shortcut to Ebetts Pass and beyond

[VisionMeister]

I've always enjoyed the ride over Ebbetts Pass, Hwy 4 in California. This is one of the the most undeveloped passes over the Sierra and is essentially a one lane road for about a 35 mile stretch from Lake Alpine up and over toward the Carson River canyon. Check out  http://www.scenic4.org/
The problem was I liked to ride it from west to east, so I return without having to ride the last 55 miles or so, from Angels Camp, in the hot California summertime heat.
I had a ranger tell me of a forest service road (7N09)that connected my area to Hwy 4 ,that he used with his Cal Fire truck. From the town of West Point on Hwy 26 there is a paved logging road called Winton Rd. Winton Road proceeds about 18 miles east from West Point, at which point the pavement ends. There is a fire station here and a sign for Hwy 4- 12 miles. I explored this road with my truck last fall and decided to try it with the Vision.
So, last Saturday I took off at 9:30 in the morning and rode Hwy 26 to West Point ,and Winton Rd to 7N09,to Hwy 4, and over Ebetts Pass. The unpaved section was ok, in that it was still damp for much of the distance, due to our late, wet spring, but not muddy.
This route cut off so much time that I rode right past Lake Alpine and through Markleville to the Hope Valley lodge, where I stopped for lunch. I had a great burger served by an attractive waitress, who helped inflate my ego with her friendly service.
The return ride over Carson Pass ( Hwy 88) had much more traffic, but most of it was going the opposite direction. I was home by 2:30 in time to do my chores before the misses got home. 

[Ron_McCoy]

Sounds like a great ride and a great day Craig.

[VisionMeister]

I can almost pick out the point of impact of the 2006 ride.
Dwight and I did a return run last weekend. He has a Vision now, a nice fresh one.
Its amazing how much time this saves me to get into this area. At least an hour each way.
Winton Road was built by a logging company so the turns all all very predicitable, constant radius turns. There is so little traffic it is like a private road.
There is a lot of forest service land up there that is open for green sticker vehicles so the main people you see are motorcycle riders.

Hope you are doing well and look forward to riding with you again.

[VisionMeister]

I forgot to mention that we saw a lot of Nortons and BSAs around the Markleville area. They apparently had a group ride (possibly arranged by Motoracer).
Most we're beautifully restored and the sounds were great.
Functional Peashooters would be a nice addition to the looks (and sound) of the Vision.
We followed a cafe'd BSA twin north through the Carson River canyon. It had two into one exhaust with rearsets and low bars and looked pristine.
It brings back memories of my high school years when Lightnings and Bonnevilles were considered "awesome". Who had the guts to ride those at full throttle?
Looking back it seems silly, but see a properly prepared one on a mile flat track and they were awesome.

[Ron_McCoy]

Back in the late 60s and early 70s, before the alloy XRs, Triumph and BSA twins were the hot setup for
miles and half miles. Lots of good racing and way more affordable than the XRs. I bought a new Bonneville last winter. It sounds and feels about the same as the old ones, but faster and much,much smoother.
I'm riding again, but  I'm having to build up my endurance again and limit myself to smooth roads at this point as much as possible.

[js9_20]

I've always liked Ebbets pass, too.  Beautiful country.  Cant say I've ever done it on a motorcycle but, I have been across there in a Triumph Spitfire though...  Haha.
I like Sonora pass too, plus I know a few good hot springs to jump into on the east side above Bridgeport.  I'm thinking I will head out on Sonora or Ebbets in a couple of weeks.  Should be nice, I haven't been out that way all year.

[motoracer8]

Hi Craig, you saw the yearly Sierra ride put on by the BSA club, I  did'nt get to ride this year, I spent my summer working in Phoenix.

I did take a nice ride last week but I did'nt ride the Vision, my BMW is alittle more comfy, about 10 years ago I took almost the same route on the Vision.

I went up over Sonora pass, down 395 to Bishop where I spent the night, the next day I went into Death Valley and had lunch at Furnace Creek were it was only 99 deg. through Pahrump to Las Vegas and spent the night, the next day I went north on 95 to Beatty and went by Scotty's castle back into Death Valley, it was alittle warmer 102 at Stove Pipe Wells and back to Bishop for the night, the next day up 395 to 108 and through the park to 49 and home.  1200 miles in 4 days, the weather was good, a nice ride.

I also got to do a good deed, a young guy from New York crashed his overloaded Suzuki Katana somewhere in Death Valley, I saw him on the exit road near Lone Pine stopped along side the road, he had broken the LH engine cover and had a serious oil leak. I said follow me to Lone Pine and we'll fix it, he thought maybe I knew of a Suzuki dealer there, I said no chance of that but there is a auto parts store there and they will have what we need.  I sent him in to the parts store while I removed the cover and did some carefull alignment with a rock, the cover was not smashed but had a big crack and a good sized gouge, after body work by the rock, carb cleaner and good old JB weld the cover was oil tight again. He wanted to pay me, I said save your money and buy a new cover. I went north, he went south. Like I said iit was a good ride.

  Ken

[funkamongus]

I live in South Lake Tahoe and make the ride out that way quite a bit. I like 49 too, from Hatlee, up by truckee, down to 50 or jackson, then back up the hill... Sounds like you had a GREAT ride!!

[fret not]

Funk, I think you mean Sattley in Sierra Valley.  That's the north end of 49.  Great roads.