Ride report: a Four-fecta of Sierra Passes

[duqette]

My BF and I set out Sunday morning, after a tasty b'fast of homemade sourdough pancakes, from San Mateo, headed for the hills. I rode my 01 Duc Monster, with a Wolfman Beta Mini tail pack holding all my stuff (or almost all of it, the rest was strapped on top), and my BF rode his Buell Lightening, with saddle bags and tent on back. The plan: a camping and riding three day getaway to the Sierra Nevada.

This trip was in some ways a reprise of my very first motorcycle trip, taken about 5 years ago on my first bike, a 1982 Honda Nighthawk 650. Now, looking back, I can hardly believe I took that bike up into the Sierras, with about 2000 miles of riding under my belt. This time I had a bit more riding experience, and a bit more bike under my butt. 

Heading out on a Sunday is the way to do it; everyone else is coming back, we had clear roads and easy sailing all the way up. We rode from San Mateo across the SM Hayward Bridge, through the 238 interchange, out 580 to 205 and over to 88, taking 88 up into the mountains. The weather had us a bit worried, what with a freak thunderstorm that passed through Saturday night. However, aside from about a dozen drops in the afternoon at high elevation the weather was excellent. We started out all layered up in the Bay Area, took off as much as we could in the Valley, then layered back up again as we gained altitude. At one point, not far from Jackson, a very large ride group of Harleys passed us (headed West), about half of them patting their helmets (cop ahead). The other half were rubbing their stomachs, I think ... 

We stopped in Jackson for a break and a snack. The little downtown area is a rather sad shadow of its former self. The National Hotel is boarded up and for sale, and seems like half the storefronts are either empty or going out of business.

Back on the road, 88 is made for bikers. Big sweeping curves, incredible scenery, and locals that not only tolerate bikers, but actually seem to like us! Up and up and up, working on wearing down the sides of my tires, and then, Hey! There's Carson Pass! Pass Number One.

Down the other side, left on 89, and we pulled into Markleeville, still looking for the turn-off to Grover Hot Springs (where we had camping reservations). Both BF and I are the sort of people who will look at a spot on the map and say, let's go there! Sometimes that leaves the details of exactly where the turn is a bit IZ_... Turns out it's actually right in Markleeville. Four more miles of twisty road heaven, and we arrived, found our campsite, which turned out to have a slightly challenging parking situation, but was otherwise perfectly lovely. We set up our tent, put all the edibles in the bear locker, and then headed over to the hot springs.

I gotta say, there's nothing quite like a nice HOT mineral spring after a day in the saddle  . Grover Hot Springs is a naturally occurring hot springs. The hot mineral water is pumped into a completely unglamourous cement pool, but really, with scenery like that, who cares about glamour? We soaked until we were complete prunes and then rode into Markleeville for dinner and  .

Back at the campsite we made a fire, watched the stars come out (when you're camping, the stars are amazing), and then collapsed into our sleeping bags.

Next: Day Two: more  [moto]

[77south]

If three is a trifecta, wouldn't four be a tetrafecta? 
Seriously though sounds like a great start to a trip and I want to read more.  And see more cause, you know, pics or it didn't happen. 

[swampduc]

Nice writeup.
+1 on pics.
I'm starting to get Cali-envy 

[Special K]

mmmmmmm....sourdough pancakes! Recipe? I love em but never made them myself. What makes them sour?

[El Matador]

You people and your luck at camping..... 

NIce write up 

[duqette]

A note on photos. The BF has the camera, and the photos. If/when he sends them to me, I'll try to figure out how to post a few up. I actually took my camera with me, but as usual, didn't even think to get it out, much less take an actual picture. 

Day Two, we got out the map, and over a huge b'fast in Markleeville (when I'm riding with my BF I eat as if I may never see food again; he's not much for stopping for pesky time-wasting things like lunch...) we decided to ride over Ebbetts Pass and down Hwy 4 to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. We topped off the tanks, and hit the road, headed South on 89, towards 4. That first bit of 89 winds its way along the river valley. We're on the lee side of the Sierras, and the scenery is completely different. Where the west side is lush and green, with tall trees and verdant meadows, the east side is dry and grey, with low sage-colored brush and red rocks. Not that it's not beautiful, just different. With the river next to us, we swoop around the curves, taking in the canyon walls rising on either side of us and the water coursing over the rocks (and the occasional pot-bellied fisherman).

After just a few miles, the road turns to the left, and we head west, back up into the mountains, towards the pass. These pass roads are not for the faint of heart, or the reckless, for that matter. The road is twisty and tight, and after a bit the double yellow line just disappears, apparently because the road isn't wide enough for two lanes. However, there's just enough oncoming traffic to keep me honest, so I'm very careful about my lines. No point in getting smushed half-way through the weekend.

