The Amazing Sierra Mountains - Part I

  

Welcome back to my blog!  Life has a way of intruding on your plans, and I haven't been able to share our Sprinter travels as I did previously.  My blog this time will be in two parts since we ended up with so many amazing pictures to share.

Dennis and I left Poway the beginning of August with Portland as our ultimate destination to welcome Sam and Melissa's second daughter.  In the past, we've always hightailed it out of state to explore all the trails west of the Rockies and in Canada. This year, with a more limited time frame, we decided to explore the length and breadth of the Sierras.  We knew we'd have to stay at altitude to escape the scorching heat of the lowlands.  Sure enough, we turned off the 395 with the temperature hitting 112, and within 10 miles we were at 8,800' and a cool 75 degrees. 

Happy to be on the road again

Our first campsite was in the wilds of the southern Sierras in the Sequoia National Forest along the Trout Creek trails. Dennis uses TrailForks to locate highly rated bike trails, then ViewRanger and Google Earth to locate remote sites near the bike trails.  In the National Forests, there are very few rules (other than no campfires, which is an understandable bummer) so you are free to camp wherever you want.  And no leashes required for dogs!  Dennis usually seeks out sites with either water features or vistas.  This trip his site selections were all amazing, and thankfully not too far down treacherous dirt roads.

This was our first ride in the Trout Creek area on the Cannell Meadows Trail, a beautiful rolling trail through the pines and meadows.  First day at altitude (9,200'), I felt like an 80 year old lifelong smoker!  Fortunately we spent a lot of time off the bikes letting the dogs swim and cool off.  We were pleased to see they could still bike with us all day as long as we could keep them cool.  Day temps were perfect, about 75. 

After our ride we drove back down the mountain for a swim in the Kern River before climbing back up the west side of the southern Sierras for our next stop.  We were lucky to be able to swim in creeks and rivers after most of our rides.  That means we can skip showers and not have to refill our water tank as often.  However, "clean" does become a relative term after a while when you're camping.  In previous trips, we would stop off every week or so and spend a night at an airbnb to get a good shower and wash our clothes.  But due to COVID, we decided to stay isolated and...a little dirtier. 

The next night we spent on the west side of the southern Sierras along Tamarack Creek, nestled among the giant Redwoods.  We biked a trail called Freeman's Creek.  Dennis called it "Dessert Before Dinner" because it was super fun, flowy ALL downhill, streams at every curve, ending at a giant Sequoia named George Bush (#41 - why??).  Then...we had to bike all the way back up.😬

Our campsite along Bone Creek

Yet another beautiful spot, completely deserted, not too far off the road.  Notice all the dead pines - between fires and pine beetles, there's a lot of decaying trees.  Fortunately the aspens seem to be jumping in to the void. We were expecting hordes of people hiking and camping since most other forms of travel are too risky.  There were plenty of people in the towns around us, but no one ventured down the dirt roads to find these sites.  I guess I'd be a little scared to camp in a tent with bears around, and most RVs and trailers don't do that well on rutted, 4WD roads.  We're so glad we decided to get the Sprinter, which gives us the freedom to explore and get off the grid.  But with no connectivity for miles, we were a little sad that our bedtime episodes of Bosch didn't cache properly!

The dogs were a little tired after two hard rides, so we took them on a short trip to Rancheria Falls.  I was amazed at how much water runs in the Sierras in the dead of summer!  Afterwards, we left the dogs in the car with the fans running and did Badger Ridge Trail for a beautiful vista.  This one was all up, then all down, which is definitely my preferred way to ride...if I have to ride uphill.  (Dennis is always reminding me it's called "mountain biking", which means there are uphills AND downhills.)

Dennis tackling yet another rocky trail

Our next stop was the Oakhurst area, just south of Yosemite.  We camped right along the trail (which involved about an hour of bumpy dirt road driving - we're so glad we had Agile shocks installed last year as the ride is now so much smoother) and spent 2 nights there.  Dennis rode the black diamond "007" and "Octopussy" trails (shown above) while I spent a nice afternoon cleaning out the van, reading, and having my first shower in 5 days.  While I was trying to clean the van, the dogs kept jumping in.  It makes me wonder how much they like camping.  Their "job" is to protect the perimeter, so maybe it's asking a lot of them to protect us from all this unknown territory?  There is lots of wildlife here - bears, coyotes, mountain lions, marmots, and deer. Or maybe they're just being spoiled and want to relax where it's safe and cool. Probably the latter.

One of the Oakhurst trails at sunset

The next day, we set out on a joint ride, which was the most rocky, rooty, full of logs trail I've ever "biked" (this picture was the 6th log crossing in the span of a quarter mile). Not all trails are fun or rideable, but they're always an adventure.  I've learned from following Dennis for 40 years that it's best to keep an open mind.

Happy hour made happier by arriving (relatively) unscathed

After Oakhurst, we headed towards Bear Valley, which was teeming with people enjoying Bass Lake.  After a few misses, we drove down a more rugged dirt road, hooking branches with the roof of the van, and even at one point breaking a large branch which came crashing down the side of the van.  We were happy that neither the solar panel nor ceiling fans were damaged! (On the way out, Dennis used a shovel to push up the branches as we drove under.  That shovel has so many uses!)  We found a secluded site overlooking the mountains across from us, surrounded by several small lakes.

The nearby lakes were disappointing for swimming (unless you were a dog), so we set off for Alpine Lake and the bike trails around it.  The lake was stunning, but the bike trail was more rocks than road.  There was a much better, very steep trail that Dennis had chosen for us to ride, so I can't blame anyone but myself for the quality of the trail I chose.  

Scotts Lake

The road to Scotts Lake (just south of Kirkwood, near Tahoe) was a bit rough but it kept out all the riff raff staying along the Carson River.  We did make a brief stop along the river to take a much appreciated swim, but then we hightailed it to the more remote area along the lake.  

The ride we took the next day was my favorite of the trip.  We started with a rolling downhill through the forest, then crossed a huge meadow and climbed up the back side the mountain on the other side of Scotts Lake, providing a wide view of the mountain range.  Then we turned around and did it in reverse.  I'm always amazed at how different the rides are one way from the other way.  Even the things you notice are different.

   Scotts Lake trail

Transition from forest to meadow

Tahoe Rim Big Meadow Trail

After a quick swim in the lake and our standard turkey avocado sandwich for lunch, we descended back down, going through South and North Lake Tahoe en route to Grouse Ridge.  We couldn't believe how crowded Tahoe was!!  Traffic jams, everyone out and about on bikes, walking, tubing, boating - it was quite a shock after the isolation we'd been enjoying.

Stay tuned for Part II - coming soon!