The Three Parks TourMono Lake, the route passes throught the town of Lee Vining and turns uphill...

1 THE THREE PARKS TOUR

TheThree Parks

Tour

TheThree Parks

TourSeven days, 420 milesFor spectacular scenery on the grandest possiblescale, it’s hard to beat this tour through three ofthe most magnificent national parks in thecountry. It also happens to be one of the morechallenging routes we offer, with lots ofclimbing...but worth every drop of sweat andevery aching muscle. And as you’ll notice inreading the elevation numbers, there is moredescending than climbing...and what descending!Some of these downhills are so long and soexciting, you’ll have to stop halfway down to restand recover your wits.

The tour begins at Twin Lakes near the town of Bridgeport. For openers, it climbs up and over Conway Summiton Highway 395, setting the tone for the days ahead: up and down, over and over. After a run along 395 toMono Lake, the route passes throught the town of Lee Vining and turns uphill toward Tioga Pass and the back-door, upstairs entrance to Yosemite National Park. It then winds along the pristine, alpine roof of the parkbefore descending into legendary Yosemite Valley.

It takes most of the next three days to connect Yosemite to Kings Canyon National Park. The between-parksroute travels via Bass Lake, Pine Flat Lake, and a series of quiet, pretty byways. You may come on this tour forthe sights in the famous national parks, but these little roads through the middle of nowhere will provide youwith some of the nicest miles and most vivid memories of the tour.

After an incredible descent into awesome Kings Canyon—the deepest gorge in the United States—we willspend a day resting and relaxing in the canyon; hiking to waterfalls or exploring a cavern, or perhaps logging afew easy bike miles. Then we climb back up to the wonderful Generals Highway linking Kings Canyon toSequoia National Park...a cycling dream road through the big trees, culminating with a wild, 25-mile downhillto Three Rivers, just beyond the southern edge of the park.

It would be difficult to overstate the grandeur of this tour: from the massive granite cliffs and monoliths to theplunging waterfalls; from gem-like lakes to giant sequoias. On the downside, expect somewhat higher trafficlevels from all the motorized vacationers while in the parks. Scheduling this trip for September will help inthat respect, as the volume of visitors drops off substantially after Labor Day. There is only one day on this tourthat offers a shorter, easier route option. Most days are quite hilly, including some of the longest sustainedclimbs on any tour we have done...and some of those are at high altitude. However, there really isn’t a brutallysteep mile on the entire tour. We believe the tour is manageable for reasonably fit moderate riders, as long asthey’re willing to take a lot of breaks to catch their breath...and enjoy the scenery.

2THE THREE PARKS TOUR

Day 0: Drive to Twin Lakes

This is a resort area on the shores of a pair of smalllakes a few miles southwest of the town ofBridgeport...a six or seven-hour drive from the BayArea. It’s a beautiful setting: the two lakes nestle inthe bottom of a steep canyon, with jagged, 12,000'peaks soaring up dramatically at the farend of the second lake. There are severalcampgrounds along the lakeshore andalong the banks of Robinson creek,which flows out of the lakes and down toBridgeport Reservoir to the northeast.We are using Doc & Al’s Robinson CreekCabins. In addition to cabins, they haveRV and tent spaces...in particular, ahuge, rolling lawn, broken up by graniteboulders and little groves of aspen trees(above). Although you may not needthem on the first night, there are show-ers. They don’t take reservations, butinsist that they’re not needed after Labor Day. Ifyou have time on your arrival day, you can ridealong the shore up to the far end of the lakesunder the looming mountains. It’s very scenic,nearly flat, and about a 13-mile round trip fromcamp.

Day 1: Twin Lakes to Tuolumne Meadows

52 miles, 5000' up, 2300' down

Bonus: 12 and 10-mile out-&-backs

From Twin Lakes: you begin with a long, easydescent (middle photo) to the flat valley flooroutside of Bridgeport, and at about nine miles,you turn right on Hwy 395 and ride through thetown. Hwy 395 heads south out of Bridgeport

across the wide, flat floor of Bridge-port Valley (drainage for the WalkerRiver), with the low, dry Bodie Hillsaway to the left (bottom), and thesoaring ramparts of the easternSierra massing on the right. 395 mayhave a little more fast traffic and alittle less shoulder than we think ofas absolutely ideal, but it’s tolerable.You climb very gradually, and as youdo, the valley narrows, until you’reriding along the Walker River tribu-tary of Virginia Creek in somethingresembling a rocky gorge. At aroundmile 18, you pass the turn to Bodie, afamous ghost town.

Just beyond the Bodie junction, Hwy395 starts to ramp up into a long,

lazy climb. This is the run up to Conway Summit.From the Bodie junction to the 8138' summit, you’llgain about 1200' in seven miles. Along the way, thepretty headwater valley of Virginia Creek will be onyour right...splashed with wildflowers and dotted withgroves of cottonwood and aspen, with the greatmountains always in the distance, clawing at the


western sky. This is classic eastern Sierrascenery: open and arid, and with anaustere beauty unlike anything you’ll seeon the balance of the tour. Enjoy it now:once you cross Tioga Pass, everythingchanges.

Once atop Conway Summit, you come tothe first of the day’s two optional out-&-backs. This one runs uphill for 6.5 milesto Virginia Lakes (top photo). The otheris down at the bottom of the descentfrom Conway Summit, near Mono Lake,and it runs for five miles to Lundy Lake(middle photo).

The descent from Conway Summit is aflat-out flier: 1200' in four miles and

then another 400' a couple of miles afterthat. Nothing technical about this one...justgrab a tuck and see how fast you can go. Theonly problem: just after you’ve built up anice head of steam off the summit, there’s ascenic vista pullout, and you may want tostop to take it all in, for spread out overmost of the basin below is Mono Lake. Atjust over 25 miles, you might choose thisvista point as a good first stop for meetingyour sag. That way, you’ll be sure not tospeed past this gorgeous view (below).

It’s a spectacular panorama worthy of awonderful lake. Of course, you already knowall about the lake, right? All those SaveMono Lake bumper stickers? It’s been thedarling of the eco-warriors for years, as theybattled (successfully) to stop the southernCalifornia water moguls from slurping it allaway to the suburbs of LA. Now it’s pro-tected, and you can become better ac-quainted with it at the visitors center justoff our route at the bottom of the hill. If youdon’t stop, at least look closely as you pedalby to catch a glimpse of some of the bizarretufa rock formations around the edge of thelake. Because it has no natural drainage, thelake has become increasingly salty overtime, to the point where nothing can live init anymore except for brine shrimp. There iseven a shrimp works on the lake...a strangething to see in the high mountains!

Mono Lake is just below the town of LeeVining. From the low point on the day nearthe lakeshore, you climb about 400' to thetown (mile 37), and then get ready for somereal climbing. It’s time for Tioga Pass. The


right turn for Hwy 120 is just on the southedge of town, but if you’re paying attention,you can take a right on Utility Road just priorto the 120 junction and this quiet road willkeep you off the main highway for anothermile.

The climb to Tioga Pass (all photos) starts outrather steeply. You might begin to wonder ifyou can take this kind of abuse for the next 12miles. (That’s how far it is to the summit.) Butthen, after a mile and a half, the grade easesoff to the point of being almost flat, and itstays that way for the next two miles. Thatfirst steep pitch occurs on Utility Road, andthe near-flat begins when you turn onto Hwy120. Of course, all this level stuff is justdelaying the inevitable. The flat spot is atabout 7000' and Tioga Pass is at 9945', so it’sonly a matter of time before you have to face

the music. This is one of the highest pavedroads in California, and you’ll find that press-ing the pace even a little bit on the climb willput you into serious oxygen debt. Unless youlive at altitude, it’s best to take it easy and stopas often as you like to admire the splendidviews...and catch your breath.

When I first crossed Tioga Pass in the ’50s, itwas a real white-knuckle monster...a narrow,cliff-hanging ordeal that struck dread into thehearts of drivers unused to the high moun-tains. Then in 1961, the road crews went towork on a grand scale and tamed the beast.Somehow they managed to take almost all theexcitement out of what was formerly a legend-ary passage. Now, tourists in cars and RVs andchartered motor coaches cruise up and downwith no fuss or bother, comfortable on a steadygrade, with thousands of tons of gravel and fillbuffering them from the dizzying drops thatterrified their parents. (Just for the record, mygrandfather drove over an earlier, even moreprimitive version of the road in his Model A inthe 30’s, and he made similar, disparagingcomments about the 50’s-era road.)

