Sierra Nevada Mountain Ride - A Pashnit Tours Experience

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Transporting water, up and down mountains, and even through mountains



Long forgotten waterway - the Com3 shot

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The Venture



Not a bad view from Cherry Lake Road

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One of the things California enjoys is an intensely diverse landscape. No where was this more apparent to me then while triasping across the Sierra Nevada. Quite simply, the jewel of California.

While I have spent years extolling the uniqueness of Northern California roads, and the wonder of the Pacific Ocean- the Sierra Nevada is an experience unto itself.

while the roads never stop twisting and turning in the Motorcycle Kingdom of California- what does change is the terrain. And often. An easy way to understand the Sierra Nevada is imagine a narrow band of mountain range that stretches several hundred miles north to south.

And cut into these ranges are The Passes. With names like Sonora, Ebbetts, Carson, Monitor, Tioga- the combination of twisty road and high elevation is an alluring siren song calling your name.

The one other thing you might keep in mind is Density. As in what the Sierra Nevada is known for is it's compactness. You can ride several passes in one day if you play your cards right.

But for our ride- we'd start off with Sonora Pass. At nearly 10,000 feet, the order of the day was to ride nearly 2 miles into the sky. Not a bad assignment.

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Highway 108 and Highway 4. Sounds easy enough. In fact, it sounds too easy. Just two roads on the menu for the day. But held within these two roads were countless vistas that stretched off to meet the horizon, cutting the sky with jagged mountaintops framed against the deepest azure of blue.

Good morning world- Highway 108 - Sonora Pass

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As we climbed, I spied these pillars reminding me of Monument Valley. Might these be the cores of extinct volcanos that once erupted and created this land? Could be.

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Highway 108 climbs, offers up numerous switchbacks, and keeps a well-maintained degree of pavement.



Dreamy Sierra Nevada Mountain ride

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Running into Bradford, who'd just moved to the Bay Area and was out exploring. Somehow, he knew who I was and insisted on shaking my hand.

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Joe takes some sweet pics. Here's the section where it's a 26% grade straight up



And that view... Well, this is a Pashnit Tour. So there much be a view!!!

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At the summit of Sonora Pass, we stood nearly 2 miles in the sky. Next time you go outside, take a moment to look up- two miles. That's where we stood. What strikes me the most about these historic passes is how did they do it? The settlers, argonauts, gold seekers, and 49ers who paved these trails. What a rugged land it is up there.



Top side of Sonora Pass. There were people hiking above 10,000 up to the summit of this mountain.

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Harley atop Sonora Pass



Some light reading

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Joe & the all knowing YZF 600



Dwarfed in the shadow of mountain tops - Ray aboard the V-Rod