Friday, October 22, 2021

Summit day.....

7:58 am - Friday - October 22nd - Bishop, CA - 39° F,  48% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the northwest.....clear skies today with a forecast high of 75° F.  Our view this morning.....↴

The Eastern Sierra Nevadas as viewed from 
Bishop Tri-Counties Fairgrounds

....on this date in 2017 TLE and I were hiking in Bryce Canyon NP........

All trails lead to TLE

Two days was really not enough time in Carson City, but it will have to do this time around.  We would have loved to drive up over Spooner Summit to see Lake Tahoe once again, have lunch at the Bridgetender in Tahoe City, and visit friends in South Lake Tahoe, but it was not to be.  We need to be in SoCal by this weekend to move our stuff out of my son's warehouse.

We were on US-395 heading southbound to Minden, NV just before 9 am.  Our first stop of the day would be the Maverick fuel station there where we would take on 139 gallons of #2 diesel at $3.54/gallon for a total cost of $493....ouch!  Fortunately we will not to 'pay the rent' again until sometime in December.

Standing between us and Bishop, CA was 160 miles of mountainous terrain, amazing, breathtaking, adjective defying scenery, and many high altitude passes.....the first one of the day being Simee Dimeh Summit at 5,987' above sea level just south of Minden, NV......


Topaz Lake

.....we re-entered California just past Topaz Lake, and continued on through Topaz, Coleville, and Walker toward Devil's Gate Summit......



.....standing at 7,519' above seal level.....a lot of grinding along in 2nd gear at 33 mph.....right at red line (2,100 RPM's)......


......after Devil's Gate Summit we took a long break in Bridgeport, CA before heading out of town to tackle Conway Summit, the highest elevation point of the entire length of US-395 at 8,131' feet above sea level.....

Bridgeport, CA.....City Hall

Looking north....

....and looking south



.....and it was another grinder.....8 miles to the summit before the Mono Lake Vista Point.....



.....we took another long break before continuing southward down to Mono Lake, and the small town of Lee Vining, CA.....

Still snow on the ground at the Mono Lake Vista Point from the latest snowfall


.....we always stop at this vista point whether going north, or south, to take a picture.  My parents did this when we were small kids, and TLE and I have continued the tradition.  The sky was amazing.......



....there were only two more summits to crawl over before we began our long 14 mile descent into Bishop, CA......the first.....Deadman Summit at 8,036' feet above sea level.....


June Mountain Ski Resort in the distance

Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort

.....and finally we passed the Sherwin Summit sign at exactly 7,000' above sea level.....


.....from there it was a slow slide downhill in 2nd gear for 8 miles at 6% grade, and another 6 to the Bishop, CA city limits.......



.....we arrived at the Bishop Tri-Counties Fairgrounds just before 2 pm, and opted for a site out in the field with 30 amp and water.  We've stayed here numerous times over the years....it is right downtown within walking distance of restaurants and services, and it is pretty quiet at night....





....and the view is not too shabby either.

We were going to go out to dinner, but TLE enticed me with the promise of a BLAT (bacon, lettuce, avocado, and tomato) sandwich for dinner....an offer I dare not refuse.....lol!  Only 200+ miles until we reach SoCal, and our home for the next 5 weeks!

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1 comment:

  1. Wow, that was a lot of big summits you crawled up and down today.

    ReplyDelete

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