45 Days on a Gen3 Hayabusa - 2023 Pashnit Touring

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Highway 108 - Sonora Pass | California Motorcycle Roads | Pashnit

Ride Sonora Pass across the Sierra Nevada Mountain, California Motorcycle Ride

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Uh oh, we're hitting a bit of rain as we pass through the 8000 ft level, from here it's straight up over the next couple miles to the summit

 

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Passing 9000

 

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Passing 9000

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I'd only imagine that place in the middle of winter.......

 

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We reached the summit on 9645 ft Sonora Pass and were floored by the amount of snow, the rain had thankfully stopped at the summit, at least temporarily in time with our arrival. We've been reading about it, hearing about it, it's been in our local news constantly (the huge amounts of snow) but to actually see it in person. Most snow I've ever seen atop the pass and I've been riding up here for the last 25 years. Last few years we've been up here on the same weekend, and there has been zero snow, completely melted. We were super lucky to be able to ride up here on the day that the pass opened up.

 

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Starting to rain again

 

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This must be 6-7 years ago as that’s my 79 CBX. No rain that day though.

 

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Rain. Boo.

 

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The troops were getting antsy. The rain was not something we were counting on.

Plus genius here, left the rain suit at home.

 

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Coming off the summit, the elevation drops quickly

 

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Steepest part of the pass here, it's a 26% grade.

 

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We found a hole in the clouds, no rain

 

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Not raining still, therefore a stop a Donnells Vista looking down on Donnells Reservoir

Chances are, you’ve ridden right by it if you've ridden the Sierra Nevada Passes. Easy to miss and nothing to let you know this even exists other than a small sign along the road, this vista along Highway 108 Sonora Pass is one of the best in the Sierra Range. Donnell’s Vista, el 6311', provides a bird’s eye view of Donnells Lake in the canyon below, fed by the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus River and several other creeks. It resembles a miniature Yosemite Valley with steep cliff faces creating the basin for the reservoir. The vista looks down nearly 1500 vertical feet at the reservoir. Built in 1955 at an elevation of 4,893’ for storing water and power generation, the curved arch dam is 291 feet high and 750 feet long. Unfortunately, there is no paved road that lead down to the reservoir and the only way to reach the dam is to ride up the canyon from Beardley Lake further downhill. Easy to miss. I rode by it for 20 years before I finally stopped to check this out

 

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But it didn't last, the rain arrived and we were chased away by the rain which started out light, but then a few miles later, it was pouring out. And I finally relented & put the camera away out of the rain. And we headed back down the hill into heavy rain, so heavy, I could only see the taillights of other cars, and the riders behind me could only see my taillight.

Finally reaching our home base. Gary might need some rain gloves. I was soaked.

 

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Following day the rain was long gone and it was dry out while piddling through the tiny town of Sonora.

 

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Outside Sonora is the gold rush town of Columbia. The entire town has been preserved and converted to a state park.

All that snowmelt has filled our reservoirs, an exciting thing to see.

Parrots Ferry Rd across Melones Reservoir

 

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No schedule, no obligations, no place to be, decided to wander our wiggly Sierra Foothill backroads on the Busa headed back to home base. My Sierra Nevada Tour is nice (for me) cuz this region is my backyard.