High Sierra adventures!

6-7-21: Soon I will be able to have a blog post where I don’t make a stupid rookie RV mistake. This will not be that post. Being a native Californian, I have been to the Sierras on many occasions to visit Yosemite and the ghost town of Bodie on the Eastern side. However, previously I had always crossed over on the Donner pass or Tioga pass thru Yosemite and never while towing anything.

Today I crossed over on the Sonora pass (elevation 9,264ft) while towing of course. The nice folks at CalTrans posted signs warning big rigs not to use the pass, however it wasn’t until AFTER the last turn around that they also posted that travel trailers were not advised. 🥵 not that it would have persuaded me to turn around even if they had.

The trailer completely filled my lane from line to line, with no room for error. It was nerve wracking to say the least, but the best was yet to come! My Garmin GPS warns of steep curves and grades ahead, I was expecting the curve warning and maybe some 7-8% grade warning, but when it popped up with a +25% grade ahead I was shocked! I didn’t think such a thing was possible on a public highway!

I’m glad it was a weekday and traffic was amazingly light so I didn’t have to deal with pissed off people behind me because I think the high altitude was getting to the Tundra. At some points the best I could get out of her on the bigger grades was 19mph in 1st gear.

Of course what goes up must come down… I was glad there were plenty of pull outs on the way down so I could stop and cool the brakes off. I wish I could have taken a picture or video but it was plenty just getting over the pass safely. I’m sure bigger rigs have used this pass but I can say I won’t repeat any time soon!

Safely on the Eastern side of the Sierras and happy to see the flat wide open spaces on HWY 395, I stopped at the Mono Lake overlook for a photo.

After admiring the view it was down into the valley and on to camp, I’ll be back for more Mono lake action a bit later. I had reservations at New Shady Rest campground in Mammoth Lakes, CA. Once set up in camp I took the bike out to check out town and was happy to find an extensive multi-use trail system that covers the entire town and beyond. Mammoth Lakes has a tourist town feel and lots restaurants and brew pubs, just my kind of place, I’ll be happy to spend a few days here!

6-8-21: After a quiet night it was time to get back to Mono Lake for more exploring. My first stop was at the Panum crater, and I did the rim trail, a high and narrow trail around the lava plug. Lots of great views of the lake below and felt very adventurous today as the winds were gusting 40-50mph!

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After a windy 45 minute hike around the crater, I followed the gravel road cross country to the South tufa trail visitor center. The self guided nature trail takes you thru the tufa and to the edge of the lake. A very easy hike on the loop trail, parts even have a boardwalk. I wasn’t aware that Mono lake is a relative to the Great Salt Lake in Utah. It is salty too, I tasted to confirm! On a warmer day it would be fun to swim in the lake and feel the increased buoyancy of such high salinity.

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Finishing up it was nearly time for lunch and I had planned to take the nearby scenic drive on the June lake loop to find a nice spot to picnic. If you find yourself on this side of the Sierras, you really should take this drive, its right off HWY 395 and at only 16 miles long it is packed with amazing lake and mountain views.

I found my lunch spot at Grant Lake. In Grant Lake?

The lake was low enough that you could drive right down into what my GPS thought was the lake. Not a bad spot for a picnic!

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6-9-21: On my last full day in Mammoth Lakes I rode the Inyo craters loop. The trails here are very well marked and easy to find and follow.

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I started from my campsite in town which added 8 miles round trip to the proposed 10 mile loop. (In the end I sort of ad-libbed my own loop for a total of 25 miles.)

I must say range anxiety is real and it set in for me at about the halfway point. I was down to 3 bars (out of 5) on the battery indicator and I started to think how unfun pedalling a dead 60lb e-bike back to town would be. This is when you really start to pay attention to the map!

I decided to turn the power assist down to 3 or 4 and nurse it back. My map skills paid off and I returned to the trail head with 2 bars still showing. Knowing I only had a 5 mile ride back to camp I treated myself to a mostly pedal free return trip!

Sondors says 40-60 miles is the expected range, I have to say I’m starting to believe it. This mostly off road ride had a fair bit of climbing and finishing off with a nearly pedal free ride back to town still left me with 2 bars of battery showing. Hopefully I will start to trust it more once I have a few more rides under my belt.

Here is about 3 minutes of video of a nice single track loop starting from the Inyo Crater trailhead that I added to the ride. Enjoy!

I am really enjoying the Sondors e-bike! The bike has two modes of assistance; pedal assist which causes the hub motor to add to your efforts as you pedal. It really does make you feel superhuman when it kicks in. Throttle only mode requires no pedalling at all and will magically propel the bike to a limited top speed of 20mph. I have to say I mostly pedal as I’m trying to get some exercise. 😅

Best of all it has gotten me back out on a bike, enjoying the outdoors and being active. I hope e-bikes will bring more people back into biking in the future. (I’m looking at you boomers!)

Mammoth Lakes is a very bike friendly town, you can rent bikes/e-bikes from several shops in town and they have a huge bike park as well that even has lifts to take you to the top of the hills! If you visit bring your bike, you won’t be sorry.