Day Six – South Lake Tahoe to Mammoth Lakes CA
Miles: 341
An early start was in order as we were embarking on our signature day. We were thinking it would be hard to top the Lake Tahoe Loop but today's ride could also be very good. We started with an early stop at what looked to be the original IHOP. Standard fare and what one would expect, along with good service. We blasted south on the Alpine State Highway also known as CA89 which also turns into Robert M Jackson Highway as it descends 3,000 feet towards Topaz Lake on the NV/CA border. All of this so far has been great riding and all of it in the Eldorado National Forest. Once we headed south on US395 we had the Peaks of the Sierra Nevada on our right. The road had straightened out but it was still a pretty nice ride. We stopped in Walker to buy some gas, and was surprised by the $5.11 per gallon cost. Not a major deal but surprised nevertheless. We broke away from US395 at Sonora Junction onto CA108. Just after the turn we came upon the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center where there was lots of equipment we really didn't see much activity. Just another few miles we had climbed up to Leavitt Falls Vista Point. A really nice and secluded spot with a long view of the falls awaited us. We walked around a bit looking for the optimal pic and soaked it all in. We continued up to the pass on the narrow and winding road that was as much as a 26% grade at places. There was road construction in places but for the most part it was a very nice run. Once over the 9400 foot pass we descended into East Sonora and Jamestown as we progressed toward Yosemite. When we turned from CA108 to CA49 we started seeing signs for Yosemite saying the park was full and to expect long delays. This was not a good feeling. We rode a few miles on CA120 and stopped at Vista Point on Don Pedro Reservoir to give it some thought. We decided we would continue on to Priest Cafe and then go into the park and if it looked to crowded we would bail before going all the way in. But before any of that came about we got to ride the Old Priest Grade up to Priest Cafe. The new US95 up Priest Grade also looked pretty good but we went with the old route. The road was narrow and double yellow the entire way. It was in pretty good shape but it was nothing super special like the Old Spiral Highway in Lewiston. We got about halfway and ran up on a car that we couldn't easily get around so we saw a pull over and waited for a long minute or two before proceeding. We finished the run and at the top we were rewarded with lunch at Preist Cafe. There were some other sport bikers there and we struck up a conversation. After the nice lunch we continued on CA120 towards Yosemite. The ride to the west entrance was nice and the road was pristine. Traffic wasn't all that heavy as we approached our decision point. After paying the entrance fee we proceeded to the Crane Flat gas station where Big Oak Flat Road splits from CA120 and flows into the valley floor. The traffic seemed fairly light so we proceeded to the valley floor and all of the main attractions. Once we got close we found a parking spot and took some pics of El Capitan and Bridalveil Falls. We didn't stay more than 10 minutes before continuing on. The traffic now was stop and go and much more stop than go. In the end and all things considered I'm glad we went in but it was rough go getting out. I know in CA lane splitting is allowable and we considered this but we decided to just wait and be patient. Back to Crane Flat we turned east on CA120 and continued through the park. The road on this side was equally good and although we rode most of the time behind cars it was still a nice ride at a fast enough clip to make it manageable. CA120 dean ends into US395 and we headed south towards Mammoth Lakes. Before we got too far on US395 we turned east on CA120 again and visited a remote spot on Mono Lake. The spot was as close as we could get on two wheels of the filming location of High Plains Drifter. It was a gravel road back to where we stopped and loose gravel at times making it a little uncomfortable, but we really wanted to see the spot. Nothing great but it was nice to take a pic. Another interesting view in the area was the Tufa Towers area that we passed on the way in. Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of ambient temperature water. After a brief run down US 395 we were in Mammoth Lakes and in our hotel. We wasted little time getting ourselves ready to go out. We walked to Mammoth Brewing Company where we had some good food, and good beer which included a couple of pints of IPA 395, but we had to scale it back a little and also enjoyed some Yosemite Pale Ale. We walked back to the hotel reminiscing of what was our signature day.