We make it up to the top -- Ebbett's Pass (Pass Two) -- and stop for a photo in front of the historical marker, which explains how people used to bring wagons over this pass!!

Back down the west side, more breathtaking views at almost every corner. Seems like every time we overtake a car, they pull over to let us pass  . We zip right along until we get to Calaveras Big Trees where we pay our fee, get a park map, and (in our point and go way) decide to hike the "Lava Bluffs Trail."

We park the bikes (in the shade), pile our gear on top (I even brought walking shoes), fill up the water bottle, help ourselves to one of those trail guides, and off we go. Did I mention it was hot? Calaveras is down around 4000 ft, and it's scorching. Heat and elevation not withstanding, (picture us huffing and puffing trying to walk up a little slope) it's a nice little 2.5 mile trek through the woods and across the interesting geologic formation. A nice break from all the riding, too.

Back at the bikes we decided to skip the actual "big trees," (we live in the Bay Area, after all, and to a certain extent, if you've seen one really big redwood, you've seen them all), and continue our ride. We had noticed a road on the map that looked interesting, off the main road and all squiggly, heading north from Murphys, that looked like it would eventually put us back on 88. We had a few bites of trail mix, and continued down 4 to Murphys. There is indeed a narrow little road leading from Murphys, called Sheep Ranch Road, which will take you to the town of Sheep Ranch.

However, this "road" would more appropriately be called Goat Trail Road.  Or perhaps Sheep Sheit Road.  Or, "Oh My God, Will This Bumpy Half-Paved Hell Ever End Road."  I did discover that if you go a little faster over the bumps, it's not quite as bad as going really slow. Once we got to Sheep Ranch the town, the road improved, and then it was just a question of making our way back to 88. Every time we came to an intersection, we'd stop, study the map, and make our best guess.

At one intersection a small group of young local boys on their bicycles stopped to ask us if we needed directions. I think they just wanted to talk to the bad-ass bikers, 'cause they were too young to have any idea where hwy 88 was. I made a point of waving at every single little kid I saw, a big "Miss America" wave. Just tryin' to spread the love. 

We finally did make it back to 88, topped off the tanks (it's amazing the gas mileage we were getting), and turned the bikes towards Grover Hot Springs, riding up 88 again. And over Carson Pass, again. (It was sheer agony, I tell you. ) On the way, while the BF was leading, I saw a bird break from the brush on the left side of the road, and head right for him. !! This bird was doing one of those staggering, loopy, divert the enemy flights that some ground nesting birds do, right at the BF. I'm thinking, "Get it up, bird! Up! Up!" But, no. Bird and BF intersected, and the bird literally exploded into pieces, which I then rode through, cringing. BF one, Bird zero.  When we stopped for dinner, the BF explained that the bird had actually hit his left mirror, and that he wasn't even really sure what had happened until he noticed that his mirror was out of whack.

We stopped for dinner at the Kirkwood Inn,  and meat (yum), and by the time we left it was getting dusky. And buggy. It's not far from Kirkwood to Markleeville, but riding at dusk, after a long day already of riding, through swarms of bugs was, well, interesting. Splat splat splat splooch (big one), lighting up my headlight like a fireworks display. That right there was the best argument yet for a full face helmet.

Unfortunately, the hot springs pool was closed by the time we got back, so we just went to bed. We rode about 210 miles, over two passes, and hiked another 2.5 miles. Now that's what I call a Day in the Mountains. I was so tired I barely got my boots off before I fell asleep.

Next: Day Three; Passes Three and Four, and back home.

[duqette]

mmmmmmm....sourdough pancakes! Recipe? I love em but never made them myself. What makes them sour?

Sourdough pancakes are made using a sourdough starter (just like everything else "sourdough"). "Starter" is a nice (sour) bubbly mixture of milk and flour, and Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis, the friendly Bay Area bacteria that gives our sourdough its unique tang. I'd be happy to give you the recipe, but the first ingredient is 1/2 cup sourdough starter. Mine lives in the back of my fridge quite happily until baking time.

[sfarchie]

Wow, we all missed each other. A group of 6 did a 4 Sierra Passes ride Sat-Mon! We started off in SF went through the Sonoma Pass first, stayed at Bridgeport, headed to Bodie, then to the Tioga Pass, then stayed in Mokelumne, then finally through the Carson and Ebbetts Pass. We got hit with a short, light shower, then it was fairly warm to hot the rest of the trip. We clocked in 735 miles in 3 days!

We should coordinate a future ride!! [moto]

[maillotpois]

This is a very cool report!   

