Spring ride in the Sierra

Spring ride in the Sierra 2004

The route for this ride was Sonora and Monitor Passes to Markleeville
on Saturday and back to Sonora over Ebbetts and Pacific Grade Passes
on Sunday. It seems to be getting harder to find time to ride,
considering that we got only two riders for this pre-memorial day ride
over the Sierra.

Ray Hosler and I put or bicycles and baggage in the car on Friday, 21
May and headed across SF Bay from Palo Alto on the Dumbarton Bridge
HWY 84, staying off freeways until Sunol on the other side of the east
bay hills. Traffic on I680 was dense but moving, whereas on I580 it
was a crawl to Altamont Pass where there had been a rear-ender that
everyone had to inspect as they passed, slowly.

Traffic lightened as we got on I205/I5 to the San Joaquin River, where
we took SR120, the Yosemite route through Manteca, Escalon, and
Oakdale. Continuing on SR108, the Sonora Pass route, we got to Sonora
in good time to put our equipment in order and get some dinner.

Having brought along breakfast, we were able to get on the road at
6:00 heading up the hill toward Twain Harte, a town named after the
two writers of the old west. This route is unusually straight and
wide in places for the little traffic is sees, except in ski season.
As the road begins to climb, a two mile divided four lanes of 6% and a
flatter part got us past Twain Harte and on to Confidence.

Although there were early vacationers, traffic was light, the sky was
blue and we had a light but increasing tailwind. Farther up, past
Long Barn, a long widely divided four lane section took us through
lush green meadows and rich forests of Sugar Pine, Lodgepole,
Ponderosa, Jeffrey, Cedar, Madrone, Oak and others. The richness and
varieties in this forest are striking in comparison to the coast range
where we usually ride. The woods smelled of mountain misery that has
a faint artichoke flavor. Lupine, wall flower and wild iris gave
color to the woods. It is easy to forget how this area was logged
nearly bare in the early 20th century when many of the towns and roads
got their names form logging camps. Of course most of this was done
with railroads that climbed high into these mountains with gear driven
steam locomotives.

Interestingly, traces of logging railroads are still visible around
Cold Springs, Strawberry and Pinecrest, above 6000ft elevation. These
were railroad engineering feats hard to imagine today, considering the
steepness and rugged terrain.

http://tinyurl.com/2vnvc (map Strawberry)

We stopped at Strawberry for a snack before heading up the two mile
grade to the ridge that parallels the gorge of the Stanislaus river
with Ebbetts Pass road on the far side. Along this section, remnants
of winter snow and bright red snow plants decorated the road as it
winds through massive dark gray rock formations on its way to a high
point (6300ft) at Donnell Lake overlook.

http://tinyurl.com/yuocw (snow plant)
http://tinyurl.com/23u6q (map Donnell)

Here a sheer cliff gives the visitor nearly 1500ft vertical drop to
the Stanislaus river rapids and falls below. The majestic spires and
domes of the Dardanelles rise to 9000ft as a backdrop to this huge
gorge. This great scene comes just before a long descent to Clark
Fork junction (5671ft) after which the "real" Sonora Pass becomes
evident in steep whoop-de-doos and narrow curves.

The Stanislaus, that was so far below was right next to us now. The
road winds over a series of rollers to Dardanelle (5765ft) where we
stopped at the store for some food for the climb ahead. The store has
a tall pair of antique 1920's gas pumps with a large glass cylinder on
top that was filled to the desired volume of gasoline by means of a
pump with a large hand lever. Between these two columns was a modern
Union76 pump with an astronomical price per gallon. The proprietor
had a Chevy Suburban fitted with four sets of rubber tread crawlers,
essentially snow mobile tracks, instead of wheels with which he said
he could traverse five feet of fresh snow. Other than that, the old
shingled building with dark green trim looked unchanged in the last 50
years.

http://tinyurl.com/2n82g (map Dardanelle)

We crossed the river and began climbing out of this lush flat meadow
up the Eureka Valley as the Stanislaus churned through impassable
rapids. Fishermen were casually fishing on the banks of this river
from which they could not be rescued if they fell in, it being swift
even above the rapids. Just the same I haven't read of incidents here
but maybe that would not reach our newspapers in the SF Bay Area. is
worrisome.

