Volcanoes and Passes - Part 2

If the first half of this pairing is about volcanoes, the second is about passes. Nine days from San Francisco to Los Angeles, eight nights and around 1,497 miles, crossing at least nine named Sierra Nevada summits with a full day inside Yosemite National Park.

The route builds up to it. Napa’s vineyards and Clearlake fill the first riding day, then Yuba Pass, Donner Pass and Spooner Summit carry it over the mountains to Lake Tahoe and Carson City. Donner Pass carries a grim bit of history, the place where an 1846 wagon party was trapped by snow for the winter, and the road over it is magnificent.

Then they come in sequence. Daggett, Luther and Carson Passes lead to Sonora, with the Calaveras Big Trees along the way, and Sonora Pass and Tioga Pass follow on the climb into Yosemite. A full day in the park covers Yosemite Falls, Half Dome and Glacier Point. Walker, Tehachapi and finally Tejon Pass bring the route down to Highway 1 and Malibu for the run into Los Angeles.

EAGLERIDER supplies the motorcycle and books all eight nights, and fuel, meals and insurance sit outside the price. Days range from 150 to 265 miles, weighted so the shortest falls where Yosemite deserves the time. For riders who judge a trip by the quality of the roads rather than the names of the destinations, this is the most concentrated sequence of mountain passes anywhere in the EAGLERIDER range, and it still manages to finish on the Pacific.