VorMedia.com

Up 1N22, made it past Lookout Point, and stopped about 100 yards past The Veil. 

Tax day…is that a rattlesnake or the IRS? 

Same thing…

~2.5 miles up, 1050 feet elevation gain, did Shelton Trail on the way back down. 

Andrew, Mike, and I left southern California and drove up Highway 395 on Thursday morning, 27 March 2008.

Quick pit stop along the Owens River at Lone Pine to check out the water level and take a picture of the magnificent Sierra and Mt. Whitney in the background.  I kayaked here in September of 2007, but didn’t get too far because the reeds were too thick in both directions; note to self, in winter/spring the reeds are dead and it looks possible to kayak a fair distance from here. 

A ride I’ve been wanting to do for 20 years…up to Elderberry spring near Horton Creek.  Hit it at the right time of year and you’re supposed to be able to ride past hundreds, maybe thousands of deer… 

…we didn’t hit it exactly right, but we did see quite a few deer.  Coming down, my front tire got caught in some sand and I went over the handlebars.  I’ve got a bruise the color of the rainbow and the size of a football on my leg, and a bruised rib…but it was worth it. 

More photos of the mountain bike ride up to Elderberry Spring. 

Couldn’t resist a quick shot of Negit Island on Mono Lake.  Negit and Paoha Islands actually had some snow on them. 

Gas was $4.39/gallon for regular in Bridgeport!  No, we didn’t fill up here. 

Second stop of the day was the classic singletrack or Lower Rock Creek.  There was still snow on the trail in parts, making it a little tricky.  Andrew found his new favorite trail. 

More photos of our first ride at Lower Rock Creek. 

Mike took this great shot of the Walker River.  Always a great pit stop on the way up to Reno. 

The next day, we decided to try the old Toll Road from Virginia Highlands down to Virginia Foothills (south Reno) where my parents live.  Andrew seemed to enjoy it more because he has a full suspension bike; Mike and I got a little rattled on our hardtails, but the scenery was magnificent. 

More photos of our first ride down Toll Road. 

I guess we must have liked it…the next day, Andrew and I decided to go again.  This time we knew the route, knew where the tricky parts where and where we could fly down.  We made it from the top down to my parents house in under 30 minutes. 

More photos of our second ride down Toll Road. 

We met up with our buddy Joe in Reno, and did a 10+ mile ride along the Truckee River Bike from Sparks to downtown Reno and back.  It should have been a nice simple ride, but the wind made it bitterly cold at times. 

More photos of our ride along the Truckee River Bike Path.

One the way home, we decided to hit Lower Rock Creek one more time…yes, the trail is that fun (thanks for the tip, Robert!).  Andrew actually did it twice that morning, despite not being able to feel his fingers!  The snow had melted a little more, but it was really cold and the snow that was left on the trail had turned to ice.  Hey, mountain biking in the Sierra in March–what did we expect?

More photos of our second ride at Lower Rock Creek. 

Overall, a fantastic trip.  Being that it was in March, we didn’t expect we’d get too much done…but luckily the weather held.  Other than a few seconds (literally) of snow falling on us while driving home Monday, we saw absolutely no precipitation.  Amazing.  Despite the wind and the cold, we managed to get more done than we ever expected.