Las Vegas to Carson City ride - on the way home!

Peter Galea (top photo) and Robert Grawet (bottom) in Beatty.  You can click on either photo to make them expand to full size.

Thursday, June 10, 2010 - We made it out of Las Vegas very quickly as we got on the highway at 6:30 AM on a Thursday morning.  It was only in the 60's when we left, so it made for a pleasant ride out into the desert.

 A little over 100 miles north of Las Vegas on US 95 is the Oasis town of Beatty, NV.   On a motorcycle with their smallish gas tanks, it's pretty hard to go by Beatty without gassing up.  There is nothing but open desert for a hundred miles in either direction.

On our 5th trip thru Beatty (3 x to the south, 2 x to the north), we've come to know the town and it's amenities well.

The complex where we gas up has:  gas station with about 20 pumps, store with tourist/travel type goodies (candy, nuts, ice cream, gum, etc.) that is quite large.  They have 100's of bins of goodies that allow you to buy the amount you want of whatever delight you find too hard to pass.

Peter often gets an ice cream here, as have I a few times also.  When it's hot in the desert, this is THE place to take a break.

From Beatty, you continue north on US 95 for about 30 miles to the turn off toward Bishop, California and Highway 266.Below is a photo of me pointing at an old house (that is now shuttered) that is the only thing located at this desert intersection.  (formerly a brothel and now for sale).  Peter is checking his load on the bottom photo.

The next part of the ride takes you back across 100 miles of open desert with no gas stations or stores of any kind.  It's an awesome ride thru wide open desert that travels up and down three mountain passes that take you from the desert floor up eventually to Bishop.  If you want to get a feel of how desolate this area is; you can click on this link and be taken to the Mapquest interactive map.  Mapquest Interactive Map US95 and Hwy 266 area.  You can follow the road thru the desert all the way to Bishop.

You finally come up over a hill and see what lies ahead at the end of this desert road.  Off in the distance are the mountains that make up the eastern side of Yosemite National Park.  Snow capped rugged and very beautiful, they are in your view often as you wind your way toward Big Pine, California and then on to Bishop.

A reminder:  It's roughly 150 miles from Beatty to Bishop, so be sure you have gas, sunscreen applied, and won't need anything along this route, as there is NOTHING at all available.

As always, we stop in Bishop at 'The Petite Pantry' for some great food, service, and shade from the sun on their deck in front of the restaurant.   You can see Peter at the table out front getting ready to have some of their great iced tea and his favorite sandwich, while I await my usual BLT.

From Bishop, you're up in the high country quite soon and the ride is spectacular as you travel for miles along the back side of Yosemite National Park.  I've described this trip a few times in earlier posts, so I'll just mention that we highly recommend this section of US 395 from Bishop to Carson City Nevada as one of the nicest and most beautiful rides you can find anywhere.  You need to be prepared though as it can throw some of nature's finest elements at you if you aren't.  We hit some very strong winds at Mammoth Lakes, CA - about 30 - 45 minutes north from Bishop. We had to stop at Mammoth Lakes and add clothes and the wind was cold and blowing at about 40 mph.

Be sure to take an eat or coffee break at the Bridgeport Inn just another hour up the road from Mammoth.  The proprietor is an awesome man who is full of baseball stories. The Inn has motel rooms (OK, but spartan rooms), a great restaurant (a bit pricey), and bar (fantastic decor).

You will pass the iconic Mono Lake and later Topaz Lake just south of Carson City on this segment of the ride.  Very beautiful.  It took us from 6:30 AM in Las Vegas til approximately 5PM to arrive at the Holiday Inn Express on the far north end of Carson City.  Nothing beats the free HI Express breakfasts when you're on the road.  We don't spend a lot of time getting pretty in the morning as we'll be wearing helmets and lots of other gear all day, so we like the idea of slipping down the hall for a quick bite and then hitting the road as soon as possible.  (a photo of the Mammoth Lakes area below)

In the next post I'll describe our ride from Carson City to one of our all time favorite night time stop destinations - Rogue River, Oregon.