Thursday: Travel Day
After leaving Lee Vining, we headed south again on US 395.
The road rolls along the edge of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. When we come back this way again we will not
stay in Lee Vining (and the RV Park) but will look for dispersed camping in the
area south of the June Lakes Loop Road.
That means getting to the area well in advance of darkness. If we had more time when we first got to Mono
Lake, we might have looked in the June Lake area for camping. But we took too
long on the Sonora Pass ride (and it was well worth it! See earlier Sonora Pass Post) to accomplish that,
plus we wanted to ride the Tioga Road into Yosemite, which is easier done from
Lee Vining. However we didn’t get to
check out Mono Lake and there appears to be a nice dual sport ride around the
lake, out through the forest, down to Lake Crowley and around the town of
Bishop. But that will have to wait until
next time.
US 395 south of Lee Vining
We took a quick stop at a rest area 5 miles north of the
Mammoth Lakes Turn off. We left the
coach there and used the truck to go into town.
Wayne had found a flyer for the Mammoth Lakes Brewery and tap room, so
we had to go! My Tom-Tom had some
problems again, I really need to replace that thing, but we found the tap room,
bought beer and then looked for lunch in town.
We stopped at a bakery/cafe and split a great turkey sandwich. From
there we took the scenic route back to the coach, and then headed south
again.
At Big Pine, we went east on SR 168; out to the Death Valley
Road. It is closed to regular cars
farther down the road, but we figured we’d find a place to camp on either BLM
or USFS land and then take a dual sport ride through Saline Valley. And we did find camping, sort of. Just past the start of US Forest Service Land
Wayne actually backed the coach and trailer up the start of one jeep road, and
then angled on to another two track road.
Taking us back far enough to find level, we then put out the slides and
called it home. The cats loved being out
in the sage brush again, although I get tired of pulling sharp twigs out of
their fur.
Friday: Dual Sport—Saline Valley
Saline Valley is just to the west of Death Valley. It is not as severe as its more famous
neighbor, but still very stark. We have
been hearing about this area for years from various friends who have camped and
ridden here. We headed up the Death Valley road to where the Saline Valley Road
takes off to the south through old mining sites and over North Pass.
This crew is rebuilding some mining buildings, and making
them safer for people to look at
This one has been rebuilt
Anyone down there??
The North Pass road is slightly washed out in places, and
travels through Juniper covered hills.
Sometimes the trees are so thick the road looked like it was in a
tunnel. After we got below the tree line, the road resembled a roller
coaster. Very fun.
As we came down this road we could see the salt flats in the
distance that we were told were a clue that the turn off to the Saline Valley
Warm Springs was coming. Although the
road gives you the best hint; it appears as if this is the only way the traffic every
goes. And it is true that the road from
there to the South Pass is in much worse condition, so maybe everyone does come
from the north. Well, not everyone, we
did come across a number of vehicles that had braved the pass. Neither of us wanted to trade rigs with any
of them.
The hot springs are wonderful soaking springs, complete with
camping, lush lawns, palm trees and water temperatures in the low 100’s.
Several of our friends have talked about this place, and although I wouldn’t
want to take my motorhome down that road, our friends Ken & Jackie as well
as Stan have all taken theirs out there.
I think Dual Sport bikes, loaded with camping gear might be the way to go;
once camp is set up you could spend time exploring all the things in the
valley. Wayne thinks the pick-up truck with camping gear might work. Either way I’d have to sleep in the ground,
hummmm.
Sign post lets you know you’re close
Nice lawn
Palm trees
There are 4 source pools in the area
Some one did a lot of work out here
Back on the main road we went by sand dunes and salt flats
and this:
Really? Does the mailman really deliver out here? The flag
is even up. This is almost 30 miles from
the closest paved road and I guarantee the mailman doesn't drive one of those
little white trucks (LLV).
It was strange to ride all that way in the drab desert, and
turn a corner to this green marshy place.
Left over towers from the Swansea Salt tram
In the early 1900's salt was still used as a preservative
for food. The Saline Valley had plenty of salt, so a tram was built to carry it
from the valley over the Inyo Mountains to the town of Swansea in the Owens
Valley, and off to market by rail. The
tramway was constructed from 1910-13.
Gondola cars carried 800 lbs. of salt, and traveled at a rate of 20 tons
per hour. It ran on and off through the 1930's and moved a total of 30,000 tons
of high grade salt. The 13.5 mile length
was made of a series of tramways with a unique crossover system allowed the
gondolas to go from one tramway to the other without stopping. It was an
amazing piece of engineering for its time, yet only a few towers are still visible. A ride for another day would be to go to
Swansea to see if more of the tram system is evident there.
At the end of the valley, the road starts up a narrow
drainage. It’s no wonder that this part
of the road washes out almost every year. What surprised us was the presence of
Joshua trees. They don't usually look like this, and I haven't seen them in this kind of location before. Did you know that the
Joshua tree is actually a member of the Lilly Family? It is amazing what you
can learn at Rest Area Information booths!
We finally turned away from the Saline Valley, with one last
great viewpoint.
Once we got down the other side, Joshua trees were
everywhere, and looking much more like I would expect, like little solders in a giant formation.
After the Joshua trees, we continued through the sage and
rocky hills, finally reaching SR 190 at the 100 mile mark of our ride and the
clock at 4:00 PM. So we turned right on
the pavement and did 90 more miles, this time in less than 2 hours on state
routes and US 395. Once again we were
racing the sun, but this time we won, arriving at camp with some day light
remaining. It was another great day, we
were both glad we had a chance to see this area; it is so different than
anything we’d normally see.
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