Kaiser Circumnavigation 08/10/19

With the scouting I did for the previous trip into this region (Mt Julius Caesar), I found a couple other interesting routes for both hiking and biking. After visiting, I was definitely interested in going back to see more of the area. The only weekend which worked for both of us until the end of september was the weekend after I was just there, so off we went!

The route:

For the bike ride here we started just above Big Creek, which appears to be a SCE employee town for the many hydro projects they have in this area. It started off with some stiff  >10% grades up to Huntington Lake.

View towards Big Creek on a hairpin corner

A wonderful steep road

Huntington Lake... lot of fishing and big trucks

Outflow of the water diverted from the high sierra

Kaiser Pass road

Kaiser pass road abruptly stops, turning from a high speed 2 lane highway into a 1.5 lane tight and twisty road right here.

Summit!

Really awesome road to bike, not as fun in a car.

After descending a bit off the summit, we turned off onto a gravel road which would take us down to Stump Springs Road, about 900m vertical below. The road initially started off a bit rough, as the top bit sees a bit more traffic, and the grades might be a bit steeper. Down low, the road was pretty amazing and smooth, and an endless, fun, descent.

A very lost cow

Views for days on the descent from Kaiser pass

More dirt descending

Stump Springs Road is a rolling paved road which takes us all the way back to Big Creek. There was lots of signs of forest fire activity in the past 10 or so years along the northern slopes of Kaiser.

Stump Springs Road

Views down to mammoth pool and shuteye

Road was closed for repairs... lots of room for bikes :)

Drainage into the central valley

After we finished our ride we drove to Shaver Lake to hangout, swim and cook dinner. It was the perfect way to cap off the day... the water was so nice!

Swimming and making dinner at the lake afterwards