On Saturday I did 5 passes of the death ride ( www.deathride.com ) on my bicycle (Monitor/Monitor/Ebbetts/Ebbetts/Carson) (for the 5th year), but these roads seem like they would be great for motorcycles as well!

I really do hope you took pictures!

(but not of the exploding bird.)

[duqette]

Day Three:

Mornings while camping are often a struggle between an urgent need to pee, which requires getting out of the sleeping bag, putting on shoes and clothes, and walking over to the toilets, and the desire to sleep just a few more minutes.... This morning was no exception, and eventually we both gave up and, with the sun streaming through the trees, got up to another gorgeous day in the mountains.

We made a fire, heated up a couple mugs for tea and hot chocolate, and leisurely set about breaking camp and loading up the bikes for the ride home.

We saw a lot of motorcycles in the mountains, mostly Harleys, massive Goldwings,  and BMW sport tourers. We did not see another single Duc or Buell, and did garner some interested comments. ("How'd you fit all that gear on there?" asked about the loaded up bikes...  )

We ate another huge breakfast in Markleeville, topped off the tanks again, and set hit the road headed south on 89 again, this time with Monitor and Sonora Passes in our sights. 

I think the road up to Monitor was my favorite, just in terms of negotiating the turns. By now I'm feeling pretty settled in and really enjoying dipping in and out of the turns.  We had previously agreed to stop at the passes for pictures, but there wasn't a sign at Monitor (at least that I saw -- I have a tendency to watch the road when I'm riding), so we ended up stopping at one of the overlooks on the east side, which isn't too bad...  Huge grand views of the entire valley open out below. It's stunning. And Pass Three. 

Back in the saddle we make our way down the east side (26% grade!) to 395. There's some road construction, but it doesn't hold us up long, and before long we're making a right turn onto 108 and looking up at what seem to be impossibly high mountains right in front of us. The east side of the Sierras appear to go straight up; there's no gradual build up of foothills and gentle hills, just flat, then up! Every few feet there's a sign warning up that the road is steep, and tightly turning, and not to be attempted by motorhomes, or trucks, or wide loads, or the faint of heart, and that "here there be bears." We pass the USMC mountain training facility, which has its own set of signs warning us to watch out for flying debris from low-flying helicopters (!!) and not to stop and don't look too closely as you ride by, either....

We cross a river, and we're climbing. Sonora is the second highest pass (Tioga is the highest) at 9628 (or 9624, depending on which sign you look at), and the most technical, IMHO. The turns are insanely tight and steep, to the point where I just had to downshift into first and creep around right hand hairpins that appeared to go straight up. I did manage to scrape a boot on a left turn like that. Yeah, Baby!!  That'll make you pick up your foot fast... I wasn't leaned way over or anything like that, just enough to touch the extreme camber of the road. I'm a fairly slow and conservative rider, though, so it was pretty exciting for me.

We stopped at Mosquito Lake, where there was an adorable family of ducks cavorting, and also at the pass itself (of course), Pass Four! Very picturesque. From 9628 feet up (I'm going with the higher elevation), it's all downhill back to the Bay Area and my home, at 8 feet above sea level. 

We both wanted to arrive home at a reasonable hour, so from Sonora Pass we pretty much rode straight home, stopping for water, gas, and butt breaks along the way. By the time we got to Sonora (the town) it was pretty clear that the ride through the Valley was going to be oven torture. We tanked up on water, had a snack, took off as much clothing as we could and rode through what felt like an oven set on "self clean." We took 108 to 120 (not the temperature, although it could have been), back to 205 and then retraced our route back to the Bay Area. I was really hoping that things would cool down once we got over the Altamont Pass, but, no. It was hot at home, too! 

Felt good to finally get home. I think I've satisfied my riding the twisties desire for at least a little while....

If you've never ridden the Sierra Passes, it's just one of those things you really need to do before you die, or sell your last motorcycle. The scenery, the roads, and the history of the area make it a unique experience.  [moto]

I'll ad photos if I ever get copies of them from my riding partner.

[duqette]

This is a very cool report!   

On Saturday I did 5 passes of the death ride ( www.deathride.com ) on my bicycle (Monitor/Monitor/Ebbetts/Ebbetts/Carson) (for the 5th year), but these roads seem like they would be great for motorcycles as well!

I really do hope you took pictures!

(but not of the exploding bird.)

We saw a lot of bicyclists! I'm in awe of anyone who rides (a bicycle) at that elevation over those passes! Holy cow....

[maillotpois]

There is a sign on top of Monitor, by the way, but it faces toward the other side of the road and you would have to look for it.  There's also a tombstone-like monument up there as well.  There are basically 2 summits to Monitor with a saddle in between and the real summit and signs are all on the flat part of the higher (easternmost) summit after the saddle.

Great report!