And it wasn't nearly enough! Knightstrom and I decided this trip rated 5 Stars and Epic; and we'd need to do another in the spring. There's just too much to ride in one trip.

Our goal was to hit one of the passes before they closed for the winter. We were thinking Sonora or Tioga, or both....but ended up doing Kaiser (9193 feet).

We took Friday off from work and headed out. We were a little late getting in; but completely geared up. We made camp at Lupine/Cedar Bluffs campground at Bass Lake. Turned out to be a nice central location.



Here we are gearing up for our first ride on Friday afternoon. Went out till dark. Got a little chilly coming back...but excellent ride into the National Forest from Beasore Road.

Here's Guyver (Phil).


And Knightstrom (Steve).

Here's a pretty typical shot of the roads and scenery.



All in all the roads were completely outstanding. So many in great condition with sweepers and twisties. Many out in the middle of nowhere with very little traffic and no ticket-givers.

We went through the little mountain town of Auberry on the road of the same name and saw some interesting sights.

What is that white thing with 4 wheels in the first picture?

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2007 Aprilia Tuono (black) 20k
2005 Suzuki V-strom (black) 53k, still going...

notice a trend?

That'd be the gear hauler. I trailored, Steve rode. Say what you will...we had chairs for our campfires and a few other essentials in there.

Here's a view of the Sierras from the north side of Kaiser Pass.



A high altitude lake from roughly the same location.

Saturday we rode around two hundred miles..most of it in altitude. On the way up we stopped for lunch at this fine dining establishment.



Later in the day we made to the Mono Hot Springs Resort....now closed for the winter. Here's a terrain shot with road in the background.



And someone had the great idea that inspiteof the fact that it was cold and windy at the time....with daylight fading....we should jump in one of the "improved" hot springs for a soak.

So, I'll let Knightstrom add some stuff if he wants. That's a wrap for me.

Great pictures! What part of the Sierras were you at?

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2004 BMW R1150RT

Thanks. We were near Yosemite. The nearest "big" town is Oakhurst. It's where the 41 and the 49 meet. North and slightly east of Fresno about an hour. We camped at Bass Lake, we road in that area, but also took off through the country, went through a small town called Auberry and connected with the 168 that goes to Shaver Lake.

At the end of that road where Huntington Lake is there is Kaiser Pass Road. On the way back we went down a road called Alder Springs which I think is pretty much Auberry Road; it was like our own personal race track. I mean that. If a person could get a ticket for having too much fun; I would of had one. Bike was pinned much of the way.

Bass Lake is about 30 min away from Oakhurst off of Hwy 41 in the vicinity of Shaver and Huntington Lakes. We figured a couple a weeks ago that we could fit in 1 last weekend for the riding season in the Mountains being as warm as late in the season as it has been. We mostly played it by ear. Friday it was warm riding though Fresno/ Central Valley in the low 90's it seemed. Set up camp in the late afternoon and went for ride. Missed a turn and got misplaced on a remote forest road ( Beasore Rd- fitting name) and rode back late in the dark with the Temps dropping quickly without jacketliners and warmer gear us. got back to Camp and got warmed up with Fire and beverages.
Saturday we took various roads and hwy's and wound up going to Mono Hot Springs. about 16 miles from Shaver Lake, on a narrrow poorly kept road a real kidney shaker. Had a nice soak- weather was starting to turn threatening at that point and it was pretty cold getting out. Rode back to camp on dfferent roads( I or Guyver will get those later). Had another nice evening of fire and eats.
Sunday was overcast from the get go- Broke down camp and went and did a few of the better roads from the day before. Got back to camp about Noon and it was starting to sprinkle/rain. Finished packing and headed for home. I followed Guyver on my bike and the rain stopped the bottom of the mountains but started back up again about an Hr from home - Glad I planned for some rain with my gear and it did pretty well overall. Never had really rode in rain before - proper gear and layering makes a difference. I'll add my photo's in another night or two.

FYI one of the pictures of phil's is Ward Lake that has a Campground. I'd recommend to anyone( Near Mono Hot Springs). Stayed there for a week 2 summers ago car camping.

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