As a mountaineer is intimidated by the mere thought of legendary routes on iconic peaks, so the more pedestrian among us are daunted by the thought of certain big-ticket adventures made aware to us over the course of our lives. Thus I became enthralled by, but ever more fearful of, certain legendary bicycling routes.
Very high on my Bicycling Bucket List is...was...the Rock Creek/Sand Canyon Loop at Tom's Place north of Bishop. Most folks who travel to Bishop for a ride will do Sand Canyon's 'pretty little cousin', the Lower Rock Creek Trail. This shorter, all-singletrack route is very scenic, with a pink tuff version of Devil's Postpile, and has a smorgasbord of technical fun for the serious cyclist. But it's a short spin for the Type II set.
Sand Canyon is a big day out. The route follows an awkward loop, descending from Rock Creek Lake before skipping into Sand Canyon and emptying onto the alluvium at Swall Meadows, not quite connecting with the Lower Rock Creek Trail and an easy return to Tom's Place.
To begin, the climb up the Rock Creek Road starts at Tom's Place on US-395, and goes up-canyon at a very nice grade the whole way. The road has been upgraded with a 2m-wide bike lane on the south-bound (uphill) side. Combine the fresh pavement, the expansive accomodation for cyclists, the rushing creek, alpine views, and a surprisingly diverse forest, and this is an exquisitely pleasant climb for about 820m/3000ft, up to Rock Creek Lake.
I got a nice, early start at just after 7:30 AM. I managed the climb to the lake in a little over 2 hours, taking a couple breaks along the way. This canyon is a prime showcase of the eastern Sierra Nevada. The forest is mostly an even mix of aspen, ponderosa and lodgepole pine, with a long stretch where the west wall of the canyon is covered with huge ancient junipers sporting an understory of lupine. Streamside willows and water birch round out the roadside greenery, lulling the senses with a comfortable aroma.
If fishing is your jam, this canyon is Valhalla. My grandfather took my brother and I up here a few times. He was Minnessota Irish, and knew his way to a good fishing spot. I found it odd that I wound up splitting my attention between 2 main focal points, concerning activities I no longer pursue: 1) the whole way I was spotting good fishing locales along the creek, 2) I was watching the endless wave of sparkling Sierra granite roll by, enough rock climbing and mountaineering to satisfy a hundred Fred Beckeys!
Rock Creek Lake was a zoo on this fine Saturday morn, so I did not linger despite the nostalgia. From the day-use parking at the lake, an old jeep trail climbs some crummy switchbacks to a long bench on the western flank of Wheeler Ridge. I was a bit confused trying to follow someone else's GPS track in the parking area, and wound up starting on the Tamarack Lake Trail, walking to it's junction with the Sand Canyon Road. I did not ride much of this climb, since it is basically a talus field with a clear path hacked through the aspens.
Up on the bench, the trail reverts to nice singletrack for a few km, tracking a meadow with Mount Morgan (S) and the start of Wheeler Ridge loomig tall to the east. The meadow ends at a stand of young aspens, where there are 2 God-view campsites at the terminus of the 'driveable' (from Swall Meadows) Sand Canyon Road. From this location, I could see a huge section of the 'Second City' of Sierra alpine mountaineering (The Palisades being the prime). I was looking at so much Sierra, I could see two summits named Mount Morgan! The other Morgan (N) is the more prominent from this vantage point, with it's dramatic Nevahbe Ridge of red metamorphic rock contrasting with the adjacent white granite.
The road traverses northward along the bench, gently rolling through lodgepole and juniper. A junction is passed for the Wheeler Crest OHV Route, which is a tempting side trip but appears to double the mileage in a bid to reach 3400m/11,400ft. That would be Type III Fun...not ready for that yet. There's a small lake up there, but it's in a sink, so there wouldn't be fish unless some locals are stocking it.
Though there are areas of fire scar, this part of the canyon retains that mountain/desert interface charm. Where the route splits from Rock Creek and dives down Sand Canyon the forest recedes for a bit. This section is steep sand, and not very pleasant even in the downhill direction. A small stream at the bottom of this section provided a chance to soak the feet (and all items of clothing!) and rest in the shade for a bit. Temps were climbing, so shade was becoming critical.
I then passed through a big flat called Witcher Meadow. There wasn't much grass, just a bunch of sagebrush and open ponderosa forest. There were a few lines of willow, marking where seasonal streams must flow, but it was otherwise dry. It looks like a great place to camp, very peaceful with many good spots, fire rings, endless fire wood. The views from this flat are vast. I could see the northern half of the White Mountains, from White Mountain Peak in the south to Boundary/Montgomery in the north, and the Volcanic Tablelands and Casa Diablo Mountain as a 'quaint centerpiece' to the scene.
The last section of road before Swall Meadows drops down dry Witcher Creek to a junction with 4S54, which I planned to use as the return to Tom's Place. The alternative was to ride down through Swall Meadows to the Lower Rock Creek Road, a route I'd used decades previous, and thought it would be unpleasant on a hot June afternoon. Well, 4S54 turned out to be the classic 'out of the fry pan...' situation. I wound up walking several km up this unshaded, wind-free sagebrush sandbox. The slowly building cloud cover never congealed enough to be useful.
I topped out on a lateral moraine of Rock Creek, and wandered the few km back to Tom's Place, finishing at about 2:30 PM, having a nice chat with a fellow cyclist, parked behind me, who returned at the same time. We bid farewell, and I proceeded to my next adventure, driving over Sonora Pass (had never been) to loop south in time for dinner at my mom's new place in Groveland. While I was in the shower, I heard a bear snuffling about the southeast side of the house!
The following day was a nice recon down into the Tuolumne Wild And Scenic River at Lumsden Bridge. I have plans to do a big loop here someday, but based on this experience I'll have to split it into a 2/3-day tour. Everything in the Sierra Nevada is way bigger than it looks on the map. Temps were extremely hot, but the water was still too cold to swim.
To avoid CA-99, and prolong the scenic-ness of the journey, I drove over Tioga Pass and down US-395. Yosemite is looking quite drought-stricken. Much of the west side forest just looks dry and dusty, half dead. I stopped to hit the Frosty Chalet in Lone Pine. I'm only occasionally in town during business hours, but I try to eat here if I can, and shop at Joseph's Market to support local business. I've not been to either place in several years, so was happy to get some good eats. Sat in the park and gnoshed while watching crows and squirrels in their timeless conflict.