None of this history means much to cyclists.The majestic mountains still loom up on allsides as you climb. And you still have to getfrom the bottom to the top. But the grade isnow very steady—in the 4-6% range—and themodern road offers moderately wide lanes andshoulders for at least a token amount of peacefrom the passing parade of vehicles. About five


miles from the summit, the grade eases off a bit nearEllery Lakes and Tioga Lake (above). There is a storetwo miles before the summit and after that, one long,last run up to the top and the entry kiosk to YosemiteNational Park, where the rangers will extract $10from your pocket for the privilege of visiting this verypopular park ($20 from your sag wagons).

You have arrived...and by virtue of having climbedTioga Pass, you are now entitled to enjoy all thepleasures and treasures of this magnificent parkknowing you’ve earned them. And you might as wellstart cashing in on your investment right now: theroad from the entrance gate to the finish at TuolumneMeadows (below) is all downhill, beginning with amellow glide along pretty, high-country Dana Mead-ows, and then accelerating into quite an intensedescent through the trees...another smooth, slinky40-mph delight. Altogether, you lose most of 1000' inthe final six miles of the ride. Along the way, youbegin to see the sights for which these mountains oflight are so justly famous: hugespalled, exfoliated granite monolithsthrusting up out of the tree cover likemushrooms through a lawn; snow-melt streams, bejeweled with colum-bine and clover, dancing and singingtheir way down the canyons, headingall unawares for those precipitousplunges over the great falls into thecathedral valley below.

Tuolumne Meadows is grand centralstation for the Yosemite high country.There are more rubbernecking,shutter-clicking, backpacking, day-tripping tourists here than at any spotoutside the valley. Although there isonly one road, it is nevertheless the

hub of a great intersection, for trails to andfrom all corners of the high Sierra fan outfrom here. The campgrounds here are fillednot only with car campers but with hikerspreparing to set off on long jaunts downinto the Grand Canyon of the TuolumneRiver or along the John Muir Trail.

Showers are a bit of a problem here, andafter climbing all day, you’re going to wantone. They are located at Tuolumne MeadowsLodge (a private resort), two miles east ofthe main campgrounds. Two dollars willrent you a towel and give you access to theshowers. The hitch is that the showers closeto anyone but Lodge guests at 3:30 pm. Ifyou’ve taken the time to do the optional

miles or any leisurely sight-seeing, you’ll be hard-pressed to make that deadline. However, I’ve foundthat if you’re bold enough, you can simply ride rightpast the office and into the shower building later inthe afternoon, assuming you have your own towel. Wemay rig our portable shower and not bother with thetwo-mile run back to the Lodge.

You will be warned repeatedly to secure your foodfrom bears. Please don’t make the mistake of thinkingthese warnings aren’t meant for you. Those cute,cuddly-looking bears are actually big, burly, profes-sional camp robbers and need to be taken very seri-ously. You will be in and out of bear country through-out this tour, and Tuolumne is one of the areas ofmost intense bear activity. Don’t try to cut corners onthis. Do whatever the rangers or the signs tellyou...and don’t forget about energy bars or other littlegoodies left in your bike bag. I have watched a beartrash a bike to get a candy bar out of the seat pouch.


Day 2: Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley

58 miles, 2400' up, 7100' down

Writing fine descriptive text about Yosemite is a littlelike trying to reinvent the wheel. It’s been writtenabout and photographed so often and so well thatthere is little I can add that isn’t hopelessly hack-neyed. The clichés and superlatives are as oversizedand grand as the mountains themselves, and withgood reason. It’s just too much, in every respect. Butbecause it’s all been said before, I will attemptto reign in my wilder flights of poetic licenseand stick to details relevant to cycling.

The ride begins with one of the few flat spotsall day, as you roll west across TuolumneMeadows (above), the largest subalpinemeadow in the Sierra. The road tilts uphill inthe third mile for the first of at least sevendistinct climbs today (each followed by adescent). That sets the tone for the bulk of theride: up a hill; down the other side. There isreally only one other flat stretch on the routeuntil you reach Yosemite Valley, and that’s atwo-mile run along the shore of Tenaya Lake.Otherwise, it’s up or down all day long, withthe downs tending to be much longer thanthe ups. The biggest single climb of the day is1200' in four miles (at mile 20). Most of theother climbs are in the 200'-500' range...toobig to be called rollers, but not really brutal.The descents are serious fun. From thesummit of that one 1200' climb, you begin aten-mile, 1750' downhill, and then, followinga short, mild climb, you launch off into one ofthe more amazing downhills you’ll everdo...3200' in 13.5 miles, as you sideslip downthe canyon walls into Yosemite Valley.

Scenery in the high country varies from theopen meadows of Tuolumne to the sparklingbeauty of Tenaya Lake and its surroundinggranite domes and peaks (middle). For themost part though, you’ll be riding throughforests of fir, cedar, and pine. Later in the ride,as you descend into the valley, leafy trees will

intermingle with the conifers.There are many places along Hwy120 through the high countrywhere you will see impressiveexamples of the glaciation thatscoured and sculpted the granite10,000 years ago. The area aroundTenaya Lake is a good spot for

admiring the polished domes of stone, and Olmsted Point,just beyond Tenaya, is another fascinating region of bare,exfoliated rock. This is also where you can get your first,faraway view down into Yosemite Valley...a teaser to whetyour appetite for the scenic feast to come (bottom).

At around mile 40, you come to your first junction sinceleaving camp, as you tee into Big Oak Flat Road near CraneFlat. To the right, the road takes the Hwy 120 designationand heads west out of the park and downhill to the centralvalley of California. But you’re turning left and heading eastdown into Yosemite Valley. There are assorted human and


car-oriented conveniences near this intersection... storesand gas and munchies. This will be your first access tosuch amenities since the ride start.

Now you begin your long descent to the valley. I’ll keep alid on the hyperbole and just say it’s a really nice downhill(!). About two thirds of the way down the 13-mile free fall,you’ll begin to catch little glimpses through the trees ofthe valley opening up below you. Then you’ll hit the firstof three tunnels carved into the cliff face (above). The firstone is the longest—nearly half a mile—and it has lightsinside. I suggest you slow down considerably from what-ever wild speed you were doing on the descent beforeentering the tunnel. You probably ought to remove yoursunglasses too. Even with the overhead lights, it’s prettydim in there. There is another good reason to slow downhere: just as you pop out of the tunnel on the downhillend, there is a turnout overlooking a great view up themain valley (right). This is the best view-point into the valley that you’ll have andit’s a stunner...a must see. Also, it’s a verynarrow turnout—hardly wider than aparking strip—and it may be filled withjostling cars and camera-wielding tourists.Speeding out of the dark tunnel into thiscongestion could be very hazardous. Thereis another really nice vista point justbefore you reach the tunnel. I recommendstopping at both of them.

The other two tunnels are less than a tenthof a mile each and are not lit, but youshould be okay zipping through themwithout lights. If you don’t run a strongheadlight in these tunnels—and I’massuming you won’t—you should be alertto the possibility of oncoming cars passingin the tunnels. Motorists may see the long,

straight run as a great opportunity forpassing a slower vehicle. If you’re lost in thedark ahead, they may pull out right intoyour path.

Finally, you arrive on the famous valleyfloor. There are far too many wondroussights here to enumerate them one by one.They are well documented by signs and inthe official park literature. Besides, regard-less of whether you know the appropriatenames for them, you really can’t miss theroadside attractions here. There is nothingsubtle about sheer granite walls 3000' highor the waterfalls that come streaming downfrom their crests. Nor is it easy to ignore theleafy woods and flower-flecked meadowsalong the banks of the Merced River, wind-

ing down the valley floor. Everything you see and feelhere lives up to whatever hyped-up anticipation youmay have brought with you. It is truly one of the mostmagical, mystical places on earth.

