Wild West road trip - day 5 - Tioga Pass and Lone Pine

[TrueBlue]

Day 5...

we woke up at 7am this morning and went to the onsite restaurant for breakfast.

We headed back to the room and packed up the car and had checked out by 9am. Today we were heading to Lone Pine for an overnight stay but first we were driving Tioga Pass.

I had been keeping a very close eye on this road for months before we left as I knew they had a massive snow fall over the winter and the road still had approx 14ft of snow about a month before we were due to leave. They had started ploughing through it but they said it was a long process and it might not be open until the middle of July.

The detour was an extra few hours onto our journey so we had everything crossed for a miracle .

On our first day in Yosemite we heard the news that they were opening the road the following day. To say we were ecstatic is an understatement.

We had driven this road a couple of years ago and knew the scenery was gorgeous so were totally delighted to be driving it again.


We headed towards Yosemite Valley again but you soon see a sign for Tioga pass off to the left and you're soon heading up a fairly steep incline. The scenery below is stunning. You can see the merced river and the road into the valley from up here

There is lots of waterfalls along the way too. We stopped quite often to take photo's

After a while you start to see signs of the snow that is still up there

There is so many stopping places. By this time DS was getting a bit fed up. He just wanted to reach our next hotel so he could have wifi again... sigh...

Another half an hour or so later Tenaya Lake appears in front of you. So out the car we get again for more pics

Then the snow really starts to appear as you get higher and higher. I don't know how many times our ears popped but the scenery is just stunning

We arrived at another lake which had loads of snow. DS decided to leave his mark by writing his name and age in the snow

Although there was a lot of snow still up there and we were in shorts and t-shirts the temperature was sitting at 80 degrees. It was so warm up there yet still surrounded by so much snow. It just gives you an idea of exactly how much snowfall they had over the winter.

But anyway... all this stopping to take pics wasn't getting us anywhere fast. We were still about 100 miles away from Lone Pine and it was already 12 noon.

When you come down off the Tioga pass and come to the junction at Lee Vinning it's basically a straight road from there to Lone Pine. There's not too much to see, just 80 miles of dust / desert type landscape at either side of the road (395).

We stopped off at Bishop for a macdonalds as we were all feeling peckish. Got back in the car and about 45 mins later we pulled into Lone pine.

Continued below...

[TrueBlue]

We finally arrived at the Comfort Inn at Lone Pine about 2pm. We checked into the hotel and our room was ready for us.

We had stayed in this hotel before and found it to be very comfortable and the staff are so friendly so I didn't hesitate in booking again for this trip.

There is not too many hotels to choose from in Lone Pine but it's a lovely little place and sits right at the foot of the Alabama Hills

We took our luggage to our room and got straight back into the car as this time we were going for a drive into the Alabama Hills. These hills are where they made many many country western movies and in the town there is a museum where you can go and see all the memorabilia

On this trip we were sharing the driving and I was excited that I was taking the drive into the hills.

I was about half way up when I started feeling a bit uneasy. There are some extreme hairpin bends and the height you climb gets very drastic very quickly. We stopped off at various points to take pics

We kept getting higher and higher and there was barely any other cars on the road. I think this is what was making me feel uneasy. If we broke down there was hardly anyone else around and we had no service on our phone.

But we continued to head up further to see if we could reach the end of the road. And boy were we surprised to stumble across a fantastic campsite at the top! And there was people there... lots and lots of people I felt so relieved lol

We had been driving now for quite a few miles into this spectacular mountain range and the nearest shop was back in Lone Pine so this campsite was really remote. I'd hate to stay there and run out of milk or food

I don't think I could stay there myself but DH said he'd love it.

After a while we decided to drive back down again. You are so high up that on the way back down I literally didn't take my feet of the brake at all (not harshly though). There are so many bends at such a high height that as soon as you take your feet off the brake the car really picks up speed again

Once we were back down again we stopped off at these rocks which people have decorated colourfully

Before we headed back to the hotel we stopped off for fuel so the far was full for the next day

Once back at the hotel we put our swimwear on and headed to the pool. I had a quick swim then headed to the hot tub (even though it was 100 degrees by now). But it didn't feel uncomfortable.

I got chatting to a guy from London and also a couple from California and we exchanged our different trips and where we were all heading off to next. We were heading in a different direction from the others. They were heading towards Yosemite whereas we'd just come from there and heading in the direction of Vegas.

We went back to our room and got showered and dressed to head out for dinner. Our hotel is about a mile or so outside of the main town so we took the car. We ate in a lovely restaurant called The Grill. We ate here the last time and knew the food was good. I had cabonara, DH had grilled salmon and DS had Nachos

We took a stroll along the street before heading back to the hotel as it was such a lovely night

[Melbatb]

More glorious scenery - you have been spoilt for photo opportunities!

[jocat]

Wow! Such stunning scenery again.

Well done you for sharing the driving. I think I'd have had to hand it back to DH as I'd be rubbish with those bends.

[jdouds]

Hi did tioga last july just awesome , even more so this year as your photos show. They had to clear 50 foot snow drifts in several places

[tocpe321]

All looks great.

We are booked to stay in Lone Pine, although we are heading towards Death Valley.

Thanks for tip re Alabama Hills.

[TrueBlue]

Originally Posted by Melbatb

More glorious scenery - you have been spoilt for photo opportunities!

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We visited some spectacular places this time and there is still more to come...

[TrueBlue]

Originally Posted by jocat

Wow! Such stunning scenery again.

Well done you for sharing the driving. I think I'd have had to hand it back to DH as I'd be rubbish with those bends.

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I'm quite used to driving over there. The last road trip we did we also shared the driving but I must admit this time we hit were on more higher roads

I would do it again in a heartbeat though

[TrueBlue]

Originally Posted by jdouds

Hi did tioga last july just awesome , even more so this year as your photos show. They had to clear 50 foot snow drifts in several places

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It's one of the best roads i've ever driven with some of the best scenery.

I've been keeping a close eye on their facebook updates. Was also very sad to hear that the Tioga Pass Resort will probably not be able to open this year as the cabins are so badly damaged. We drove past them and they are wrecked

[TrueBlue]

Originally Posted by tocpe321

All looks great.

We are booked to stay in Lone Pine, although we are heading towards Death Valley.

Thanks for tip re Alabama Hills.

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Lone Pine is one of our favourite overnight stops.

We also went through Death Valley to (I'll do this day tomorrow ). We stopped overnight at Furnace Creek Ranch then went onto Vegas the following day.

Yes definitely take a drive into the Alabama Hills. Just off the main street there is a road called Whitney Portal Road. This takes you straight to them. The rock with the face on it is near the beginning but we drove past it on the way up. Stopped off at it on the way back down again.

Take a drive around the campsite once you get to the top. It's a one way drive around it. I really liked it there but don't think i'd be happy to stay there