Kaiser Pass, Mono Hot Springs and Edison Lake

I hadn't been above Huntington Lake so I decided I would take a ride over Kaiser Pass to Edison Lake. The road to Edison is pretty bad so I rode my KLR 250 dual sport. I had finished making some modifications to it to make these kind of trips better, an accessory plug (cigarette lighter plug), a toggle switch for the radiator fan for the slow, hard climbs, and, most important, a cup holder. All three came in very handy on the trip.

I had a commitment in the morning so I couldn't leave out till 11:30 AM. I headed out of Fresno up Hwy 168 and had lunch at Prather. I headed up the 4 lane and reached Shaver Lake where I took the Big Creek turn off. I had just been up this way last week and really enjoyed the views. This week I made sure I had my camera for some nice shots.

The back route to Huntington Lake through Big Creek is a slow, hard climb, but the views are rewarding as you can see.







After topping off at Huntington Lake, I headed up the Kaiser Pass road. The view of Huntington Lake from the road was spectacular.




I reached Kaiser Pass, just over 9000 feet, and headed down the back side. The road was really narrow and rough, and there was a lot of weekend traffic. I must have passed over 50 cars coming and going, and everyone of them was a tight squeeze. The views were really spectacular on the back side. You are literally on top of the world.







Half way between Kaiser Pass and Edison, along the South Fork of the San Joaquin river, is the Mono Hot Springs resort. I stopped at the general store and bought a drink and a souvenir for the trip. The break was nice because it was a hot, hard ride so far.





Another 45 minutes of riding I finally reached my destination, Lake Edison.



It is really nothing more than a medium size reservoir used for power generation. But it wasn't so much the destination that drew me there as it was the ride to someplace I had never seen. Isn't that why we do this? Isn't that most of the fun? Maybe some people don't understand or even don't agree, but I know there are a lot more roads that I would like to run my tires across. I hope you feel the same way as I do, and I hope you enjoy the ride report and pictures. Till next ride...