Eastern Sierra Weekend 1-The Drive

H and I left Bay Area at about 5pm for a 3 days backpacking trip in the Sierras over Memorial Day weekend. This is my first backpacking trip since coming to the Bay Area, so I was excited and concerned at the same time. I have little wilderness survival skills, and there was snow in the forecast.

The Memorial Day "get out of town" traffic was surprisingly light, and we were making fair good time. We are going to Lee Vining via Hwy 120 East, which had just opened a few days ago and we figured we would reached the motel by 9pm.

Unfortunately for us, it started snowing on Friday night in Yosemite National Park. When we reach the park entrance, we were informed Tioga Pass was closed. We had to turn back on Hwy 120, and take Hwy 108 instead.

We reached the Hwy 120/108 split at about 10pm. The drive through Sonora Pass on Hwy 108 was very tiring. The road was narrow, winding, steep. To make matter worst, there was some light rain and heavy fog.

This detour set us back several hours and we finally reach Lee Vining at about 1am. H arranged for us to spend the night at El Mono Motel/Latte Da Coffee Cafe. Both of us were so tired from the drive that we hit the sack and fell asleep almost immediately!