ago because it is like trying to ride through dry
beach sand. The only thing to do once on the shoulder is to
try to stop while not making any corrective steering
motions, for these will most likely cause a car to roll-over
or bicyclist to collapsed a wheel.
tinyurl.com274exOpen ↗ (Conway Summit)
On the climb to Conway Summit, just before the last curve, a
beautiful panorama of Mono Lake, Lee Vining and Mammoth
Mountains opens to the south. From Conway Summit (8138ft) a
long gradual slope heads north to Bridgeport, with one
steeper section before the JCT with SR617 (6927ft). With a
slight headwind we cruised easily into town Just in time to
get a Root Beer Freeze at the Frosty Cone shop that closed
minutes before. Interestingly we reached Bridgeport (6465
ft) at seven o'clock just as we did a few years ago in the
fall when that was when it got dark. We stayed at the Silver
Maple Inn, next to the beautiful white Victorian courthouse
with flagpole and cannon on the lush green lawn. We showered
and donned our street clothes disguise before crossing the
street to the the Bridgeport Inn for an excellent dinner
with a fine salad and and slept like logs after 136 miles
and 15800 feet of climbing.
Sunday, 13 June
Having little more than 100 miles ahead of us, we slept in
and got breakfast of orange juice and a stack of hot cakes
at the Sportsman's Inn. Having feasted for dinner that got
us on the road. After a stop at the excellent market at the
west end of town, we headed west across the broad grassland
that surrounds Bridgeport and whose perpetually wet acres
slope gently to Bridgeport Reservoir (6455ft), a large
shallow artificial lake through which the East Walker River
flows to ultimately join the West Walker before ending in
Walker Lake where they evaporate. Without drainage canals
the valley would be a swamp rather than the rich grazing
land for hundreds of cows from early spring to late fall.
nvwf.orgiss wlkr1.htmOpen ↗ (Walker Lake)
tinyurl.com3h2fmOpen ↗ (Bridgeport)
HWY395 heads due west straight as an arrow for a bit more
than two miles, that at first glance look more like a half
mile, at the end of which, a farm house lies, whose front
door seems to have been the surveyors target. Here the road
takes a 50 degree turn north up Swauger Creek to Devils
Gate. After a narrows, a broad Huntoon valley opens with a
solid modern brick house and red barn across the road. A
perpetual heard of sheep keeps the grass in the sloping
valley short. This morning there were two herds of sheep,
one in the middle of the valley, the other at the upper end,
both tended by shepherds who lived in a small trailer and
who had Great Pyrenees sheep dogs that kept order. The only
thing we heard was the yacking of magpies that are common
here most of the time.
Farther up this gradual slope we got back into pine trees as
the road curved around to the west and leveled off a bit on
the way to the first summit to reveal Devils Gate (7519ft)
between volcanic cliffs a half mile ahead. The backdrop is
barren hills of grey to deep red and black granular soil. A
pleasant dense grove of aspen surround a highway maintenance
house at the summit while farther down, the "forever closed"
Fales Hot Springs lie behind a chain link fence looking as
though someone were renovating the house. This Spa has not
in operation since I first saw it more than 40 years ago.
tinyurl.com23f43Open ↗ (Sonora Junction)
As we rolled down the north slope, a slight breeze picked up
blowing every which way as we made the big 180 degree hook
along Hot Creek to Sonora Pass JCT (HWY108) at 6950ft. We
turned west on HWY108 to return to Sonora. As we rolled past
the swamps that border the road, we watched for Yellow
Headed Blackbirds and just about when we thought we were
past their favorite spots we saw many of them in the reeds
on both sides of the road. After a swift descent to the West
Walker River (6696ft) we climbed to Pickel Meadow past the
USMC Mountain Warfare School. After a half mile of flat
road, large warning signs advised against trailers and warn
of tight curves and steep grades up to 26% just before the
climb begins.
tinyurl.com2dv58Open ↗ (Pickel Meadow)
The first steep bumps are impressive after grades on
ordinary highways as are the sharp crests and curves
although the road has a center stripe and two lanes. This
first steep climb got us up to Levitt Meadows and Levitt
Station (site), the store and residence being long gone. The
road begins to climb at the Pack Station and then vanishes
around a curve that is one of the steepest parts of this
climb, as steep as the climb around the steep Ess and the
one that climbs out of Sardine Creek as well as the last 50
yards to the summit. Looking back from any one of these
places is startling with the road just ridden so far below.