The only things to come between you and the magic ofthis place are the teeming masses of people and theircars, which have the unfortunate effect of sometimesmaking the whole experience feel a bit like Disneyland.The main roads running along the length of the valleyare one-way and are two lanes wide. On a busy day,they can be choked with traffic almost to the point ofgridlock. Various plans and projects have been imple-mented to help relieve this congestion, but yourgreatest ally in avoiding the worst of this scourge iscoming after Labor Day and visiting the valley on aweekday, which is what we’re doing.


We’ll be camping at the far eastern end of thevalley. Last time we were here with the club, wecamped in Upper Pines, which is a good but notgreat, typical car-camp sort of site. There used tobe more secluded group sites, but they werewiped out in a big flood in 1997. They aresupposed to be reopened eventually, and if theyare, we'll try to get in there.

Showers in Yosemite Valley are available for nocharge at Curry Village, which is a mile or sofrom Upper Pines. You can ride or walk over orhop on one of the many free shuttle busescruising the valley floor.

When we cycle-toured here in 1998, we includeda layover day in the Valley for extra sightseeig.We learned from that experience and are doing

things differently now. Our layover day isnow going to be in Kings Canyon, betweenStages 5 and 6. This short, quick, mostlydownhill stage into the Valley—todady’sstaage—gets you to camp with plenty ofafternoon left for exploring. And while itwould be silly to say that the whole of thismagnificent chasm could be dispensed within a single afternoon, we had to make achoice: we only have enough days for onelayover, and there were more compellingreasons for choosing Kings Canyon. Forone thing, almost everyone has visitedYosemite Valley before, but not nearly asmany have been down into Kings Canyon.Also, having a rest day after only two days ofriding doesn’t make as much sense ashaving it between the two longest, mostchallenging stages of the tour, which iswhere Kings Canyon occurs in this trip.Rather than arriving with most of theafternoon still ahead of us, as we did inYosemite, we arrived in Kings Canyon at theend of the day, and by the time we’d pitchedcamp and showered, we were eating dinnerin the dark. We never got to explore theregion at all.

With our speedy stage into Yosemite Valley,we expect to have plenty of daylight forroaming around, on foot or bike, to see atleast a few of the valley’s legendary sights.In addition to the obvious and spectacularcliffs and monoliths and waterfalls, there arehistoric treasures to visit, such as the grandold Ahwahnee Hotel (below).


Day 3: Yosemite Valley to Bass Lake

58 miles, 4500' up, 5000' down

Bonus: 5 and 12-mile out-&-backs

Today’s route consists of three big climbs andthree big descents, with more-or-less flatsections at the beginning and end. After amildly downhill, 8-mile run along the valleyfloor at the start, you begin the first of yourthree big climbs: the tough pull up the southwall of the valley. My notes show a gain ofabout 1000' in the first 3.5 miles—up to andthrough the tunnel—then a short, nearly levelspot, and then the remaining climb of just over1000' rationed out over the remaining 5.5miles to Chinquapin Junction. There is a widepullout just at the entrance to the tunnelwhere you can look back and take in one lastincredible panorama of the valley. The tunnel(above) is nearly a mile long and is lighted. It’suphill all the way, so you’ll be in there forawhile. There are several flat or nearly flatsections in the climb beyond the tunnel, andnone of the grades is very steep.

Over the top at Chinquapin Junction, you beginthe first of your three big descents...over 2000'in 12 miles. This is an enjoyable downhill, notoverly steep, but always busily switching backand forth through the forest, mile after mile.There are few places to stop and take in anysweeping vistas. It’s mostly trees, trees, andmore trees. So what the heck...go ahead andhammer! However, when you hit the bottom, letyour momentum bleed away and take a lazy

turn through the grounds of the old WawonaHotel (bottom photo). If you liked the rustic-deco spaces of the Ahwahnee in YosemiteValley, you’ll probably also enjoy the coun-try-Victorian elegance of this 130-year oldresort. If your cycling shoes will permit it,take a stroll through the main rooms of thecentral building and check out some of theunique lodges set around the grounds. Afterso many miles of nothing but trees andgranite and wilderness, it’s startling andrather pleasant to fall into this quiet havenof genteel civility. Wawona is at mile 30 andmight make a good spot for a regroup withthe sags.

Our first optional out-&-back is a short runup to Lower Chilnualna Falls (below). This


comes up about a half-mile before the Wawona Hotel.The road is only moderately interesting, but the fallsare lovely, and make a nice spot for a break, especiallyif it’s a hot day. This is around five miles, round trip,and only slightly uphill on the way to the falls. Theother side trip is to Mariposa Grove, a wonderful standof giant sequoias (above). That road spurs off ourroute just before we leave Yosemite at the south-ern entrance. The road is loads of fun, all twistyand up-and-down, and is around six miles eachway. The trees are of course impressive as well,although we’ll be seeing bigger and better ex-amples of these grand monarchs when we get toSequoia National Park in a few days. Back to themain route...

Just beyond the Wawona Hotel complex, the roadbegins to climb again and continues to do so forthe next five miles to the south gate out of thepark, gaining 1100' along the way. At which pointyou go downhill again... 2400' in 12.5 miles onwhat is now designated Hwy 41. There is one littleuphill bump in there, just below the little town ofFish Camp, but otherwise, this is a long, smooth

descent. Now that you’re out of the national park, yousee intermittent residential and commercial develop-ment, although nothing too jarring. As you descend fromthe higher elevations, the forest again begins to show amix of deciduous and coniferous trees...all very pretty.

At mile 47.5, you leave Hwy 41 for Road 222, followingthe sign to Bass Lake. If you’ve been descending aggres-sively, you may come upon this turn at high speed, sostay awake for it. Just around the corner, you begin thethird and final climb of the day. This is perhaps the leastpleasant stretch of road on the entire tour...four lanes-wide and fast. You can avoid a small portion of the worstof it by dodging off onto quiet little Road 220 for most ofa mile. But all too soon, it loops back to the main drag.By the time you reach the top of the three-mile, 900'climb, the road is back to two lanes and at least looks alittle nicer, even if the traffic is still whizzing by. Justdown the other side from the top—less than a mile—youbear right at a junction where the road splits to headdown either side of the lake. You’re still on Road 222, andthere are signs pointing you toward Bass Lake andMiller’s Landing Resort on the west shore. After thejunction, the traffic seems to taper off and mellow out.Perhaps a good portion of the traffic has gone down theeastern side of the lake, where there are several largeresorts and more residential development.

You’re now descending gently to the shore of Bass Lake(below), a very attractive natural lake surrounded by talltrees. The road along the edge is a cycling delight,bending and dipping in and out of one little cove afteranother, always near the water. About the only knock onBass Lake is the large number of noisy speed boats andjet skis snarling back and forth over its lovely waters.Perhaps this marine traffic will also abate somewhat afterLabor Day.


We will camp in Lupine Cedar campground, which comesup about a mile and a half before Miller’s Landing Resort,where there are rather expensive pay showers. (We haveoften used Lupine Cedar for our Grizzly Century weekendcampouts.) It’s a very nice camp, with a beautiful beach justover the road. The lake is very pleasant for swimming—notat all chilly—and some folks may choose to just splash inthe lake and skip the mile-plus run down to Millers for areal shower. But remember: there are no showers on thefollowing night at Choinumni either. This will be your lastchance for a real clean-up until Kings Canyon. This may beanother good spot to set up our portable shower.

Day 4: Bass Lake to Choinumni Park

71 miles, 5700' up, 8300' down

58 miles, 3200' up, 5300' down

This is the only day on the tour that doesn’t include anyportion of the three national parks that are the star attrac-tions of the trip. One might assume that it is therefore justa connector day of no particular merit. One would bewrong. This route is a jewel... quiet little roads wanderingthrough the middle of nowhere, empty oftraffic and sometimes seemingly empty ofthe towns or houses that might generateany traffic.

It is also the only day that offers a shorter,flatter option as well as a longer, hillierone. This tour is not intended to be an all-things-for-all-people tour, with easieroptions every day. On this one day however,there happens to be a simple shortcut thatit would be silly not to mention. I expectmost people who have committed to thistour will want to do the hillier route. If youcan do the climbs on the other days, you

can do the big hill on this day as well, and ifyou do, you’ll find it to be one of the bestadventures of the whole week. But if you’reworried about how your legs will hold up onthe final days of the tour, the shortcut is anhonorable alternative.

