Just a couple of comments. Rode from close to Amarillo out to Death Valley, Sequoia Nat'l Park and on up to Yosemite. We left DV and hit 395 south to almost Pearsonville. From US 395 we turned west on what I guess is a county road, J41. Took J41 over to Johnsondale until we took a north to Camp Nelson where we ate dinner. This road is very scenic, but requires good rider skills. I really had to eat crow and slow down. This road is much tougher than the famous Dragon. Ranchers were gathering cattle from the mountain pastures to move them to lower elevations I guess, because we went through two herds being pushed down the road. The dogs could really work the cattle and is interesting if you have never seen dogs work cattle. Another less traveled road we took was out of Yosemite east. We took 120 east until we hit Highway 6. We fueled up in Benton, Ca. and headed into Nevada on 6. From 6 we turned south on Road 264 which angles back to Ca. and then turns east as it morphs into 266. Took this road over to 95. From there we went to Vegas for one nite and then home from there. J41 and road 264 are very interesting rides if your ever out there. Death Valley is surprisingly beautiful. Sequoia is worth a look. Yosemite is a must see. However the water falls were pretty much dry.

 

Would love to have you join RidingTogether.com and post this story. I'm trying to build this site from the ground up and could use some live beta-testers. Hopefully it'll grow into something much bigger and provide a means for meeting other riders with similar interests. Thanks.

Chris

 

Great ride! I live just about in the middle of the roads you describe, and have ridden all of them a number of times. Watch out for the deer around Ponderosa!

 

I think I saw ya...I just returned from a yosemite/sequoia trip in a motorhome. And I totally agree..this is a must see/ride. I will be back...but on two's..

 

If you took the "road" I'm thinking of... between Kennedy Meadows and Johnsondale... you're friggin' nuts.

My hats off to you.

 

Looked on the map and saw a Troy Meadows east of Johnsondale. Just a little past Johnsondale we did turn north to Camp Nelson. I did say this was a much tougher ride than the Tail of the Dragon. Didn't see another motorcycle. I wonder why?

 

I live near that area and ride those roads regularly, I still take it slow. If the turns don't have sand/gravel then they have huge bumps or potholes. Every once in a while I feel ballsy and really start laying into it, then I hit something nasty in a turn and remember to just take it slow and enjoy the scenery. Definitely worth riding if you are ever in the area.

 

Yeah, great ride, but one to take slow enough to enjoy the scenery. Steep drop-offs, no guard rails, lots of deer.

 

One thing I need to add is that it is imperative to take binoculars to Yosemite. This will allow you to watch the rock climbers scale these incredible rock walls. You can also hear people say "holy ****" in about 30 different languages.