The climb went well considering on other rides of the past
things were less easy, probably because competition
interfered or breakfast didn't go down well. The difference
between descending this approach and climbing it is
interesting because although we know the road well by now it
still evokes memories of rides past and what parts were hard
and easy. The steep Ess is a tough spot going up and a
dangerous one down because it is hidden below a sharp verge
and is usually wet.
I recall once as two of us were competing down this hill and
suddenly found ourselves on the sharp descending curve
covered with snow melt. We didn't crash but we didn't forget
the incident. This time the upper curve was covered with oil
where someone's engine blew up, pouring its guts onto the
road. These places are full of scars from incidents.
tinyurl.com373c2Open ↗ (Steep Ess)
The last dip through Sardine Creek, the one that easily
exceeds 50mph descending and requires hard braking on the
subsequent 18% up-grade looks amazingly step in the other
direction. Fortunately there are a couple of leveller spots
in the last quarter mile that make the steep bump at the
Sonora Pass summit (9643ft) easier while the magnetism of
the summit pulls. Besides we had a cool breeze in our faces
and a clear sky. Unlike Saturday, jet planes left no vapor
trails, the high altitude humidity being extremely low as it
often is with a cloudless sky.
It was a great descent down the Golden Stairs and through
the Rock Window to Kennedy Meadows, stopping at Dardanelle
(5765ft) for something to drink and a Snickers (power bar)
before heading off to the climb from Clark Fork JCT (5671ft)
up to Donnell Vista (6800ft). Donnell Lake, 1200ft below,
was fuller than two weeks ago and had large rafts of
driftwood trees that had been felled by avalanches. A single
white throated swift darted past as we took in the view
across the canyon toward Ebbetts Pass and Hells Half Acre.
tinyurl.com3fk9cOpen ↗ (Rock Window) [at cursor]
Although much of the route is downhill, there are a couple
of climbs before the two mile descent to Strawberry (5340ft)
where we stopped at the market for a refresher before the
two mile climb up to 5720ft at Cold Springs. At Twain Harte
junction (3920ft) we turned south on Tuolumne City Road, a
little traveled route that is practically all down hill to
Tuolumne City (2577ft), a true company town before 1960 when
the map was made. The famed West Side Lumber Company with
100 miles of three-foot gauge logging railroad along the
Tuolumne river canyon owned the whole town. The Sierra RR,
hauled the lumber to market. Both RR's are still there, the
tracks untouched but overgrown.
tinyurl.com2vnvcOpen ↗ (Strawberry)
tinyurl.com368seOpen ↗ (Tuolumne)
Alas, the Frosty Cone shop was no more so we had to settle
for some cold drinks at the market down the street. We
crossed the West Side RR tracks coming into town and on the
way out. At the top of the grade, at Ralph, the former
junction of the Pickering RR that served Strawberry and
logging camps all the way to Soap Creek near Bear Valley on
Ebbetts Pass road. The Pickering rails are gone but the
Sierra RR is still there.
tinyurl.com245d3Open ↗ (Ralph)
From Ralph it's all down hill to Sonora on Tuolumne City
Road, past Wards Ferry Road and down Washington Street and
the Sonora Gold Lodge.
136 miles, 15800 feet climbing Saturday 102 Miles, 6550 feet
climbing Sunday
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Jobst Brandt [email hidden]