DC to San Diego, leaving 4/20...Routes, places to see west of the Mississippi.

I've not motorcycled that area, but I did bicycle from San Diego to Boston. Consider the painted desert, and for certain leave 40 in Flagstaff and head through Sedona, Jerome, Prescott, Yarnell and then down into Ansa Borrego. If you are an East Coaster, you owe it to yourself to see the desert. It changes the way you look at the world. I like the ride up to Ranchita, but you could go to Julian. Talk to Jason (Derstuka) and see about climbin Palomar from the South East and then down do the coast from there. None of this is really out of your way and so much nicer than staying on the highway.

 

I just thought of this...It could be because motorcycles can be ridden in between barricades that are in front of buildings.........

 

After some of you mentioned Death Valley, we started looking at the map a little closer. We might head up through DV, then up to Yosemite. We'd like to hit Sequoia Natl. Forest as well.
I've been looking at the map that goes through Yosemite, Tioga Pass Road (120). I got on the NPS web site and it mentioned that the road may not open up until mid-late May. We'd probably be there the first week in May. What are our chances of getting across there?

 

This year the chances would be ZERO. Tioga is always the last of the Sierra Passes to open. The top is 10Kft. Sonara is next at about 9.6k ft. Somewhere there is a site listing of the openning dates for Tioga over the years. I will look for it.

Edited to add....Here are the Tioga dates year to year:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tiogaopen.htm

 

Here is the best place to see the status of California MT roads....can you get thru????

Sierra Mountain Highways

Major Passes opening dates

Sonora Pass...down a bit


The Top

 

Bonus, what time of year were you guys there? Any other ways to go west once in Yosemite? We'd be coming from 395 or 6.

 

I have have been all over the Sierra from April to October....too many trips to remember. At least one trip ...maybe three a year. These shots were in first week of June ...2006 I think. I have been turned around several times in the Spring even in the Southern Sierras....April/May time frame.

RT 120 is the only East/West pass thru Yosemite it runs from 395 to basically RT49.

June is your best chance to get over the Tioga Pass...maybe mid June this year. Of the big passes probably your best bet would be Ebbetts Pass or RT4 as it tops at a little under 9K ft. RT108 Sonora is higher. Both Ebbetts and Sonora are fantastic rides. My favorite is the last one I was on!!!!!

Sonora going West in July


RT 4 heading East


Just short of the top on Ebbetts


To ensure gettting over you may have to go North to RT88/Carson Pass or even up to 50.

The only pass South of Tioga before RT178 is Sherman which tops at 9.2K ft......could be open but it does not get any DOT attention so despite being south it is usually closed for a while too. And the road condition is the worst of the high passes.

 

Wow...that is the kind of scenery I want to see. If we were to blow off the idea of going from east to west through a pass and just see one side of the mountains, which side would give us better views and roads?

 

West side of the mountains. Once you get too far on the east side, it becomes the nevada desert, not too pretty.

 

Agree that the West side has more to offer as there are not alot roads on the East Side except for 395 running north/south thru California and up into Nevada. On the west side there are more foothill roads that run north and south. But to get west you need a pass. I think Ebbetts is your best bet....but you have to monitor the sites for when the passes open.

One solution if the high passes are closed it to take 178 into Lake Isabella than run North up the Kern River eventually turning into 190 which is one of my all time favorites.




I think the max elevation is in the 7K range taking this route....but I have been turned around here to in the Spring. We have more snow this year too. If you can not make it up the Kern River you can take 155 and follow the foot hills north. Can be spectacular this time of year with Spring flowers etc.

Yokohl Valley




Actually you need several trips!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Great links!

From what I can tell the Tioga and Sonora passes are still closed?

Would there be a problem getting thru in July?

/Faceplant

 

sounds awesome.....ur ass is gonna hurt so bad after its all said and done.

 

Yes agree there are some fine roads east of 395 and good ones too. But nothing to really to the west of 395 running north/south in the foothills on eastern side of the Sierra. The eastern side is generally steeper than the western approaches over the Sierra passes.

