I made my way over the pass and once over it a few thunder clouds showed up. Stopped in Bishop to pick up 3 lbs of peppered beef jerkey at Meadow Farms. Drove all the way to South Lake and took a few images of the very low lake. Very windy up there and had fun watching some kids sliding down the snow on the rocky slopes.
The weather plot began to thicken towards the east, clouds increased exponentially and it became clear that a storm was rolling in. Could not leave without stopping at Rock Creek Lake. The wind up here blew a few snow flurries on me. Took a few images of the approaching storm; looked really cool.
Then it was time to make my way back to the Sonora Pass. When I got to the Tioga Pass turn off, a storm was over Mono Lake and I could not pass up the photo op. I drove up to the overlook above the Whoa Nellie Deli. Really windy now, but I got a good shot. Stopped one more time at the Mono Lake Vista point along Hwy 395; huge wind gusts….
Now I became a little worried crossing the Sonara Pass with my little rental car (I usually rent an Explorer, but NO, this time I took advantage of a free rental day!!!). The weather looked pretty bad once I got close to the pass. Called my daughter to let here know I might end up staying in Minden or so, but then my crazy sense of adventure took hold of me and I took a risk. I was hoping, since I saw some blue sky in the distant, that the storm was not lasting long. I also thought that the snow would melt on the road as long as the sun was up. Once climbing on the pass I hit some rain, but at the Leavitt Falls overlook it hailed, rained and snowed. I had a Chevy Tahoe in front and another SUV behind me. For a moment I thought I should turn around, but the hail and snow came in short gusts. So I pressed on further up the pass. At some point the Chevy Tahoe pulled over and let me pass, I have no idea why, but so I lead the pack of by now 4 vehicles. After I got up to 8000 ft there were patches of snow slush, but the car did not slip.
For some reason I thought I was close to the top, at 8000 ft, ha ha, not a chance. Somebody was watching over me and I did get a break in the storm and only had to climb up the wet road (at 10 miles/hr). Finally made it to the top of pass at 9628 feet in one piece. Here comes my sigh of big relieve…
Now it was only downhill and the road became drier by the mile. The first pullout I found I stopped to let the other vehicles pass, and to take another deep breath. Once along the Kennedy Meadows campground, the road was dry.
