Day 1 Labor Day on the East Side of the Sierra

Link to the rest of the photos here:

Mo and I decided that we really wanted to get to the back side of the Sierra's one more time before I move home to Oregon permanently. The great part of this plan for me was the fact that Sonora Pass, HWY 108, is still open and my trip to Bridgeport took just a little over 2 hours compared to Mo's 8 hour journey from Klamath via HWY 395.

I got to Bridgeport around 11:30 , so had a little time before our 1PM meeting arrangement to go find a campsite for us. Again, it is a holiday weekend, and for some reason we seem to plan these spontaneously, without making reservations. There are more than half a dozen campgrounds along the Robinson River leading up to Twin Lakes. Humbolt-ToiyabeNF Camping. We thought at least some of the campsites were still available on a first-come-first-served basis, but very few were still open when I arrived on Friday morning. I drove around a few of the campgrounds, and realized that I was lucky to find a very open, somewhat exposed site in Honeymoon Flat Campground, so I grabbed it, put down an old sleeping bag that was in the back of my truck so it would appear taken, and drove back to Bridgeport.

Mo arrived on time, and we set up camp and decided to explore our little valley, discovering in the process that we really had the best site of all. Even though it is open, without much shade, there are aspens around fluttering in the breezes, the sites are huge, and somehow sitting in camp, we see no one at all. Parking my truck perpendicular to the MoHo between the table and firepit made for a perfect little home that felt just right. We watched the sunset on the Sawtooth Ridge and the Matterhorn over Twin Lakes to the south.




The night temperature was perfect, down to 41, with a full moon and the MoHo stayed warm enough for comfortable sleeping without any extra heat, dropping just to the 50's by morning.


I suppose the only drawback was the holiday traffic on Twin lakes Road, but with the sound of the wind and the noisy creek it all blended together eventually.