Huntington Lake Tour

On the morning of April 8th. 2005 we arrived at Badger Flat to start our loop ride around Huntington Lake. We were planning to ride over Kaiser Pass (of Climb to Kaiser fame) and travel around the backside of Huntington following Stump Springs Road. This road is only partially paved and for that reason we chose to ride mountain bikes instead of our road bikes. We got our usual delayed start due to final repacking of panniers and began the steepish climb to Kaiser Pass, stopping at the pass for a rest and photo break.Dropping down the other side of the pass, we soon reached our turnoff, the begining of Stump Springs road, where we turned left. Shortly passing Rattlesnake trail and  then Sample Meadow trail, we arrived at Sample Meadow, where we found out that there was a lost hunter search going on. After talking with members of the lost hunters family and promising to keep an eye peeled for him we continued on. At Sample Meadows the road lost all pretence of paving and became rough in spots. As we rode on, dropping steadily, several great scenic viewpoints presented themselves, including an interesting rock formation! After crossing several creeks the road became paved again just before we arrived at West Kaiser Campground where we camped. After setting up our Hennessy hammocks we explored the local area before having dinner and soon after retiring for the night.

Arising early the next morning, we began our second day with a protracted downward ride heading towards the Big Creek road, again passing some very pleasant scenery, even seeing Mammoth Pool in the distance on two occasions. After this the road began climbing moderately until we arrived at Sheep Thief Creek and the Big Creek road junction where we turned towards Huntington Lake. At this junction our road started climbing very steeply for a couple of miles until we arrived at Huntington Lake dam where it assumed a more reasonable grade. The ride by Huntington Lake is quite a beautiful one, passing through a very attractive community and many lake views, before starting the final climb to Badger Flat. Soon we arrived at Highway 168 and the ranger station a few yards further on, where we stopped for a rest break before continuing on to our car, where we ended this short tour. In most ways this had been a very pleasant, typical tour in Californias Sierras.

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