http://tinyurl.com/2jdo9 (map Rock Window)

The road begins climbing abruptly at Kennedy meadows as it vanishes
around a large cliff. Just around this corner the Rock Window
(6800ft) about 500ft above and about a quarter mile away becomes
visible. That the road levels off just through the gap is good to
know while riding up this magnificent landscape as the meandering
river is left below. After the window the road seems almost flat in
comparison as it climbs to the big ess, rising above Deadman Creek to
leveling off at Chipmunk Flat (8000ft) in a short distance.

http://tinyurl.com/3hdq8 (map Golden Stairs)

We got into larger snow fields at the notorious Golden Stairs that
begin with a pair of steep hairpins and rise quickly to the 9000ft
marker. Skiers were enjoying a spate of fresh snow that fell the
night before and put a clean white blanket over the slopes of spring
snow. Farther up, snowmobilers, sounding like so many chainsaws, were
climbing as high as their traction would take them to make high speed
runs down the slopes of a huge snow bowl.

The Golden Stairs have always been a challenge similar to the Rock
Window because years ago when we were young and foolish, we raced up
to the bottom of this section. Being so out of reserve, resting at
the skier's bowl was a must. These days I approach the steep ess bend
carefully and ride to the top of this section in relative ease but
wonder how fast we went forty years ago. The gradient breaks suddenly
at 9000ft so I could shift up to a 50-17 gear to cruise to the summit.

http://tinyurl.com/2t8qr (map Sonora Pass)

After a picture stop in front of the summit sign, signs warning about
steep grades and the county line, we dived down the descent that is
probably the hardest part coming up from the east. How steep it is is
apparent from the more than 50mph achieved in the dip across Sardine
Creek and the hard braking required up the 18% grade to the bend at
the following crest.

The descent is nearly all downhill except for a short bump. The road
parallels Leavitt Creek that gets to the valley by way of Leavitt
Falls while the road makes a steep zigzag, over densely spaced contour
lines on the map, as it takes one of the steepest runs down to the 26%
curve at the Pack Station (7155ft) in Leavitt Meadow. From here we
had a brisk tailwind as we passed the Marine Mountain Warfare Camp.
Even the climb out of the West Walker river was a snap with the 20mph
wind and gusts to 30mph. Riding no-hands at 25mph it was practically
still air with an occasional blast from behind.

http://tinyurl.com/2ewcn (map Leavitt Meadow)

In spite of the wind that kept most birds hidden in trees and bushes,
we managed to sight a yellow headed blackbird in the Tule swamp next
to the road. It was a sort of "mission accomplished" because these
birds don't show themselves in the areas we ride in otherwise. We
weren't sure which way the wind would blow in the Walker River canyon,
it being north-south and the wind coming from due west. We were
lucky, the wind was predominantly in our favor except where a side
ravine entered from the west. At some of these places the turbulence
was so strong it practically brought us to a stop holding onto the
bars tightly.

After a windy ride we entered Antelope Valley and headed west into
Walker where the wind was mostly in our faces but not as strong as in
the canyon. We stopped for a late lunch at the Mountain View Barbeque
before cruising on toward Coleville and Topaz with a mix of side and
tailwinds. We turned west on HWY89, Monitor Pass whose long westward
run was directly into the wind but because it was cool, almost chilly,
the climb was literally no sweat and the reverse runs on the double
ess higher up after the first turn at the creek were with the wind.

http://tinyurl.com/2wtoc (Monitor Pass)

The top of the climb is more or less at the Alpine County line
(7956ft) but today, with the stiff wind it went on up this mild grade
to Monitor Pass summit (8324ft). To make up for that, the sky was so
clear that the sun felt downright burning hot and the surrounding snow
capped mountains seemed amazingly near. We stopped at the Summit for
the usual photo at the stone marker in the grove of stubby wind pruned
aspen that were just beginning to sprout leaves. From here, although
Heenan Creek takes a more direct route, the road descends 100 feet and
rises to what looks like another summit at the same elevation although
it is 30ft lower.