The ride begins by heading south along theshore of the lake (left), but soon climbs intothe nearby hills. At this point, the road iscalled both Road 222 and Crane Valley Road.After climbing for a mile, you drop for a mileand turn left on a road (still 222) at a sign thatsays, “Manzanita Lake 2, North Fork 4.” Thiscontinuation of 222 drops for another twomiles on a tricky, twisty descent to ManzanitaLake, and then, after a few small rollers and

swift descents, dumps into the little town of NorthFork. Turn right up the hill (still on 222) and then leftdown the hill (on...yup: 222!). After this, the road stopsbeing 222 and becomes Auberry Road and for awhile,Powerhouse Road. Whatever it’s called, it’s a great roadfor cycling, and it only gets better.

At about mile ten, you tumble into the canyon of theSan Joaquin River on a wicked, four-mile, 1500'descent—all sinuous turns—that snakes right down tothe river and crosses it on a picturesque old bridge.With several dams downstream, the river is actuallyidentified as Kerckhoff Reservoir at this point, but itlooks more like a wide, lazy river to me. Fortunately,the climb up the other side of the canyon is not assteep as the descent was...only about 1100' in the firstfour miles (below) and another 200' in the rollingmeadows at the top. This is lovely country...sparselysettled ranchlands and steep, wooded canyons, dottedwith oaks and wildflowers.

The small town of Auberry comes up at about 21 milesand makes a good spot for a regroup. It also marks the


spot where the two routes diverge. The turn for thehilly route is just before town, while the shorter routecontinues on through town. (Curiously, our road wascalled Auberry Road down to the river, then Power-house Road up the other side. Now our long and shortroutes—two very different roads—are both calledAuberry Road again. Go figure.) The short route dropsa couple of hundred feet on the far side of Auberrybefore hitting Hwy 168 (also known as Lodge Road).Turn left here and suffer through a mile and a half ofheavy traffic heading up to Shaver Lake. After that,168 continues east and becomes a veritable freeway,but you bail out to the right on a kinder, gentlerLodge Road and escape most of the traffic. There is asign at the intersection that says “To Tollhouse.”That’s the way you want to go. Lodge Road featuresrolling hills and then a steady downhill to the junc-tion with Tollhouse Road, where the long routerejoins. Taking this short route cuts out over 13 milesand almost 2500' of climbing, but also misses awonderful descent.

Back to the long route... Turn left on Auberry Roadjust before the town and begin a 13-mile climb(above). Ouch! Sounds ominous, but it’s notthat tough a climb. It gains less that 2500'over its entire distance, yielding an averagegrade of less than 4%. That includes somenearly flat spots and some steeper sectionsapproaching maybe 8%. Scenery ranges fromwide open panoramic vistas over the valleysbelow to shady sections through woods of oak,manzanita, and madrone. This road and theone that follows are both featured in thelegendary Climb to Kaiser cycling classic, onlythey ride both of them in the opposite direc-tion. As you grind your way up this long,smooth climb, imagine the crazed riders in C-to-K passing you, going the other direction,descending at warp speed.

Of course, we wouldn’t be doing this big climbwithout a big downhill payoff at the end, wouldwe? That would be Tollhouse Road (below).There are a couple of miles of rollers at the topof Auberry Road and then, after crossing Hwy168 onto Tollhouse, the fun begins. Climb toKaiser literature lists this top mile of Tollhouseat 16% and it could well be. It’s totallyhairball...a real brake-burner. But then the pitcheases off and settles into another six miles atsomething like 6%...slashing and carving downthe mountainside, with views to mammothgranite cliffs and domes just a touch less spec-tacular than those in the nearby national

parks...and with a tiny fraction of the tourist traffic the parksendure. This is cycling at the highest level. You’re torn be-tween grooving the downhill for all it’s worth and stopping togape at the scenery.

The grade levels out for a half-mile through the little village ofTollhouse and then resumes its downhill ways for most ofanother two miles. Along the way, you pass the Lodge Roadjunction where the short route comes in, and then everyoneturns left onto Burrough Valley Road and you have to startclimbing again. Burrough Valley Road begins with a substan-tial climb—and not a very pleasant one either—but you’regoing to avoid the worst of it by turning left onto BurroughNorth Road, a smaller, quieter road, with considerably lessclimbing. Not that it’s exactly flat. There’s a stiff little hill here,but it’s fairly painless work in a peaceful, woods-and-meadowssetting.

After that climb, you can look forward to several miles ofbeautiful riding...first on a long, gentle downhill on BurroughNorth, then back on a nicer stretch of Burrough Valley Road(including a slick descent), and then off to the left on MaxsonRoad. This is one of the nicest roads on the tour...quiet, emptymiles through a classic Sierra foothills landscape: no cars, nohouses, no stores...just oaks, grass, and granite (top photo).


From that small climb on Burrough North, youdescend most of 1000' in about six dreamymiles, and after another fairly substantial climbon Maxson, you dance down a fast, technicaldescent (middle photo)—600' in 1.5 miles—tothe point where Maxson tees into TrimmerSprings Road above the shore of Pine Flat Lake.

Turn right on Trimmer Springs and begin aseven-mile, ever-so-slightly uphill traversearound the lake...which is not a lake but a verylarge reservoir impounding the waters of theKings River. It has that barren, “ring aroundthe bathtub” look typical of so many artificiallakes...not very appealing. I mean, it’s refresh-ing to see all that cool, blue water in this hot,dry country, but it would be nice if they had amore attractive container to keep it in. There

are a couple of rather ambitious climbsalong this section, and if it’s as hot as it waswhen we did it the last time, you may findthese last ascents quite a trial. Just beyondthe dam, Trimmer Springs drops down intothe river valley and descends rapidly for thefinal six miles of the ride to our camp atChoinumni County Park, one-tenth of amile off Trimmer Springs on Pine Flat Road.

This is a pretty park spread out along thenorth bank of the river. There are sprawlinglawns and many old shade trees. There isgood well water piped into the camp, but norunning water in bathrooms and only pittoilets. This lack of bathing water may strikeyou as a hardship on a hot day, but I have totell you: you’re lucky to find any camp-grounds at all in this obscure little outback.There are some other campsites back alongthe barren strip of dirt next to the reservoir,but they’re ugly and cater to power boaters,and didn’t seem acceptable at all. In con-trast, Choinumni has lawns and shade andthe beautiful river sliding by (below), andthe curse of the missing showers is also ablessing, as it keeps the crowds away. This isgood, because they don’t take reservations.But given the underused nature of this site,that shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve been theretwice, and in each case, this campground ofover 100 sites has been absolutely deserted,and the lonely camp host tells me it’susually like that.

When we toured through here in ’98, it wasclose to 100° at the end of the ride, andeveryone jumped into the Kings River, just


next to our camp (above). There are lots of nice spotsfor diving straight into deep water, which is the bestway to get wet: the water is so cold, you’d never go inall the way if you waded in feet first.

Day 5: Choinumni to

Kings Canyon

75 miles, 10,000' up, 5600' down

This may be the hardest day on the tour, but it’s alsoone of the most rewarding and enjoyable, with a widevariety of great scenery passing in review, and lunaticdownhill hi-jinks to complement the climbs. After ourtour, the debate raged as to whether this day or thefinal day was the greatest single day the riders hadever spent on a bike. Considering the veterans we hadon that tour, and all the wonderful placesthey’ve ridden, all over the world, that ishigh praise indeed.

After leaving Choinumni, you head downTrimmer Springs to the little town ofPiedra, cross the river, and turn left onElwood Road. Elwood begins with ashort, sharp climb of half a mile. Thesummit is very abrupt: hit the top andimmediately drop down the other side.But before you launch off into the niftydownhill, check out the view for asecond. It’s a beautiful vista back up-stream along the river.

The pretty countryside you roll throughafter the one-mile descent is calledWonder Valley, and it is aptly named.(Although, to be fair, it’s no more won-derful than most of the other country

you ride through on this tour. There ishardly a mile on this entire trip that doesn’tevoke wonder and joy and a profound,happy gratitude at being alive and able toride here.) You meander across the rollingvalley floor for about five miles, and thenyou begin a stout climb (below) of 1400' in3.5 miles that lifts you up out of WonderValley. Once over the top, you have asnappy little descent to a junction withHwy 180.

