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...

A nice day in the Sierras

I met a with a couple of guys from the Honda Shadow forum for a ride. We met up in Visalia and rode up into the mountains. They took me up a lovely rode and ended up in Eschon Valley. What a beautiful view of the Sierras. We had lunch at the Mountain House Saloon near Badger. I rode back into Fresno on 180 since was already late in the day.

"Dirt Biking!"

Having the afternoon off and feeling the need to ride, and wanting to ride somewhere I hadn't been before, I took the KLR up some back roads behind Pine Flat Lake. The road I took is called Big Creek road and it travels from Pine Flat to the top of the 4 lane on Hwy 168 just short of Shaver Lake. It is dirt and has a, well, "big creek" along side of it. It's a beautiful ride as you can see.The road heads up into the mountains. At the top I stopped and had a snack. There was a wonderful view of the surrounding hills back down toward Pine Flat Lake.

Soon the road turned from dirt to asphalt. But, as I got further up into the tree line, I hit snow. I tried to ride through the snow for a couple miles, staying in the ruts of the previous vehicles, but the snow just became deeper. I had only gone half of the 30 miles I need to travel on the road to get to my next turn off. I decided to turn around and go back the way I had came. On the way down I stopped at a nice shady spot along the road and enjoyed the view for a while. All in all, it was a nice ride even if I had only been able to ride up to the snow line.

The "Dirt Bike"

So, as I was waiting for the ACE to get finished, I got itchy fingers to ride. I've been wanting a small dual-sport so when I came across a KLR 250, well, I just couldn't help myself! She was a dirty thing when I got it. The previous owner had "ridden it hard and put it away wet" as they say. It was caked with mud, had broken levers and foot pegs, bent handlebars, broken tail light, and a rear fender held on by zip ties. But she ran great! So I bought her, cleaned her up and fixed the parts. And been loving it ever since. She's a blast on the mountain roads.

Updates

Been a while since I've posted anything, so I wanted to catch up on some things. First off, I've been giving the ACE a new look.

I've been working with my brother, Joel, (well, ok, he's been working, I've been supervising) to install some ACE TOURER exhausts on the ACE. I also bought a Mustang solo seat to replace the 2-up Corbin Tourer and give it a sleeker look. Joel also hard mounted the saddlebags down and back. The bike was looking good!

I planned to take it in February on a trip to Phoenix for a conference there. I got it as far as Palm Springs before I noticed that the exhaust mounts on the right side had broken. So, my dad and brother came and got it and I met up and went on with my wife and in-laws who were traveling by car. Very disappointing, I know.

Since the Joel's been reworking the mounts and finishing up the changes that were left off for the trip. The bike should be wrapped up by next week.

Shaver Lake

This is some pics from a ride we took up to Shaver Lake. This is my friend Joshua who has a KZ1000P and a V-Star 650. The police bike is a kick to ride.

Tioga Pass, Yosemite

Last summer my coworker, Ethan Jones, and I had planned to ride over Tioga Pass in Yosemite. Unfortunately, difficulties came up that forced us to cancel that trip. This year the Tioga trip was at the top of my list and had decided to make the trip regardless if anyone went along with me. So when I heard Ethan and his dad, Jonathan, available and up for the challenge I was overjoyed. We had Friday, July 3rd off for the holiday, so we planned it that Friday and Saturday. We booked a room in Lee Vining and waited for the day.

We left at 8 AM Friday and headed out through Friant. We were not far from Friant when I noticed that I had lost my backrest. It was a corbin-style that fits into my corbin seat. We backtracked to see if I could find it, but came up empty. Not a good way to start a trip.

We reached Oakhurst, took a break for a cold drink, and headed on to Mariposa. It was already turning out to be a hot day and I was looking forward to riding in some cool weather. We filled up and had lunch at Mariposa. So having had delicious, nutritious meal at the local Burger King, we started for the park. We chose the Merced entrance to the park to limit our driving time in the park. The Fresno/Madera entrance would require a lot of slow driving and a trip through the valley to get to Tioga road. The Merced entrance is up the Merced river to the Yosemite Valley. It's a nice ride, but hot without any breeze blowing.

About halfway up the Merced river there is a rockslide that closed the road. It was the biggest rockslide I had ever seen. The road was completely shut down and didn't look like it could ever be opened again. We were routed over a temporary bridge, across the river for 1/2 mile, then back over another temporary bridge back to the original road.


From there we head up a steep gorge to the park entrance where we took a break. The cool shade was a welcome relief after the hot ride up the river. From there we head up a gorge to Big Oak Road turn off. From there it is another steep climb up the mountain to Hwy 120 at Crane Flat. You climb some 4000' feet in just 10 miles of road. You pass through some great scenery up along the side of the mountain. The view back over the Merced River gorge and Yosemite Valley is outstanding. There was a controlled fire burning on the mountain across the river from the road. The view of the fire was something else. It gives you an idea of just how devastating fires can be in this environment.

We got to Crane Flat where one of the three park gas stations is located. The road intersects with Hwy 120 at this point. Going west on 120 takes you back to Modesto, east takes you over Tioga to the eastern side of the Sierra's and the state of Nevada. Filled up and ready, we headed east for Tioga pass. I was leading at this point and traveling at the speed limit. The park roads are normally very good and this one was no exception, surprising for a road that is closed for most of the year.


Climbing higher we reached the tops of the mountains out into the open. What a spectacular view. Olmstead Point has to be one of the most beautiful vistas in the whole park. We could see the landmark hills to the south, including Half Dome and Glacier Point. To the North, as we rounded Olmstead Point, we had a fantastic view of Tenya Lake. This is snow melt water, but people were out swimming in it anyway. We felt the water and it is really cold.

Moving on past that we pass through the mountain domes and finally come to Tuolumne Meadows. It is a huge group of meadows that are surrounded by mountain domes. The altitude there is 8619 feet, and you feel it when you walk. We fueled up there and got something to drink. Walking the inclines to and from the store really had me sweating. And, boy, is there some mesquitoes here! Swarms of them surround you. This is because it is a marsh here during the snow melt, with the Tuolumne River running through the meadows.



We traveled a little further and finally came to the park entrance located at Tioga Pass, elev 9945 ft. After passing out of the park, we pulled over for some pictures. From here you have a good view down the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The road down this side is very steep dropping you 3000 feet in a few miles. The hillsides are much more bare and there are few trees. The road down takes you along some scary rockslide hillsides. You can see fallen rocks on the side of the road and scrapes in the road where previous slides had been cleaned up. It is definitely not something you want to happen while you are on a bike.


More to come...

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