If you are sitting around in the summer heat and are not taking advantage of high altitude riding, you are missing out!!!

I rode the Bishop/Mammoth area this weekend, and found a couple of guide books (available at both the Mammoth and Bishop National Forest Visitors Centers) that might be helpful for finding rides in the Eastern Sierra. They are: "High Sierra SUV Trails, Volume I, The East Side", and "Inyo-Mono SUV Trails". Both are by Roger Mitchell, and are published by Track & Trail Publications, P.O. Box 1247, Oakhurst, CA 93644 (sorry, no web site, e-mail, or phone number????????). Or, the Inyo National Forest web site has a bookstore, you might want to try that- http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/inyo/ The same author also has guide books on the Western Sierra, Eastern and Western Nevada, and others in preparation.

I would highly recommend these guide books!! They give you detailed directions on how to find trailheads (!!!), and routefinding. Most of the rides are to old mines or prospects, and in many cases the author gives great detailed historical discriptions of the rides. While you can do many rides on a sport bike, I would recommend a utility with high ground clearance. I have a 4X4, but my kids get by just fine on their 2X4's (Rancher or Recon, and even the little Honda 90!), if they pick a good line through the technical sections, and there isn't any snow.

I particularly like the Coyote Creek and Wheeler Crest rides near Bishop, and the Laurel Lakes ride near Mammoth. Stop at the ranger stations for maps. The valley in Bishop was 104 degrees this weekend, and at 10,000 ft. it was in the low 70's. (Note that not all rides described are at high altitude, so this time of year, pick your rides carefully.) Get out there and explore!!!

 

Sounds like fun..

 

One thing I forgot to mention, is that the books cover the area from around Lake Tahoe in the North, down to Lone Pine in the South. The E. Sierra book is by far the more useful of the two, and the Inyo-Mono book is kind of a supplement (with some additional rides, and some of the same rides) to the other book. Plus, being for "SUV's", the books don't contain the hard-core "rock crawling" routes, which is probably a good thing for most riders.

powerstroke-You might want to try the book on the Western Sierra?? I know the Western side if far more restricted than the Eastern!! In Inyo NF, you can ride ANY DIRT ROAD unless it is posted closed (but no trails), so there are hundreds of miles of riding. Keep in mind that the book is written for SUV's, and the author is going to assume that you are street legal! If you can find something on the West side, it would save you the long drive over the Sierras.

I am beginning to see that there are huge advantages to having a (street legal), dual-sport motorcycle!!

 

Thanks Man. You are a wealth of California Riding info. How long did it take to get up there from the IE?

 

We were traveling light, because we were staying at a friends in Mammoth. That means the flat trailer (pulls like it isn't there), rather than the toybox and camping gear. So, I can go 70 along with the cars! Takes around 4 hrs to Bishop, with no stops. And from Bishop, less than an hour to Mammoth.

 

Yes I know Roger. As a matter of fact I just installed a cooler on his house.
He is the Capt of the Paid call fire dept in Oakhurst.
Most of the Books he writes are for JEEPS.


Where I live I just ride from my house right to the Miami Motorcycle trails in the Sierra Nat. Forrest.