This is the main highway up into KingsCanyon National Park and it carries a lot oftraffic. Fortunately, your route avoidsalmost all of this road until you’re very nearthe park. (An aside about traffic: althoughthere is rather heavy traffic in all three of

the national parks on this tour—especially Yosemite—itis my subjective, entirely unscientific observation thatdrivers here tend to be a bit more relaxed and mellowthan out in the real world. For one thing, the parks allhave low speed limits, which helps. But more than that, Isuspect most drivers are pacified and diverted by the awe-inspiring sights around them. They may be rubberneck-ing and inattentive, but at least they’re not rude andaggressive.)

Just a slight jog up 180 from Elwood is a nice little roadcalled Indian Guide, which isn’t even shown on most roadmaps (but we found it!). This is your escape hatch fromthe busy highway. It rolls easily for a mile and a half to ameeting with Ruth Hill Road. There, you turn left andhead east, and after a couple of roly poly miles, begin toclimb. This is sort of a jumpy climb...steep little pitches


alternating with saddles and longer, gentler grades...a littlebit of everything. (Some of the riders in our group felt itwas the steepest, hardest climbing on the tour.) After 1000'of climb in 3.5 miles, you slope off the other side on ascreaming, twisting descent, climb a bit, hook a right onSans Baker Road (sometimes signed as Sand Baker), andcontinue over up-and-down terrain to an uphill left ontoSand Creek Road.

Every one of these little lanes brings you back road bikingat its best...Elwood, Ruth Hill, Sand Creek... little morethan a lane wide at times and often without striping, theywander their lazy ways through the pretty hills, sidestep-ping a granite boulder here or an overhanging tree there,skipping nimbly across a little stream on an old woodenbridge... These unknown, unheralded byways are some ofthe nicest surprises on the tour. You may have come forthe main attractions in the big parks, but you’ll rememberthese charming, modest miles as fondly as any of thegrander sights.

Sand Creek (above) is one of the nicest of all these nicelittle roads. It traverses the mountainside on a nearly level(but never straight) line, gaining elevationalmost imperceptibly on its way to ameeting with Dunlap Road. Dunlap climbsa bit more aggressively but also containsmany flat or nearly flat sections. This is alleasy climbing, and yet by the time youreach the little community of Miramonteat mile 30, you will have already climbed3500'! It kind of sneaks up on you. Theroad crosses picturesque Mill Creek atMiramonte (right) on one of those cutelittle wooden bridges. This might be a goodspot to take a break and meet your sag, ifyou haven’t done so already. There is apleasant store just up the hill from thebridge. Beginning at the turn onto Dunlap

Road, the route has been repaved (as of1998) and is satin-smooth for many miles.

At Miramonte, all this subtle, on-again-off-again climbing comes to an end. You’llgain as much elevation in the next 15miles as you did in the first 30, and you’lldo it steadily, with only a few minor breaksin the 4-5% grade. Just on the other end ofthe bridge, the serious climbing begins,along with that other harbinger of higherelevation: thicker forests of firs and pines(as opposed to the oaks and meadows ofthe foothills). It’s time to settle down, finda gear that works, and zone off into acouple of hours of climbing

yoga...mountain dharma.

Dunlap gives way to Hwy 245 just below the town ofPinehurst around mile 34. In spite of being honoredwith an official state highway number and a thickerline on the map, this is also a rather sleepy littleroad...big enough to have stripes and wide lanes, butstill rather quiet. There is a nice little fruit stand onthe way into town and a small store in town as well.After Pinehurst, it’s steadily up, up, and up. The statsfor this climb are similar to the more famous run upto Tioga Pass on Day 1: about the same amount ofelevation gain, but spread out over a couple of extramiles, and with thick forest and isolated slabs of stonein place of the barren, rocky cliffs at Tioga. Also, incontrast to the exposed, rocky Tioga, almost all of thisclimb is done in the shade of deep forest. Of the twoclimbs, this is definitely more pleasant, and althoughwe were rather dreading it ahead of time, we were allsurprised at how easily we rode up it.

A little over nine miles into the climb (mile 40 over-all), you finally come back to Hwy 180 and turn right,


up toward the park. The park entrance stationcomes up in a couple of miles, where you cantake a breather while shelling out $5 for yourpark permit, which is good for both Kings andSequoia. At mile 44, after 14 miles of nearlyconstant climbing, you arrive at The Wye, theintersection of Hwy 180 and the GeneralsHighway. This essentially marks the top of theclimb, although there are a few minor hillocksin the next couple of miles. The GeneralsHighway heads south from here and connectsKings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.We’ll pick it up a few miles further southtomorrow. For now, we turn the other way andfollow 180 past Grant Grove, the stand of giantsequoias that marks the first roadside attractionin Kings Canyon Park. There are stores and allthe usual conveniences in Grant Grove Village.

There are also campgrounds here. It’s possibleto call it a day here, camp near Grant Grove,and then ride on out along the Generals High-way tomorrow, skipping the monster descentinto Kings Canyon and the monster climb backout the following day. But we’re not doing thatbecause the Kings Canyon adventure is prob-ably the highlight of the entire tour...even moreimpressive in its own way than Yosemite. I dorecommend skipping the mile-plus detour toGrant Grove to see the sequoias. It’s wonderfuland impressive, but there are bigger, moreimpressive trees in Sequoia NP on tomorrow’sroute, and they don’t involve a hilly out-&-back. This day is long enough and hard enoughwithout any add-ons.

The road through the cool forest fiddles aroundwith little ups and downs and flats for fourmiles and then goes downhill with a vengeance.

Kings Canyon is the deepest gorge in theUnited States, and as you descend into it overthe course of the next 14 miles, you will drop3600', bottoming out at an elevation lower thanthat at Miramonte, where you began the bigclimb. Along the way, you’ll pass through manydiverse zones of vegetation and geology, begin-ning with the green forest at the top (left),dropping through dry chaparral in the uppercanyon (middle), and then a nearly barren zoneof sheer rock walls with desert flora like yuccasclinging to the cliffs (bottom), and finallyending in the bottom of the canyon along thebanks of the magnificent Kings River, its glassgreen waters cascading from one clear pool toanother over rippling rills and thundering


cataracts, with groves of sycamore and elm andalder nodding over the stream (below).

For a cyclist, this descent into Kings Canyon is anepic journey. Beyond the beautiful scenery, there isthe dizzy, manic downhill itself. The first threemiles may be the steepest and fastest part of thehill. Depending on how hard you push the enve-lope, you could work up some serious speedthrough here. After a half-mile flat spot at theHume Lake turnoff, the plunge continues, onlynow the grade is slightly less steep and there aremore twists and turns in and out of little sidecanyons.

It’s difficult to single out one section of such anincredible ride as better than another, but oneportion does stand out for me as coming close tothe most perfect piece of cycling road I know: thelower portion of the gorge, including HorseshoeBend (right). Here the canyon walls rise up innearly vertical cliffs and ramparts, sometimes evenoverhanging the road, and in places soaring forhundreds or even thousands of feet overhead. Thenarrow road grapples its way along the cliff like atenacious clinging vine, its many curves moldedinto the contours of the rock. The outside edge ofthe pavement is often only inches from near-sheerdrops to the boiling river, hundreds of feet below,and only the beautiful old stone parapets protectthe unwary from some major hang time. The icingon this delicious cake is great pavement..smooth asa baby’s bottom. It’s like cycling in your dreams.The marathon downhill is broken up in the deepcanyon by a few level and even uphill sections. Takethese in good cheer: they will afford you blessedbreaks on the long climb back out of the canyon.

And as they say in the ads: but wait...there’s more! Theglorious descent finally ends near Boyden Cavern, butyou still have over ten miles to go, and guess what?

It’s a climb. At 3000', the cavern is the lowpoint in the valley. From here, the roadrises toward your destination at CedarGrove in a series of easy stairsteps, ulti-mately accumulating another 1650' of climbover those ten miles. All along the way, thelovely Kings River is keeping you company.(By the way, Boyden Cavern is worth a visit,filled with crystalline stalactites, draperies,and stalagmites. Guided tours lasting about45 minutes run on a regular schedule.)

