Hiking with Dogs around Sonora Pass- 5/25/2025
Posted: Mon May 26, 2025 5:16 pm
Lizzie and I cruised slowly up Hwy 395, stopping for three days and nights to car-camp and day-hike. We first camped at Onion Valley, and hiked to the first lakes above there. Then we went north to Rock Creek, where the road is plowed to within a half mile of Mosquito Flat, which is 10,000,' and hiked into the snow a few miles up Little Lakes Valley. And finally, we stopped on top of Sonora Pass, and hiked north up the ridge of Sonora Mountain. It was very slow going through Bishop due to the annual "Mule Days" extravaganza. After that, we were stalled out in Lee Vining for a few hours due a fire just to the north of town, which we hope is nearly contained now (See Maverick's "Fire and Smoke Impact Report" thread.).
We were very anxious, and excited to try out our new dog partner "Sierra" on and off the trail in her namesake range. She did wonderfully well, and that was a very happy surprise. At one point, we thought we would need to get one of those "E-collars," to keep her from long distance wandering, aka: Running Off!
She has learned to respond promptly to a loud clap and "Sierra Come," even with ground squirrels and rabbits in her sight. Do you hear that Aura?
We took some photos from our pair of hikes-- one with snow shoes, around Sonora Pass. You can park and begin to hike, or ski right at the pass, and from many locations on both sides of Sonora Pass. We saw at least 10 sets of skiers, and admired their tracks, mostly coming down from the peak just south of the pass. Skiers such as you c9... Sam, should note that the guys we talked to said it was a pretty nice surface of "slush over solid crust;" I'm not sure if that appeals to you? *Early morning ventures preferred.
Much of the south facing slopes and the wide open flats found on the north side of the pass are largely melted out, and we managed without snowshoes. Our pair of dogs loved the open sage flats, and especially the snowfields! One of our goals was to find the way back into the strange tunnel I had found on the Sonora Peak climb with Frank last spring. ( viewtopic.php?t=23564) We thought we were going to be foiled by steep snow, but it turned out that the tunnel, which pierces the volcanic ridge, was open at each end, with the snow just melted away from the eastern entrance.
Sierra looking over toward the prime ski slopes-- circled in blue.
Peaks just west of Sonora Pass.
The east entrance to the tunnel (Marked in red).
Volcanic breccia-- Pyroclastic stuff of explosive eruptions. It is interesting for us "Southern Sierrans" to be surrounded by volcanic rock.
We were very anxious, and excited to try out our new dog partner "Sierra" on and off the trail in her namesake range. She did wonderfully well, and that was a very happy surprise. At one point, we thought we would need to get one of those "E-collars," to keep her from long distance wandering, aka: Running Off!
She has learned to respond promptly to a loud clap and "Sierra Come," even with ground squirrels and rabbits in her sight. Do you hear that Aura?
We took some photos from our pair of hikes-- one with snow shoes, around Sonora Pass. You can park and begin to hike, or ski right at the pass, and from many locations on both sides of Sonora Pass. We saw at least 10 sets of skiers, and admired their tracks, mostly coming down from the peak just south of the pass. Skiers such as you c9... Sam, should note that the guys we talked to said it was a pretty nice surface of "slush over solid crust;" I'm not sure if that appeals to you? *Early morning ventures preferred.
Much of the south facing slopes and the wide open flats found on the north side of the pass are largely melted out, and we managed without snowshoes. Our pair of dogs loved the open sage flats, and especially the snowfields! One of our goals was to find the way back into the strange tunnel I had found on the Sonora Peak climb with Frank last spring. ( viewtopic.php?t=23564) We thought we were going to be foiled by steep snow, but it turned out that the tunnel, which pierces the volcanic ridge, was open at each end, with the snow just melted away from the eastern entrance.