Eastern 190 from 395 to Death Valley is not to be missed. Good loop idea and do stop at Scotty's Castle. Too bad 190 does not continue and go over the Sierras after it joins 395 from the east.....have to take Sherman Pass to get back to 190 on the western side of the Sierras.

Further north there are eastern loops off of 395 which are pretty good as well. One goes from Bishop on 6 then to 120 to rejoin 395. Great ride but if you have never been north out of Bishop on 395, I would take the main road. There is a little teaser road running alongside 395 out of Bishop which has great corners too. There is another loop out of Bridgeport 182, 338 and 120 which is a nice change of pace too.

The Sky is the limit!!!!

Could be July before Tioga is open! Sonora usually opens before Tioga pass.

 

Yes, I am planning a trip togther with my girlfriend in July.
At first we were just going to do some sightseeing, primarily in San Fransisco, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Yosemite and possibly a stop in the Big Apple on the way home.
Then the idea came up to look into the possibility of renting a bike and do a little tour.
After all, riding a bike is the best way to experience new places and scenery!

My only concern is that, beeing a true believer of "all-the-gear-all-the-time", it might be too hot.

Do you think that going into desert areas will be a bad idea, considering I am going to ride in full leathers?
I am no stranger to getting warm in the leathers, but do you think it will actually be painfully hot?

What about the route in the link below?
Any areas I definitely should stay away from, due to too high temperatures in July?

San Fransisco - Grand Canyon and back again

Hmm...maybe I will have to change my signature... :wink:

Thanks for any input!

 

Not sure how many days you have Faceplant. Seems like an ambitious trip with a GF. I agree with Derstuka .....indeed I would stay out of the desert and especially off the slab for extended portions of the trip. NO point in seeing both the south and north rims on the same trip...........spectacular but really the same thing ....better to focus on Bryce or even Zion which are entirely different. South rim has more folks and more vistas. North is cooler and less folks. But you get the idea either place.....big ditch!

Warning - Death Valley and Stockholm in July may not be the same. Best to hit the desert sections early in the AM as derstuka suggests. I carry a cooling vest with me now all the time when I hit the hot sections 100+ or 110 or 115. I snapped this shot a couple of years ago when I was thinking of blasting east for a short trip to central AZ.

Note the Temp at about 6:00pm or 1800 hours. I decided another time. At these temps it does not matter what gear you are wearing.........hot!


Once you get over the Sierras the roads for the most part are straighter, hotter and less picturesque.

Another point is your outbound route thru the LA region. Unless you have somebody you want to see badly...really badly I would just take 58/Techacapi over the southern Sierras and avoid the whole LA mess. Now it can get hot here tooooooooooo! Anything south of Oxnard is loaded with traffic ....almost any time. LA traffic is crap but can be worse on a Motorcycle even if you can lane split. Your GF would need a change of shorts! And Western 58 off the coast area is one of the great twisty roads in all of California.

Interstate 15 and 40 are boring and unless you have to make tracks quickly are not recommended. A couple of miles are fine but not half your trip. Not bad in car with A/C but not on a MC.

 

Thanks for the great input guys!

The message about the heat is recieved loud and clear and I'm considering just taking the costal area on a bike.
Riding a bike in blistering sun is, after all, a totally different experience than driving in a car with air-condition in the same conditions.

If we decide to take the whole trip on a bike I will for sure have use of your thoughts on alternate routes.
And the tip about riding in the early morning or in the afternoon is great as well!

Thanks, again!

(and sorry vfrf2 for hijacking your thread)

 

Or a shorter loop (4 or 5 days) would be go up the coast from San Luis Obispo to Fort Bragg, cut thru to the redwoods on 101 and then hit RT36 (140 miles of corners) over to Mt Lassen. From there head to Lake Tahoe and then take one of the Sierra Passes from the East (4, 108 or 120) to the western foothills and 49 back to civilization. A pass thru Yosemite is worth the trip ............spectacular. I wrote a trip report on this loop a few years ago but damned if I can find it anymore. On this loop you would hit most of what California is famours for: Ocean and the Big Sur, Golden Gate, Redwoods, Mt Lakes, Sierra Passes and incedible MC roads.

Most of this trip would be spectacular with incredible scenery, corners & corners and an itinerary which would not tax a two up couple in "love".