Sherman Pass

[Scud]

I've been scheming for a while to get a run at Sherman Pass - and I pulled it off today. I was with my family in San Luis Obispo (middle daughter will be going to school there). They went a couple days ahead of me. Today was the return trip... so rather than have a leisurely breakfast with the family, I rolled out at 5AM with 500 miles on the horizon - here's my route in Google Maps. 

 

I had planned to take some video with my new GoPro, but I forgot to bring a connector - and couldn't mount it anywhere. 

 

Route 58 Eastbound was fabulous... across the Carizzo Plain at dawn. Then through to Bakersfield and up route 178, which runs along the Kern River. The river was raging... I should have taken a picture, but the road was too fun to stop.

 

Then breakfast in Kernville, by Lake Isabella, which appears to be at capacity. Last time I was there, the water level was extremely low. And then up the North Fork of the Kern River on Mountain Highway 99, which crosses the river at about the same place that the Sherman Pass road starts. 

 

 

The powers that be would like would-be travelers to know that there's no gas for a while... and to expect rocks and stuff in the road. 

 

 

I saw only one other vehicle on the ascent to 9,000 feet. 

 

 

And it's impossible to capture these mountains in photos, but here's an attempt - looking down to the valley floor 5,000 feet below.

 

 

And I took a welcome stop at a view point in the high meadows - where there was still snow alongside the road in a few places.

 

 

The snow-capped mountains in the distance are the peaks of the Sierra Nevada Range, including Mount Whitney, the highest point in the 48-States.

 

 

From there, I rode down the other side of the mountain into the high desert. I filled my Camel Back with ice in Pearsonville, then went about 30 miles before stopping in Johannesburg to buy chap-stick. And what to my wondering eyes should appear? A Moto Guzzi V11 Cafe Sport headed North on Hwy 395. I thought at first I might be hallucinating from the heat.

 

Then the Cajon pass was crowded (it's the choke-point for the busy Los Angeles to Las Vegas route) - so I bailed and took another mountain pass into San Bernardino.

 

Family got home at 1pm, I got home two hours later. 

[docc]

Thanks, Scud, for sharing the experience!

 

A soothing elixir for a guy with no clutch and his V11 OTL (On The Lift).

[PJPR01]

Sweet run!!  Just out of curiosity, what kind of mileage did you get on a trip like this, if you recall?  Any major differences in how the bike runs at sea level vs. up at 9k feet?  

 

I remember years ago rafting the Kern one summer in the early 80's with college buddies listening to Dire Straits "Money for Nothing" all day long, our theme song for the rafting trip!

 

Great scenery as always!

[BigBlock]

Great pictures Scud. Looks like you had good weather for a superb day of riding!!

[Scud]

I'd guess high 30s, close to 40mpg but I wasn't measuring. My low fuel light isn't working - and there are loooong stretches between fuel stations, so I topped off at around 100 miles several times - usually close to 2.5 gallons. And Sherman Pass was pretty tight with a lot of debris in the road - so I wasn't hitting the throttle very hard.

 

She ran really well from sea level all the way up to the peak. But she stumbled at idle in the heat in the high desert when I did have to stop. I think it was close to 110F in the Mojave Desert today - that was part of the motivation to get started so early - trying to get ahead of the peak heat by a few hours.

 

Nobody rafting today. In fact they had signs warning people not to enter the river. I found a cool video of the North Fork Kern River - near the bridge in my pictures - with an excellent Talking Heads song.

 

 

..and here's the lower, including some good views of the road along the river:

 

[Chuck]

Wow! What a trip.     Thanks..

[czakky]

Awesome! Good to see the Scura back in action already.

[Scud]

It was a perfect window of opportunity - almost spoiled by the shift-spring failure last week. So glad it failed at home, not on this ride. It would SUCK being stuck in any gear on such steep and twisty roads.

 

Sherman Pass is outside my range for a one-day loop ride from home, so it either has to be an intentional overnighter, or a return trip. There are a lot of dirt roads and trails in the Sequoia National Forest - but none in the Wilderness areas, where even bicycles are not allowed. I think I need to go back with the Husqvarna, some hiking shoes, and a fishing pole.

[Chuck]

You're livin the dream, Scud.. good on you.

[groundhog105]

That's a great ride over Sherman pass but it has always been pretty dirty. I would be up for making a overnight or 3 day run to that area. Lots of good riding in that area. By the way Scud, this is Bob Johnson we met on the MEBC run up to Idelwild a few weeks ago.

Thanks for sharing that ride.

[Scud]

Hey Bob - that would be fun. But I get to follow you. Maybe after a couple days of trailing you on that sweet LeMans I'll be able to keep up. I've been wanting to visit the Trail of 100 Giants, which is way out on a twisty road...

[PJPR01]

Very nice...Take me to the River...how appropriate!!!    

[Chuck]

 

 

Trail of 100 Giants, 

BTDT.. 

[groundhog105]

Hey Bob - that would be fun. But I get to follow you. Maybe after a couple days of trailing you on that sweet LeMans I'll be able to keep up. I've been wanting to visit the Trail of 100 Giants, which is way out on a twisty road...

That's a great ride up kern river Hwy to 190 and to that grove of Sequoia. Then there a couple routes we could take back to Kernville. We just need to figure out a good set of dates that works for you and anyone else that wants to go.