# A Lack Of Winter in the Sierras - Sonora Pass



## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Hey everyone. Been a while since I posted so I thought I could get something up this week. On Friday it was a slow workday, so half way through the morning I called up my friend Joe and asked if he wanted to tackle a 9500' pass. He of course said no . . .just kidding. Five minutes later we were loading bikes and heading south. Unless we get some kind of weird multi-year drought, this will probably be the only time I will ever climb this pass in the winter. Normally there is more than 20 feet of snow up there. On Friday, we rode out in mid 50F weather and topped out in 28F weather at around 4PM. 

Sonora Pass is CA Route 108 and is one of the more spectacular passes in the Sierras. It has grades exceeding 23 percent on the side we climbed, and harder ones on the other. Normally I like to do both sides, but we only had about 3 hours of light, so that wasn't going to happen.

Anyway, we started out by the Marine training camps and headed up the road.










Looking back down the road towards the Marines. As we rode up the mountains we were passed by a convoy of armored humvees. Good lord there exhaust is obnoxious. I couldn't get the camera out in time on the steep grades to get a picture though.










The creek was relatively melted near 7000 feet. This wouldn't stay true for very long.



















Perfect, if not cool, weather.



















The higher we got the colder it got. But we still had shorts on at this point.



















Hairy legs on a cold shadowed relatively level area. If it wasn't for some breaks between the climbs I'm not sure I would have made it.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

*Completing the Climb*

And up we went. The sun was headed fast for the high peaks, so I knew we would be descending in shadow.



















Quick break for a pic. 










Down to about freezing at this point. Shiver.



















Had to stop just short of the top to take a picture of the incredible, and huge, frozen blue waterfall in the distance. Just cool!










Finally at the top. A quick change to tights and back down the way we came. I did stare down the road toward the sunny hills in the distance. If I had another 3 hours I think I would have attempted the descent and climb up the west side. But not today!





































And then it was off to home


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## undies (Oct 13, 2005)

Cool pics (literally and figuratively). I've ridden a motorcycle over Sonora Pass many times but a bicycle ride would be great. I'll have to put this one on my list.


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## freighttraininguphill (Jun 7, 2011)

Beautiful pics! :thumbsup: Of course you know it doesn't need to be said how much I would love to climb that and record video/take pictures!  I would have to wait until it's a bit warmer though. I don't like cold extremities, and the thought of wiping out on a patch of black ice while descending scares the bejeebers out of me!


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## EWT (Jul 3, 2011)

Nice pics. Not hard to see why Dodge Ridge hasn't opened yet.  I miss skiing but getting to ride in shorts in mid Jan is pretty cool too.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Whoa!

:thumbsup:


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

Amazing photos!!!


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

Nicely done. The pics are great as is the scenery. Those downhills look terrific. The uphills, not so much. I'm not a climber & never was. I consider a freeway overpass to be a medium sized hill.


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## tellico climber (Aug 14, 2006)

Thanks for you effort in bringing us these great pictures. It is alway nice to see beautiful rides in other parts of the Country.


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## iclypso (Jul 6, 2011)

Well done and thank you for the pictures. So strange to see that landscape free of snow at this time of year.


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## muskat (Jan 9, 2011)

Nice shots, I can feel the cold...


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## rkj__ (Mar 21, 2007)

Very cool.


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## burgrat (Nov 18, 2005)

Nice photos! I've always wanted to ride over Sonora, but I'll do it when the weather is warmer. That's amazing you can ride over the pass this time of year. As you said, it's usually closed with tons of snow. That really is a steep pass. Well done!


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

soooo jealous....


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## undies (Oct 13, 2005)

BTW I hear there are some wildfires in your neck of the woods. I hope everything is okay and the fire is under control soon.


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## cinelliguy (Jan 4, 2011)

I have done that bit of road a couple of times. Thanks for the images, brings back nice memories of those days in and out of the saddle. Well done and thank you Ridgetop very much for taking the time to post your great images!


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

undies said:


> BTW I hear there are some wildfires in your neck of the woods. I hope everything is okay and the fire is under control soon.


Fires burned very close to our house, but we just got a lot of smoke. Friends gas/station store was damaged pretty good. The fire was funneled right down a small valley filled with homes. It was pretty bad. Had very heavy rain all night so much better now, but no more riding up the high passes!


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

looks like a great ride.

sorry to hear about the forest fires.


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## surly boy (Sep 8, 2011)

Wow! beautiful pics, I camped and fished up in the Sierras about 20 yrs ago.


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## retrowagen (Jun 15, 2011)

Nice ride, and nice pics too. I actually live in Sonora, just at the "usual" snow line, and my daily commute takes me past one of those changable pixel traffic condition signs, usually showing the state of Sonora and Tioga passes. They've both been open super late this season; it's almost unheard of. I did one early December recon up to about 7,000' up Highway 108, but there was nary any snow to be seen. I was tempted to sneak in a ride up from the west side to the top of the Sonora, but feel I am neither fit nor tough enough (or is it nutty enough?) to bag it this winter.

As of last weekend's storm, both passes are now closed. We'll probably see the Sonora open again in April.


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## PoorCyclist (Oct 14, 2010)

Nice report!
I would like to try a full climb starting from Sonora sometime but really don't know the logistics.
I would need a hotel room on the nevada side for sure, but don't know where to get water etc.. bringing a backpack or cargo is a good idea... mistakes could be dangerous as there is not much out there. 
I think I would need a 32 teeth cassette to crawl up the 26% slope.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

PoorCyclist said:


> Nice report!
> I would like to try a full climb starting from Sonora sometime but really don't know the logistics.
> I would need a hotel room on the nevada side for sure, but don't know where to get water etc.. bringing a backpack or cargo is a good idea... mistakes could be dangerous as there is not much out there.
> I think I would need a 32 teeth cassette to crawl up the 26% slope.


The big problem would be a place to stay on the east side. Bridgeport is the closest town with lodging and that's still some 15 or so miles away (maybe further). There are campgrounds but I'd hate to carry camping equipment up that grade, although I've run across people who have. The hardest climb on the west side is the climb above Kennedy Meadows and is a long evil thing but doable if you have a triple. I'm not sure if the campgrounds or picnic areas have water on the west side on 108 itself. Never checked. There's plenty of creeks to fill up at if you have a good filter though.


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## HeadWest (May 22, 2013)

Great ride report, and great pics. I'd love to do this ride someday (and rides in the northern Sierras in general). What kind of camera do you use to take your pictures? I have often thought of bringing along my camera, but am worried about sweating all over it. Is yours waterproof? Thanks.


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