The road descends through a series of sweeping curves around Sagehen
Flat at the south end of which it passes Heenan Lake from which
Monitor Creek flows down a narrow canyon to the East Carson River.
Many old closed mines with ugly tailings and slurry ponds that were
never restored after mining ceased, line this canyon. The descent can
be fast and with a gusting headwind up to 30mph gave wind speeds
greater than 70mph. The turbulent wind that required careful steering
made me think of riders using aero wheels.

http://tinyurl.com/ysy5g (map Monitor Creek)

After reaching the Carson River we had some crosswinds as we rolled
downstream toward Markleeville. This run was all downhill except for
the short climb out of the river to Markleeville Creek. Looking at
the clear rushing river reminded me that no major river flows out of
Nevada. They all flow in, find a salt lake and dry up. Somehow I
like the idea of rainwater returning to the sea but in this area, it
leaves its salts behind as it returns to the skies somewhere in the
desert.

We got a before-dinner snack at the grocery store, got cleaned up in
our room and had a fine dinner at the Hotel. Markleeville lodging was
a bit weird in that we had a reserved room at the J. Marklee Toll
Station but never saw anyone from the inn. There was a faded note on
the office door that said as much as "we'll be back soon" but nothing
happened. Anyway the room was comfortable and clean. Can't complain.

Sunday

We slept in and got ready to go at 7:00 but the whole town was still
asleep, probably getting ready for the coming Memorial Day weekend.
After tootling around, looking for some signs of life, we rode out of
town toward Ebbetts pass to Carson River Resort, a couple of miles
upstream. There was no breakfast here either but at least the store
with all sorts of camping and outdoor supplies was open, so we downed
some sustenance before heading out under a crisp clear sky, the wind
still blowing as it had all night.

The number of fishermen along the river was amazing. I had no idea
that this was such a popular pursuit. SUV's and Pickup trucks were
parked everywhere along the river while sedans or station wagons were
nowhere to be seen. I thought about bygone days, when people got here
in a Model-A Ford or even a Model-T with skinny near smooth tires in
contrast to the huge knobby tires and jacked up black pickup trucks
that appear to be essential for vacation travel these days. Of course
today the roads are paved unlike the old days.

The SR4 doesn't start climbing noticeably anywhere in particular but
there are a few bumps after leaving the Carson River for Silver Creek.
We passed old landmarks, the white house and brick kiln with its huge
square red brick chimney standing alone next to a heap of misfired
brick debris. I didn't read the historic marker this time as we
passed the miniature cemetery with its cast iron fence posts, and real
and plastic flowers. Then came the silver painted school bus body
that was blanked off at the firewall and had its wheel wells covered.
It seems to have been unoccupied all the years I have seen it but it's
still in good condition. It looks almost like the front part of a
Galloping Goose.

http://www.gallopinggoose.org/
http://photoswest.org/exhib/trains/pages/rr671.htm

Mule ear, or was it skunk cabbage, was blooming in the meadow between
road and river, and aspen were full of green among the firs that took
over as we gained altitude a bit at a time. After we crossed to the
north side of Silver Creek, we left it below as we hit the first steep
rise. The continuous double yellow center-stripe on this narrow
winding road finally gave way to a single intermittent stripe before
vanishing altogether.

It is here that reality of this road makes itself known although there
were signs warning of 24% grades and no vehicles over 25ft back in the
valley. Back there the road looked like any other two lane state
highway, but now it became apparent that those were not idle warnings
as we rounded Cadillac curve, a steep hairpin that when missed
descending assures a long tumble toward, but not reaching, Silver
Creek. The Cadillac that went off the road here to gave the curve its
name to the curve is also long gone.

http://tinyurl.com/ypoxy (map Cadillac Curve)

Scars in the pavement and football sized rocks gave evidence of
rockfall and the sudden steep climbs reminded me of the pioneers that
built this road when Caterpillar, Komatsu, Euclid, and Wooldridge had
not yet built their great earth movers that were at work elsewhere on SR4.

http://tinyurl.com/ywxku

The north side of the canyon exposed cliffs similar to those on Sonora
Pass, places where eagles soar. It was here on another tour where my
friend asked why these dark, almost black birds were called golden
eagles just as the one we were watching bird made a turn in the
afternoon light to reflect an entirely golden wingspan as it soared as
motionlessly as an airplane, "fingers" spread to catch the finest
updrafts.

