The photos below are what we saw.
We
spent the night at an RV park on the south side of Bishop, CA.
The accommodations were fine and we had a nice night. The a/c in
the camper was needed until sundown and the fact that we had it was a
pleasant surprise. The trip across the high desert was hot --
about 105 degrees, so we were happy to stop for the night.
The
next day was bright and clear, so we broke camp and headed north on
US-395 toward Lake Tahoe. The scenery along the eastern front of
the Sierra Nevada were breathtaking.
The
eastern Sierra provides some awesome views and the contrast of the high
desert landscape versus the mountains was striking.
The
road north gave us nice views of the snow fields of the high mountains.
The
weather was hot in the valley and the high temperatures was causing
high runoff in all the creeks.
Mono
lake was visible from 395. The level of the lake has been falling
in recent years due to diversion of runoff water to the taps of
Los Angeles. The high mineral content of the lake leaves salt
deposits on the shores of the lake.
A
road side stop provided a great view of the local wildflowers.
This area does not get much rainfall as evidenced by the barren
hillsides.
The
snow melt caused many local rivulets that flowed to the streams in the
valley floor. The ground water provided a good environment for
the wildflowers.
A
crest in the highway south of Bridgeport gave us a great view of the
high Sierra snowfields.
We
took the turnoff from 395 up to Monitor Pass (CA 89). The road to
Monitor was steep and very slow going.
It
only took a few miles until we were well over 7000 feet and the road
gave us a commanding view to the east.
The
view from the crest of Monitor Pass to the south was great.
We
arrived at the Tahoe Valley campground and set up for the
evening. Chas and Kevin were out on the trail getting into
trouble, but did return to camp several hours later.
That
is mud on the side of Chas' 1250. He had leaned his rig into a
ditch and brought a bit of the local landscape back to camp.
The
rear plowed up roots and grass, but no big damage was done.
Kevin's cab brush guard worked great.
Michael's
416 DOKA as we prep for a trail run up Twin Peaks trail. It seems
that the high snow level would preclude travel on many of the trails
that we wanted to do.
Rod,
our host, brought his 406. It is a very capable rig.
Since
I last saw Kevin's 1300, he added brush guards to the cab.
Steve's
404.
Chas's
1250 DOKA.
The
entrance to Twin Peaks trail has a substantial rock garden. This
portion of the trail proved to be quite challenging and not every rig
was able to make it. Happily, there was a bypass for this
obstacle.
The
boulders in the rock garden were substantial and sharp.
Rod's
406 had no real trouble with the rock garden. He was able to do
it with full tire pressure.
There
were some pretty big boulders in the garden.
The
overall grade on the rock garden was steep.
Steve
discovered that the front lockers on his 404 were not engaging.
He was unable to negotiate the obstacle even after many tries and in
the end had to take the bypass. An inspection of the linkage back
at camp did not provide any happiness -- he never discovered the cause
of the problem and was relegated to 3 wheel drive.
Michael's
416 had a bit of trouble, but got through unscathed.
Several
tries were necessary for the steeper parts of the rock garden.
This
driver was new to the unimog but the 404 handled the rock garden quite
well.
Several
attempts were required for the steepest parts of the garden.
Chas'
1250 has working gears and had no trouble on the rocks.
Rod
watches Chas take the steepest part of the garden.
Rod
approaches the second rock obstacle on Twin Peaks, but elected to take
the easy way to the right.
The
group assembles at the top of the Twin Peaks trail.
Looking
to the west, you can see the damage caused by the Angora Fire in
2008. The fire came right up to the homes at the bottom of the
ridge.
From
the peak looking north, we could see Lake Tahoe and the snow-covered
peaks in the distance.
A
closer look at Lake Tahoe showed some of the pleasure boats out for the
day.
To
the east of the peak, we could look down on the Lake Tahoe airport.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2011, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.