I always say, when making a plan, the first step in the plan is to plan to change the plan. Yesterday, on the way to Bishop, we saw a sign advising us that CA 120 which leads directly to Yosemite through Tioga Pass is closed until the end of May. At elevation 9,945, winter and snow linger late into spring. As a result, we had to drive further north to CA 108 which runs through Sonora Pass and then south to the western end where you pick up CA 49 and then CA 120 which takes you up to the park. This detour added about 2 hours to the journey.

Knowing that our journey today would be longer than planned, we got up early and had the car packed and ready to go by 9 a.m. (a record for this trip). Here comes step 1 in the plan. After closing the car windows last night, I left the keys in the ignition with car on accessories. You guessed it, dead battery. By the way, the battery is in the trunk, so we had to take suitcases off trunk rack and empty trunk of camping gear! About an hour later, AAA came, got us started and in about another half hour we were on the road (only about half an hour later than our normal starting time).

 

 

 

 

We reached the town of Sonora Junction and started west up CA 108.

The road is up and down and around and around with several 15 mph turns – a perfect route for the toy car. (As an aside, the only road I can remember being more challenging was the Whanganui River Road in New Zealand, leading from the village of Pipiriki to the town of Whanganui on the shore of the Tasmanian Sea. What made that road more challenging was that it was a single lane, gravel road with a sheer drop on the right side and a vertical cliff on the left side (like the donkey trails in the Grand Canyon). Fortunately, we met no vehicles coming up the road so there was no question of who was going over the cliff.) After what seemed like forever we reached the summit at 9,624 feet (only 321 feet lower than Tioga pass) and started the downhill trek. At the summit, we felt like we could just teach out and touch some if the snow covered peaks. Along the way we noted snow banks as high as 6 feet on both sides of the road, created by the snow plows clearing the road.

We spent better than half our 6 ½ hour trip today just driving through Sonora Pass with stunning views of snowy peaks and evergreen forests.

 

 

 

 

 

We finally reached the park entrance and got directions to our destination which was about another 10 miles into the park.

 

 

 

 

At the end, we checked in and was assigned to our camp site.

The campsite is not what one normally thinks of as a campsite. It resembles a concrete bunker with a tin roof and one open side that is surrounded by a privacy camp. It has a standard double bed and a double bunk bed with mattresses, shelving, a mirror a light and two electrical outlets. (A better description can be found here.)

 

 

 

 

We were hoping to see the Northern Lights generated by the recent solar activity, but we were beat after the long drive, setting up camp and waiting by the beach at the lake for an hour; so we packed it in and went to bed. As it turned out, we didn’t miss much as tonight’s display was nowhere near that of last night’s display due to the reduced level of the solar flare.