A sapsucker made the usual furtive exposure, hopping around the trunk
of an aspen just far enough so I could just get a side view of this
colorful red headed woodpecker. The tree had the typical rows of
holes left by prior visits of these birds. Meanwhile Clarks'
Nutcrackers gave their noisy calls but lesser birds' calls were
muffled by the roar of the wind in the trees.

http://www.stanford.edu/~petelat1/ (sapsucker)
http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_...3183+0921+0101

Above we could see Cascade Creek, aptly named for its descent down
the ravine as we climbed steeply toward Kinney Reservoir. From here
on the last mile to the summit the forest floor was still in deep
snow. Ebbetts Pass, although a steep and interesting road, does not
have and exciting summit. It is around a corner in the forest with a
flat approach form either side. In fact the road climbs a little to
the west before starting its beautiful descent along the south rim of
Hermit Valley and the Mokelumne River.

http://tinyurl.com/2epqg (map Hermit Valley)

This descent is not steep and is a fairly uniform grade with excellent
pavement and a spectacular view to the south of seemingly endless
wilderness. It is a view that makes one feel small and insignificant
in a mountainous landscape, not quite like the Himalayas but, for city
folk, it is big. On the way down we passed six or more bicyclists
going east, one of which was a friend with whom I have toured at times.

After crossing the Mokelumne the road makes a steep jump and continues
over steep to moderately steep grades to Pacific Creek that was
running at a fair clip although not like the times that we got here
before the road was officially open to traffic and snow was deep from
Bear Valley to Silver Creek. We stopped at the bridge (7450ft) and
put away power food. My choice for this isn't packaged. I prefer
Medjool dates that are tasty and full of that which helps climb steep
grades.

From here it is a short distance to the steep hairpins of 24% grades.
Last time I rode around the outside of these curves and found the
grade moderate. This time I tried the inside and it is probably truly
24%. The gradiometer claimed the outside was 18% but then that isn't
so accurate because it averages over a fixed distance. In any case,
the seep sections are short enough that goofing off on them isn't
fatal.

http://tinyurl.com/2d64q (map Pacific Grade)

As we approached Pacific Grade summit (8050ft), the view back to
Pacific Valley and its Creek was amazing. It is so far below that it
seems we couldn't have just down there about 640 feet below. The
steep stuff behind us, we rolled along toward Alpine Lake (7300ft) and
over a small rise to drop us to Bear Valley. We chose not to stop at
the store there and rolled on down to Dorrington where we took
advantage of the gourmet fare at the Grease Rack Grill that calls
their hamburgers various kinds of Lube jobs.

With that refill we climbed out of Dorrington and rode down to Arnold,
Murphys and Valecito where we took Parrots Ferry road toward Sonora.
The persistent west winds had pretty much died by now although there
was still a pleasant breeze as we passed Moaning Cavern and coasted
down to the high bridge over the Stanislaus that is not shown in this
old map. The new bridge crosses between the two hairpin turns above
the river on the map.

http://tinyurl.com/238u8 (map Parrots Ferry)

With about 200ft less climbing than in the old days and cool weather,
the slightly more than two mile climb of 1000ft to Columbia went OK
except that it has some 13% pitches in it. After Columbia (2143ft) it
was all downhill to Sonora and a short climb back to Tuolumne Road and
the car. We had great weather, low traffic and no mechanical
problems.

Saturday: 124 miles, 13660 feet climbing
Sunday: 94 miles, 7290 feet climbing
--
Jobst Brandt

I really enjoyed reading your account of your Memorial Day jaunt in
the Sierra. I've been in the Washington, D.C., area over 30 years
after moving from the Bay Area, and sometimes I miss the mountainous
west. I took up biking again about six years ago, mostly riding short
rides (and commutes) in the Washington, D.C., area and Central
Virginia. As I was reading your account, I thought: It sure would be
great to be that young and able to ride such ambitious rides. Then I
saw that you must be about my age.

Mike Doan
Arlington, Va.