There are four campgrounds around themain village of Cedar Grove. We will becamping in Canyon View campground.That’s the best of the group sites, sittingjust above the riverbank (right). Showersare available just across the river in thevillage...about a mile away. They’re the most


expensive on the trip at $2.50, but at least they don’thave a time limit. And of course, you can freshen upin the river. It’s as cold as you would expect a moun-tain stream to be, but on a hot day, you’ll see manypeople splashing about and even swimming in it forlong periods.

Now we come to our layover day in Kings Canyon.Considering how hard you’ve been riding—todayespecially, but all week as well—and howhard the final day is, we decided a rest day iswarranted here.

There are several worthwhile short hikes orbike trips in the valley. Check the parkpublications for a full list of attractions.Kings Canyon (above) is almost as spectacu-lar as Yosemite Valley (in a very differentway), but it attracts a small fraction of thetourists that clog the more famous park. Itcan be very peaceful and quiet here. I suggestyou ride to Roads End to complete yourKings Canyon experience. It’s about fivemiles from camp to the end of the line. Oncethere, you’re as deep into the canyon as youcan get. (Boyden Cavern is at a lower eleva-tion, but the surrounding cliffs are muchhigher at Roads End.) Standing on the floorof the glacially carved valley, you can stare up

at canyon walls rising nearly a mile above the river. Midwayalong the way to Roads End, you might want to take a briefdetour to Roaring River Falls (below). A very short, shadyhike brings you to this powerful falls plunging down anarrow granite chute. On the way back, you can veer off on anature trail down the other side of the river, meaning yourride won’t be entirely an out-&-back.

As we noted earlier, when we we rode into Kings Canyonbefore, we only made it into camp in the last light of lateafternoon, and what with leaving first thing the next morn-ing, we had no opportunity to explore the valley. This time itwill be different.


Day 6: Kings Canyon to Three Rivers

82 miles, 7300' up, 10,000' down

Bonus: 3-mile out-&-back to Moro Rock

If yesterday wasn’t the hardest day on the tour, thentoday probably is, with over 24 miles of climbing betweenmile 10 and mile 41, accounting for 5000' of gain. On theother hand, check out the eye-popping 10,000' of de-scent, and consider that the final 25 miles of the ride arealmost all downhill...almost 5000' of drop. No questionabout it: today’s ride is larger than life in almost everyrespect, and it makes a fitting finale to a tour that hasbeen out-of-scale from the beginning.

Seeing as how you spent the night at the bottom of thedeepest box canyon in the country, you probably figuredout by now that getting out of hereinvolves backtracking over the end ofyesterday’s route (above). You’re prob-ably dreading the big climb back out, butlet’s not get ahead of ourselves. First,you get to enjoy the ten miles fromCedar Grove back down to BoydenCavern...1650' of climb yesterday, buttoday a dream descent alongside thegorgeous cascades of the Kings River,every inch of it gliding downhill on thatsmooth-as-silk pavement.

After having your spirits lifted by thiswonderful run down the river, you cannow figure out how to lift your body andyour bike up out of this hole. I knowyou’ve heard me say this before, butactually, this climb isn’t that bad. Really!

Just keep taking it one step at a time, dealingwith the challenge in bite-sized chunks, andbefore you know it, you’ll be...very tired. No, Imeant to say...you’ll be at the top. The firstsection of the climb is only 2.5 miles withabout 650' of gain, followed by a couple ofmiles of mostly flat and slightly downhillroad. After this brief respite, the climbingreturns...2100' in the next nine miles. Mid-way through this section you pass KingsCanyon Lodge, a private resort with a smallstore offering ice cream cones, should youfeel like taking a break.

Here’s a suggestion for making this long daya little less arduous: some of the members ofour earlier tour group rode the ten downhillmiles to Boyden Cavern, did the tour of thecaves, and then caught up with the otherriders by sagging up to Hume Lake.

If you recall yesterday’s big descent, you rememberthat the top section was the steepest. You’ll be re-lieved then to find out that you do not have to retracethat part of the route. Instead, you turn left at thesign to Hume Lake at mile 24. This pretty little roadthrough the forest starts out level for most of twomiles and then topples off the mountain in a radicalrush, losing over 300' in a mile and change. FollowTenmile Road around to Hume Lake. After so manymiles of wilderness, it’s a bit of a shock to ride out ofthe woods smack into a bustling community on theshore of the lake. This is the very busy Hume LakeChristian Camp, with lodges, a store, a marina, and soforth. The place is teeming with kids attending thecamp...a regular bee hive of activity. This is an obviousspot to regroup.


This former mill pond (above) has been here for over100 years and now looks like a beautiful, natural lake.The road bends left around the shore of the lake—right through the middle of the camp—and thenbegins to climb again. This is the longest ascent of theday: 2200' in 12 miles. 1700' of it are over the nineremaining miles of Tenmile Road, a section whichalso includes an assortment of level spots and evenone or two small descents. The scenery is pleasant andthe road is nearly devoid of cars. All in all, it’s an easy,sugarcoated way to take your climbing medicine.

The first time I did this ride, I arrived at the end ofTenmile Road—where it ties into the Gener-als Highway—expecting that to be the end ofthe climbing, at least for awhile. I wassomewhat disheartened to discover, when Iturned south on the main road, that it wasstill going up. In fact, you climb for anotherthree miles, gaining an additional 500',before you finally get a break. It’s a nicebreak though: 1100' of killer downhill overthe next 5.5 miles. That’s the way the Gener-als Highway goes, like most of this tour: upand down, over and over...rarely level.

True to form, you hardly have a chance toroll out at the bottom of that great downhillbefore you’re climbing again, this timegaining 1600' in six miles, up to the highestpoint on today’s route at mile 52—LittleBaldy Summit (7335'). It’s not quite alldownhill from here, although you do get ashort but wild descent off the summit for allyour work. There are still two climbs ahead

of about 300' each and at least one othersmaller one, but from here on, the descentsdo begin to dominate.

On the way up to Little Baldy Summit, youpass the sign announcing the entrance toSequoia National Park, and soon you beginseeing the namesake trees all around you.(The road is named Generals Highwaybecause it connects groves containing twogiant trees which bear the names of famousCivil War generals... General Grant, whichyou passed yesterday in Grant Grove, andGeneral Sherman, on the road ahead.) AtLost Grove (mile 48), you get your first closelook at some of the really big sequoias.Everyone knows these trees are big: 40' indiameter, over 300' tall, side branches up to8' in diameter, weight up to 2.7 millionpounds. Yes, they are big, but rattling off

statistics hardly prepares you for the real impact of encoun-tering these awe-inspiring life forms in person.

Stop amid the giants at Lost Grove or at the GeneralSherman site (which is just off the road). Be still for a fewminutes and let their powerful aura wash over you. Theselargest of all living things have a presence, a palpablestrength and intelligence that is almost overwhelming. Thescope of the long-range planning, patience, and cellularengineering they have invested in their lives is almostbeyond our comprehension. Think about it: with a life spanof 3000 years, some of the elders of their tribe have beenrooted here, quietly going about the task of growing andthriving—breathing and eating and drinking and reproduc-


ing—since Moses brought the tablets downfrom the mountain. Some of these verytrees were youngsters when King Tut wasbeing laid away in his tomb. Sequoiadendron giganteum...to be among them is atruly humbling experience.

However, unlike the trees, we fast-twitchlittle humans have places to go. So, afterpaying homage to these paragons of theplant world, it’s time to hop back on thebikes and head on down the road. Afterthose last, few small climbs—and an equalnumber of frisky little descents—you arriveat Giant Forest Village at mile 64. This isthe final outpost of civilization—stores,restrooms, etc.—before the long run to the

finish. In addition to many short detours tolook at great trees, there are several otherside trips to scenic overlooks and caves inthis area. The official park literature will fillyou in on all the details. The one site that isalmost a must—except for those withacrophobia—is the short ride to Moro Rockand the climb to the top of the rock. Thebike ride is a three-mile round trip, with anaccumulated gain of around 300'. Theclimb up the towering granite monolith hasbeen tamed by the addition of severalhundred steps and solid handrails all theway up ((middle photo)). It’s a stiff climb,but nothing a fit cyclist can’t handle, andthe views from the top are out of this world.

