Sherman Pass, CA - Best View of the Sierra Passes

Grandview USFS Campground, CA

 

    Snow prevented me from an east-west crossing of Sherman Pass in the spring of 2011 because of the heavy winter snow of 2010/11. One of the three fellows I met at the Sherman Pass Vista Point said that the pass normally did not open til May. It was certainly earlier than that this year.
    The start of the climb from the North Fork of the Kern River not too far upstream from the Fairview USFS CG.

 

 

    A truck camper either parked or boon-docked off of the Sherman Pass Rd while a one-ton pickup pulls a large horse-trailer up the grade.

 

 

 

 

 

    Despite the apparent dryness there was actually water in some, but not all, of the small creeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Near Alder Creek the results of a forest fire perhaps 5-7 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Panning right, some interesting rock formations at the top of Alder Creek.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Bet this drainage looked considerably better before the fire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    The Sherman Pass Vista Point from just "down the road a piece."

 

 

 

 

 

 

    My rig at the Vista Point next to what the USFS brass calls a "comfort station." Others might call it a rest room while red-necks call it an outhouse.

 

 

 

 

 

    Olancha Peak in the distance directly over the Sequoia National Forest plaque on the Kern Plateau. [Click once to enlarge; press ESC to return here.]

 

 

 

 

 

    Here's a close-up of the plaque in case you cannot read it in the above photo.

 

 

 

    While the clouds make it difficult to make out the tops of Mt Whitney and Mt Langley, I believe the top of Whitney is slighlty to the left and Longley to the right of the second wooded ridge you see.
    Now that I've been over all Sierra Passes from Beckwourth in the north on CA70 to the two highest, Tioga and Sonora, mid-state, and finally to Sherman at the southern end of the Sierra Nevada, it's ironic indeed that the best view is from the least-traveled!

 

    I continued on toward the USFS CG at Troy Mdws. Here a shot between two red firs at Mt Whitney from the south rather than from the SSW.

 

 

    Troy Meadows near the end of September, when what was once green is now brown. Interestingly, I saw a few lodgepole pines both in this meadow and at the campground. Lodgepoles have 2 needles in a cluster while ponderosas have 3; the needles for the former are short whereas those of yellow pines, another name for ponderosas, are long; finally, lodgepoles have a gray, scaley bark while the bark of ponderosa has large yellow & brown scales. Oh, the pinecones of the former are very small compared to those of the latter.
    I could go on about the differences of the trees as to where they are located in the Sierras, but suggest you either buy a copy of Storer & Usinger's magnum opus, Sierra Nevada Natural History or check it out from your local library.
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Links:

• Wikipedia article on Sherman Pass
• Wikipedia article on the Kern Plateau

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F 28 Sep Actual Route: Fairview USFS CG - Sherman Pass - Troy Mdws USFS CG

Sa 29 Sep Actual Route: Troy Mdws USFS CG

Su 30 Sep Actual Route: Troy Mdws USFS CG - Fish Crk CG - Kennedy Mdws - Olancha - Lone Pine - Portagee Joe Inyo County CG

M 1 Oct Actual Route: Portagee Joe Inyo County CG - Lone Pine - Independence - Big Pine - Big Pine Crk bd

T 2 Oct Actual Route: Big Pine Crk bd - Big Pine - Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest - Grandview USFS CG

W 3 Oct Actual Route: Grandview USFS CG - Big Pine - Bishop - Bishop Crk - North Lake USFS CG

Th 4 Oct Actual Route: North Lake USFS CG - Bishop Senior Center - Pleasant Valley Inyo County CG

F 5 Oct Actual Route: Pleasant Valley CG - Mammoth Lakes - Devils Postpile Natl Monument - Reds Meadow USFS CG

Sa 6 Oct Actual Route: Reds Meadow CG - Minaret Summit - Mammoth Lakes Library - Lee Vining - Junction USFS Campground

Su 7 Oct Actual Route: Junction CG - Saddlebag Lake - Junction CG - Tuolumne Mdws - Hogdon USPS Campround

M 8 Oct Actual Route: Hogdon CG - Cherry Valley - Tuolumne Lib - N.F. Tuolumne River bd

T 9 Oct Actual Route: Tuolumne River bd - Tuolumne - Sonora - Tuolumne River bd

W 10 Oct Route: Tuolumne River bd - Tuolumne - Sonora - Tuolumne River bd
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Finding Campgrounds:

• RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
• Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com
• Free campsites website
• Info on finding BLM Campgrounds

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.