Friday, October 12

By the morning of the 6th day of my trip through the valleys, deserts and mountains of Central California I had completed all but the last leg of my nearly 800 mile loop.

 

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I arose at 6AM to a chilly, 27 degree morning in Bridgeport. Checking the weather reports I saw there was a series of storms heading towards the Sierras. Not having enough experience to judge the seriousness of these I decided to get stared early so as to not have problems crossing the Sonora Pass which is just shy of 10,000'.

Sonora Pass (el. 9,624 ft. / 2,933 m.) is the second-highest highway pass in the Sierra Nevada, lower by 321 ft. (about 98 m.) than Tioga Pass to the south. State Route 108 traverses the pass.

The pass connects the communities of Sonora to the west and Bridgeport to the east. Like most high Sierra Nevada passes, the highway is closed in winter, generally between November and May, due to snow accumulation. Usually, the pass closes a few days later and opens a few days earlier than Tioga Pass. [1]

The highway over the pass is extremely steep, narrow and winding between Kennedy Meadows on the west side and Leavitt Meadows on the east. The route is not recommended for vehicles or vehicle combinations that are unusually wide, heavy or long. [2]

Source: Sonora Pass at WikiPedia

These 3 photos were take at about 7:30AM from US 395 about 10 miles north of Bridgport.

 

About 16 miles north of Bridgeport I picked up SR 108 which winds it's way up to Sonora Pass.

This view of the valley below was near Sonora Bridge.

The road was quite scenic and I had it all to myself.

The idea to build a trans-Sierra road between Sonora (on the west side of the Sierra Nevada mountains) and Bridgeport (on the east side) began in early 1852. Originally borne of a desire by local merchants and officials to attract new settlers to the gold mining region in the vicinity of Sonora, by the time construction began in 1863, the flow of gold seekers had shifted, with miners seeking their fortunes in the eastside goldfields of Bodie, Aurora and Esmeralda.

In the span of time between conception and construction of the road, Central Valley and foothill farmers, as well as other commercial interests, were poised to make their own fortunes by supplying miners with food and other goods.

Either way, the Sonora and Mono Wagon Road was a key to trade. Today, State Highway 108 both overlays and parallels the old wagon road. Many segments of this road can be seen from the highway as you pass by colorfully named places like Deadman Creek, Chipmunk Flat and Que de Porka.

Source: USFS

Sonora Mono Toll Road
Oldest of the trans-Sierra emigrant trails to California is spectacular Sonora Pass cross by Highway 108, second highest (9,626 feet) of all highway crossings of the range. The Bartleson-Bidwell party, with mules, horses and oxen made the first crossing on October 18, 1841. This route was not attempted by wagons until 1852. "Grizzly" Adams took the trail over Sonora Pass in April, 1854, and reported "on all sides lay old axle trees and wheels ... melancholy evidence of the last season's disasters." The present route first projected in 1862 was finally completed as a toll road, due to the extreme cost, by Mono, Tuolumne and Stanislaus counties in 1865. It was said to take three weeks for a six-horse team to make the round trip between Sonora and Bridgeport.

Plaque dedicated September 10, 1983
Bodie Chapter No. 64
Matuca Chapter No. 1849
E Clampus Vitus

Source: www.schweich.com

NO. 422 SONORA-MONO ROAD - Jedediah Smith is reputed to have been the first white man to cross over or near Sonora Pass in 1827. A portion of the road was built by Tuolumne County Water Company in 1852 and a toll gate, fine hotel, and stables were located near this spot in the 1850s. Surveyed to Bridgeport, Mono County in 1860, the road was completed in 1864, when a six-horse team took three weeks for the round trip between Sonora and Bridgeport.
Location: On State Hwy 108 (P.M. 14.5) at Sugar Pine cutoff, Sugar Pine

Source: California State Historical Landmarks

Life is hard up here at 10,000' feet as these stunted and twisted Quaking Aspen will attest.

California is home to 52 conifers, including 18 of the 39 species of Pines found in the US, as well as 10 of its 11 species of Cypress, and 7 of its 9 Fir species. So, this means I have no clue what these beauties were. But someday, I will return with a field guide and more time so I can find out.

This is Manzanita, one of the species of Arctostaphylos, of which there area 40 species in California alone.

The smooth, shiny, reddish/mahogany colored and sometimes peeling bark is quite beautiful. This coupled with the drooping clusters of bells shaped flowers and leathery green leaves make them popular as landscape plants.

Photo of Manzanita flowers © Wildscaping, a site dedicated to helping fellow gardeners in Southern California learn how to attract and nurture wildlife in their own yards.

This is a foliose bark lichens. Probably of the genus Letharia or Staghorn Lichen.

As everyone knows, logging is big business in California.

The clump of green foliage in the middle of the photos is a Witches Broom.

Witches broom is a symptom of woody plants where compact clusters of numerous twigs and branches are formed. The mass of shoots comes from a common point, giving a broom-like appearance. The witches broom may last several years. Although some people consider witches broom unsightly, serious injury seldom results.

Witches brooms can be caused by various sources including mites, viruses, fungi, mistletoes, insects, and nematodes. Knowing the type of host plant can help determine the cause of the witches broom.

Source:Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida

This and the above photo may be California Incense-cedar (Calocedrus decurrens).

I stopped briefly near the road to Kennedy Meadows - think, but I cannot be certain as I took no notes and I am no longer sure exactly where I stopped. Wherever it was there was a relatively new USFS restroom, parking lot and area for horse trailers. Below this area the road let to private camps and a foot bridge across the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus River. I wandered back towards the river and noticed a dark object near the base of a tree.

I decided to check it out and this is what I found. I had never seen or heard of these containers before. However, after a little trolling around the web I found out they are well known to backpackers and sold on the web by a number of vendors.

By turning the two slotted lid locks and pressing the recessed release button I was able to open the Cache.

I was, and continue to be puzzled why this Cache was lying here, in plain site, just feet from the foot bridge and a parked car which had a "Club"anti-theft device on the steering wheel.

Did a backpacker, in their haste, absent mindedly leave it there by mistake? If so, they must have been in shock when they pitched their first camp.

GARCIA MACHINE has pioneered the development of bear resistant food containers. Since 1982 they have worked with wildlife specialists to develop light weight containers that campers can count on to keep their food safe from wild animals. Documented studies have shown that the use of our containers has drastically reduced the seriousness and frequency of camper/bear incidents.

Keeping your precious food supply from wild animals is crucial for an enjoyable and safe outdoor experience. Allowing bears access to human food can lead to dangerous conditioned behavior. It is tragic that every year nuisance bears that become a threat to humans must be destroyed. The Model 812 Backpackers' Cache will keep your food and the bears safe.

Source: Wilderness Dining

Not far from the turn off to Kennedy Meadows is this pack station just across from the former site of Hayes Station. The historic marker below gives some information about this area.

 

This gorgeous Pine was near the historic marker.

Lots of squirrel food here!

Coming up next in Part 2 of Day 24: Winding through the Mountians and back into the Valley.

 

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Part 2