Back on the bike, the main attraction atthis point is probably the road ahead. GiantForest Village sits at an elevation of 6440'.Our finish, 18 miles away, is at 1640'. Youdo the math... Most of those remainingmiles are prime downhill. Only a fewfractions of a mile are small, uphill rollers.And this is not one of your ho-hum, just-sit-there-and-coast downhills. This is atwisting, writhing, tortured anaconda of adownhill (below). This is a downhill thatwent to Rio and learned to samba. This isseriously fun!

The descent starts just after Giant ForestVillage. You begin in the sequoias, dropinto the dappled shade of leafy woods, andpass in and out of chaparral and oak. Alongthe way, massive granite buttresses crowdthe road and bully it out to the edge of theprecipice, and always the brink is held at


bay by beautiful old stone parapets (right).If you can spare a moment in your maddownhill plummet, take a break and take inthe view. It’s a splendid prospect, with thecanyon spilling away far below and the vastdome of Moro Rock looming above. For thefirst ten miles, the road wiggles andsquirms down the cliff anywhere it can finda foothold, requiring at least a dozen 180°hairpins to negotiate this frantic plunge.Then, near Buckeye Flat, it hooks up withthe Kaweah River (below) and skips alonghigh above its white-water cascade for therest of the way to the finish. This is trulyone of the greatest runs of cycling downhillin the world.

The Kaweah River canyon is quitespectacular. By some manner of reckoning,it is said to be deeper than the GrandCanyon. You won’t get quite that impressionwhen riding down into it—not nearly aswide open and panoramic—but if you stopor, better yet, take the time to explore offthe road a little, you may come to a finerappreciation of this wild river. Here’s asuggestion: near the bottom of the maindescent, still within the park, is acampground called Potwisha. The camp ison the right side of the road as you descend,but just opposite the camp entrance isanother road that goes left. It doesn’t look

like much, and is in fact the road to the RV sewage tankdump site. But just beyond the dump station, a trailleads to the river at a spot where it’s very pretty, with alittle suspension bridge (for hikers) over a series oflovely granite pools. It’s a very short ride to the trailand a very short hike on the trail to the river. If youhaven’t burnt up all of the day already with climbingout of Kings Canyon, communing with the sequoias, orscrambling around on Moro Rock, this is one morespot to enjoy this lovely landscape. Don’t be in a rushto get to the finish: remember, you may never comethis way again...

Somewhere around mile 80, you become the benefi-ciary of another wonderful repaving project. The satin-smooth asphalt is a delight to ride on, and I was im-pressed to see that the folks in charge have managed todress up the new road with beautifully crafted stone


railings that match the finest work of the old WPAcraftsmen. It’s triply impressive: first, that the plan-ners deemed it worth doing; second, that they foundthe money to do it—your tax dollars at work!—andthird, that they found the craftsmen to do such skilledmasonry.

Just before mile 82, you exit the park and the Gener-als Highway becomes plain old Hwy 198. Perhaps it’sfitting that it lose its rather grand name at this point,for the great scenery and the great downhill bothbegin to taper off. Not that life becomes remotelyunpleasant outside the park. There is just the usualincrease in commercial and residential busy-ness thatseems to accumulate around the gateways to the greatparks: gift shops, galleries, motels, etc.

When we toured here before, we stayed in a riversidecampground a few miles beyond this point. It wasn’t agreat camp. It was trashy—just shy of being a funkytrailer court—and quite expensive. This time around,we’ve elected to give the camp a miss and treatourselves to indoor accommodations for our finalnight. We have chosen the Buckeye Tree Lodge andSequoia Village Inn, two jointly-owned facilities justoutside the southern gateway to the park, along thelovely Kaweah River (all photos). Both of them arecharming. The hosts are okay with us setting up ourcamp “kitchen” somewhere on the grounds, or else wemay choose to go out to dinner and breakfast at therestaurant next door. We think you’ll like these quaintand quirky rooms and cabins, with their rusticfurnishings and pretty, natural setting. We will keepyou posted as we go along regarding room reserva-tions and other info about the lodgings.

Three Rivers is a few miles east of Visalia and Fresno.It’s about a five-hour drive to the Bay Area. It’sconceivable that you could finish the ride and drivehome on the same afternoon or evening and skip theovernight, although that would make for a very long,tiring day. We prefer to spend the night here andallow ourselves the luxury of devoting the entire dayto the adventure of traversing two of the greatest,most spectacular American national parks. No rush;no worries...simply revel in the wonder of it all. Then,after a valedictory dinner, drift off to a well-earnedslumber in a real bed.

Thus ends a great tour. I have nothing more to add,which is just as well, because the week of riding andsight-seeing just concluded has utterly exhausted mysupply of superlatives and clichés. It may seem attimes as if I’ve been laying these on a bit thick, butI’m confident that when you finish this tour yourself,you’ll agree I wasn’t exaggerating.


Stage 5: Kings Canyon

Stage 2: Yosemite Valley

Stage 6: Sequoia National Park

Stage 1: Near Tioga Pass


Stage 3: Bass Lake

Stage 5: Kings Canyon


The Three Parks TourDay 1: Twin Lakes to Tuolumne Meadows53 miles, 5300' up, 3200' downBonus miles:Virginia Lakes Road: 12 miles, 1200'Lundy Lake Road: 10 miles, climbing unknown

MILE DIR ROAD COMMENTS

0.0 R Twin Lakes Road Leave Doc and Al’s resort. 7.5 R Hwy 395 Town of Bridgeport. Store, cafe.14.3 Bodie Road: bonus miles out-&-back.21.2 S Conway Summit (8138'). Vista point ahead.

Virginia Lakes Road: bonus miles out-&-back.33.2 S Town of Lee Vining. Store, cafe.33.9 R Utility Road Just before sign to Hwy 120.34.8 R Hwy 120 (Tioga Road)43.7 S Tioga Pass Resort. Store and cafe.45.8 S Tioga Pass (9945'). Entrance to Yosemite NP.51.9 L Into Tuolumne Meadows Campground52.2 Finish (approximately 1/2 mile from road to group sites)

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TIOGA PASS

Store, cafe

Gas

Reservations

ROAD

Groupsites

Tuolumne Meadows Campground

River

Tuolumne

The Three Parks TourDay 1: Twin Lakes to Tuolumne Meadows53 miles, 5300' up, 3200' down

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TWIN LAKES ROAD

Matterhorn Peak12,264'

Twin Peaks12,314'

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Excelsior Mtn.12,446'

Dunderberg Peak12,374'

Mt.. Warren12,327'

Lee Vining Peak11,691'

Mt. Dana13,053'

Mt. Conness12,590'

Mt. Gibbs12,764'

LUNDY LAKE RD

VIRGINIA LAKES RD

TIOGA ROAD

TIOGA PASS9941'

CONWAY SUMMIT8138'

LEE VINING6780'CMR

BRIDGEPOR T6465'CMR

TUOLUMNEMEADOWS

8600'CMR

Robinson Peak11,845'

Twin Lakes7000'

BridgeportReservoir

Virginia Lakes

Lundy Lake

Tioga Lake Mono

Lake

DanaMeadow

Tuolumne River

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DOC & AL’SRESORT

TUOLUMNE MEADOWS

CAMPGROUND

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Lembert Dome9450'

Lundy Canyon

Creek

Pumice

Valley

TIOGA PASSRESORTCMR

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Mono Lake Visitors Center

Vista point

Valley

Mono

© 1997 Bill Oetinger

Bridgeport

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Today’s route

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Bigger towns

Smaller towns

Cafe

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Restrooms

Hospital

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0.0 L Hwy 120 (Tioga Road) Leave Tuolumne Meadows camp. 7.3 S Tenaya Lake.40.1 L New Big Oak Flat Road To Yosemite Valley.46.9 S Tunnel (lighted). Vista points before and after tunnel.49.8 L El Portal Road Follow signs to Yosemite Village.50.7 R Southside Drive Bear right onto one way system.57.1 S Follow signs to campgrounds.58.0 Finish

