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We'd planned to go to Bishop as far back as 2001 but, for one reason or
another, never made it. I'd never really been to the eastern Sierra,
other than a drive-through on the way to
Mt. Whitney in 1999. Finally, 5 years later, we made the trip to the other
side of the mountains.
Friday morning a bit after 10am, we left the Bay Area. Traffic was light,
but it's a long drive anyway. We stopped for lunch somewhere along the
road, then stopped again at Tuolumne Meadows. This was by far the earliest
in the year that I had visited Tuolumne Meadows (the previous earliest
being the end of July). However, there wasn't much snow compared to my
previous visits. Either the snowfall wasn't as great, or it melted away
much faster or earlier (or a combination of the two).
Tuolumne Meadows
The drive down from Tioga Pass toward Highway 395 is beautiful. I stopped
at a large turnout with a plaque -- something to do with the civil
engineering required to make the road, I think. I didn't stop for the
plaque, though -- I stopped for the tremendous views of the mountains to
the east, with water falling down the slopes into a green valley below.
After taking some photographs, we continued on down the road.
Mountains east of Tioga Pass
The road east of Tioga Pass
It took about 5 hours, 15 minutes of driving to go from the Bay Area to
Mammoth Lakes. In the winter, tack on another hour or more, since Tioga
Pass road is closed during winter and you'll probably have to go via Reno.
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