Page 140 - 2018 Travel Guide to California

Nevada border, has seen an injection of
energy and interest in recent years, with
new restaurants, shops and galleries.
With a large inventory of hotel rooms
and a cluster of hotel-casinos just a few
steps over the border, it’s a good bet for
inexpensive lodging. In Truckee, a hand-
some old railroad and lumber town
between Donner Pass and Squaw Valley,
a collection of Old West historic buil-
dings along Commercial Row now
houses busy restaurants and bars, some
adorned with portraits of gunslingers
and desperadoes. Farther south, spraw-
ling Bishop sports the Owens Valley’s
most extensive collection of lodging,
dining and resupply outlets.
DRIVE
»
TOUR
Highway 120 is a magical mystery tour through the heart of Yosemite National
Park’s exquisite high country. From the handsome old mining town of GROVELAND,
follow 120 east into the park (HETCH HETCHY, the fraternal twin of Yosemite Valley
that was dammed to provide San Francisco’s water supply, is a short side trip) past
the TUOLUMNE GROVE of giant sequoias and up into the rarefied alpine world.
Pull over at OLMSTED POINT to view HALF DOME from an angle you’ve never seen
before. You’ll traverse TUOLUMNE MEADOWS, the jumping-off point for some of
Yosemite’s finest hiking trails, and cross 9,943-foot TIOGA PASS before descending
three-quarters of a vertical mile to shimmering MONO LAKE.
The Great Outdoors
Just a few hours’ drive from San Francisco
or Los Angeles, the Sierra Nevada has been
California’s outdoor playground almost
since the arrival of the original 49ers. In
Yosemite Valley, spectators with tele-
scopes watch the progress of climbers
inching their way up the impossibly sheer
granite walls. Tempted to try it? Sign up
for an introductory class at the Yosemite
Mountaineering School—or at least treat
yourself to a “Go Climb a Rock” T-shirt.
With some of the most reliably sunny
summer weather of any major mountain
range, the High Sierra is a hiker’s paradise,
from easy day walks in the Desolation
Wilderness to challenging, multi-week
journeys through Kings Canyon and
Sequoia national parks. Skiers have their
choice of world-class venues, from
beginner-friendly Granlibakken to the
double-diamond chutes of Squaw Valley
and Heavenly. In summer, many of the
resorts—particularly Northstar and Mam-
moth—convert their lifts and gondolas to
carry mountain bikes.
LARRY HABEGGER. OPPOSITE: MAMMOTH LAKES CVB; KATELEIGH/ISTOCKPHOTO; MAMMOTH LAKES TOURISM
138 2018 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A