The Three Parks TourDay 2: Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley58 miles, 2400' up, 7100' down

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The Three Parks TourDay 3: Yosemite Valley to Bass Lake58 miles, 4500' up, 5000' down; Bonus: 5-mile & 12-mile out-&-backs


0.0 L Northside Drive Leave camp. Head down the valley. 7.0 L One way connector Follow signs to Wawona. 7.9 R Wawona Road Begin major climb... 9.6 S Tunnel (lighted). Vista point before tunnel.17.4 S Chinquapin Junction summit (6039'). Big descent.30.0 S Wawona Hotel (4012'). Long climb ahead.35.0 S Wawona Rd/Hwy 41 Leave Yosemite NP. Long descent.37.2 S Hwy 41 Town of Fish Camp (5000'). Store, cafe.45.8 S Hwy 41 Town of Cedar Springs. Store, cafe.47.5 L Road 222 Busy road.47.8 R Road 220 Short detour off busy 222.48.5 R Road 222 Back on busy road.51.3 R Bear right to Bass Lake at junction.51.7 R Bear right to Bass Lake and Miller’s Landing.55.3 Lupine Cedar USFS camp. (Alternate campsite.)56.7 S Miller’s Landing Resort.57.1 R Into Wishon USFS camp57.5 Finish

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The Three Parks TourDay 3: Yosemite Valley to Bass Lake58 miles, 4500' up, 5000' down

▲

Glacier Point7214'

OAKHURST2290'CMR

WAWONA4012'CR

STANISLAUS

NATIONAL

FOREST

YOSEMITE

NATIONAL

PARK

WISHON USFSCAMPGROUND

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CHINQUAPIN JUNCTION6039'

YOSEMITE V ALLEY3979'

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Start

Finish

Bass Lake detail

Wishon USFSCampground

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MILLERS LANDING RESORT

Showers CMR

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Today’s route

Optional routes

Other roads

Bigger towns

Smaller towns

Cafe

Market

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Point of interest

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LUPINE CEDARUSFS CAMP

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Day 3 route

Day 4 route

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The Three Parks TourDay 4: Bass Lake to Choinumni Park71 miles, 5700' up, 8300' down


0.0 R Road 222 Leave Wishon FS camp. 1.1 R Road 222 (Crane Valley Road) Uphill away from Bass Lake. 3.0 L Road 222

(no longer Crane Valley Rd) Sign: “Manzanita Lake 2, North Fork 4.” 6.5 R Road 222 (aka Auberry Road) Town of North Fork (2629'). Store, cafe. 7.3 L Auberry Road Great downhill ahead.14.2 S Auberry Road

(aka Powerhouse Road) Cross San Joquin River (Kerckhoff Res.).21.6* L Bear left just before town of Auberry...climb.

Shortcut diverges here.34.9 S Summit, near town of Alder Springs (4500').36.8 S Tollhouse Road Cross Hwy 168 to Tollhouse Road...descend.44.7* S Shortcut rejoins at Lodge Road junction.45.9 L Burrough Valley Road Uphill...46.3 L Burrough North Road49.2 L Burrough Valley Road53.2 L Maxson Road58.1 R Trimmer Springs Road Ride around Pine Flat Lake.71.0 L Pine Flat Road71.1 R Into Choinumni County Park

* Short route: through town of Auberry; left on Hwy 168 (Lodge Road) at 24.6; right on Lodge at 26.2 (sign says,“To Tollhouse;” rejoin long route at 31.3. Saves 13.4 miles and 2500' of climbing, but misses a great downhill.

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The Three Parks TourDay 4: Bass Lake to Choinumni Park71 miles, 5700' up, 8300' down, or 58 miles, 3200' up, 5800' down

▲

Eagle Peak3276'

AUBERR Y1995'CMR

Kings River

NATIONAL

FOREST

WISHONUSFS CAMP

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TOLLHOUSE2100'

TRIMMER1062'

PIEDRA580'

SHAVER LAKE5530'

ALDER SPRINGS4580'

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TOLLHOUSE ROAD

NORTH FORK2629'CMR

Bass Lake3425'

Pine Flat Lake916'

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Cats Head Mtn3610'

Davis Mtn3802'

Burrough Mtn4420'

Black Mtn3614'

Rock Mtn2875'

Manzanita Lake

Finish

Start

Today’s route

Optional routes

Other roads

Bigger towns

Smaller towns

Cafe

Market

Restrooms

Hospital

Point of interest

Campsite

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The Three Parks TourDay 5: Choinumni to Kings Canyon75 miles, 9600' up, 5600' down


0.0 L Pine Flat Road Leave Choinumni Park. 0.1 L Trimmer Springs Road 1.1 L Over bridge Town of Piedra (680') 1.8 L Elwood Road Short climb and descent into Wonder Valley.13.9 LR Hwy 180/Indian Guide Road Jog left on 180 to right on Indian Guide Rd.15.3 L Ruth Hill Road Rollers and climbs.22.3 R Sans Baker Road Sometimes signs say “Sand Baker.”23.8 L Sand Creek Road Flat & gradually uphill.26.9 R Dunlap Road30.5 S Town of Miramonte (3090'). Big climb.33.6 L Hwy 245 Brief flat spot.34.8 S Town of Pinehurst (4100'). Store, fruit stand.39.7 R Hwy 18042.2 S Entrance to Kings Canyon NP.44.3 L Bear left at Generals Highway junction.44.9 S Grant Grove (6589').64.2 S Boyden Cave (3000').74.7 L Canyon View Campground Near Cedar Grove Village (4635').75.0 Finish

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The Three Parks TourDay 6: Kings Canyon to Three Rivers89 miles, 7500' up, 11,000' down


0.0 R Hwy 180 Leave Canyon View camp (4635').10.2 S Boyden Cave (3000'). Begin major climb.16.3 S Kings Canyon Lodge. Store.23.7 L Hume Lake turnoff Follow signs to Hume Lake.26.8 R Tenmile Road28.2 S Hume Lake Christian Camp. Follow road

through camp, bearing left around lake.37.8 L Generals Highway Still climbing...41.0 S Summit (7300'). Descending...47.4 S Enter Sequoia NP.64.0 S Giant Forest Village (6440'). Store, cafe. Big descent.81.7 S Generals Highway/Hwy 198 Leave Sequoia National Park.82.0 L or R into either Buckeye Tree Lodge or Sequoia Village Inn. End of stage; end of tour.

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The Three Parks TourDay 6: Kings Canyon to Three Rivers82 miles, 7300' up, 10,000' down

SEQUOIA

NATIONAL

FOREST

SIERRA

NATIONAL

FOREST

Today’s route

Optional routes

Other roads

Bigger towns

Smaller towns

Cafe

Market

Restrooms

Hospital

Point of interest

Campsite

●

C

M

R

✚

�

��© 1997 Bill Oetinger

�

CEDAR GROVE4635'CMR'

Hume Lake5280'

NATIONAL

PARK

▲

▲ Mitchell Peak10,365'

Lookout Peak 8531'

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�Boyden Cavern

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▲Stag Dome7710'

Finish�

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▲Mt Maddox

9727'

▲

Ball Dome9357'

▲

Barton Peak 10370'

▲Twin Peaks

10485'

▲

Shell Mtn9594'

▲

North Dome 8632'

▲Avalanche Peak

10077'

Cherry Gap6897'

▲Big Baldy 8209'

▲

Shepherd Peak 3570'

▲ Castle Rocks 9180'

▲ Moro Rock 6725'

▲Tharps Rock

10659'

▲Alta Peak11204'

▲

Kettle Peak11041'

GRANT GROVE VILLAGE

6589'

HUME5280CMR

LODGEPOLE6720'CMR

GIANT FORESTVILLAGE

6440' CMR

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THREE RIVERS800' CMR

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The Three Parks Tour

�TUOLUMNEMEADOWS

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 6

Day 4

Day 5

TWIN LAKES

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YOSEMITEVALLEY

BASS LAKE

CHOINUMNI

KINGS CANYON

THREE RIVERSFinish

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The Three Parks TourMono Lake, the route passes throught the town of Lee Vining and turns uphill...

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Transcript of The Three Parks TourMono Lake, the route passes throught the town of Lee Vining and turns uphill...