[m3dragon]

Disclaimer:
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This a pay your own way event. This means even me the organizer pays my own way to attend. Organizing drives is my hobby and I enjoy putting the events on. I also pay for the website and store system out of my own pocket to make sharing information and registering easier on everyone.
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Register here for the weekend:

Mammoth, Devils Postpile, Yosemite Road Trip – September 20-21

The Mammoth Road Trip is a fun, two-day event that will start with a drive through the Sierra Nevada Mountains along some of the best roads in Northern California. Be ready for a lot of twists and turns and some breath taking scenery. Your car will get quite the workout, as we will be at altitude for the entire drive to the overnight stop.

The trip will start with a fun morning of twists and turns. We will stop at the Mono Lake Visitor Center to have lunch, which will be provided. After lunch, there will be a short scenic drive around Grant, Silver, and June Lakes as we make our way to the Devils Postpile. Here people will be able to hike and take pictures of one of the great geological formations of the area.

Day two will take the group through Yosemite for some valley hikes and images of one of the great national parks of North America. The afternoon will conclude with a drive to the Yosemite Sugar Pine Railway where people can ride the steam train or just hang out with other participants. The end of the road trip will be in Merced where participants can then make their way home.

Fees schedule

Included in the cost are the hotel, continental breakfast, decals, one boxed lunch, event insurance, and shipping. You can add another boxed lunch for $15. Additional fees not included are Devils Postpile, Yosemite, and rail road stop.

Option 1: King bed - $231

Option 2: Dual Queens - $231

I advise if you don't have one, to get the year National Park Pass, as it can save you some money. We are seeing two National Parks this trip and if you do the Epic South West next year you will need this. Cost is $80 for a year.
http://store.usgs.gov/pass/index.html

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Day 1: Meeting Location

Date: September 20th
Address: Starbucks - 4311 Town Center Boulevard, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
Time: 8:00am
Depart: 8:30am – Trip begins.

Activity: Registration and assist with decal application

There will be two major check points on the first leg of the drive for the group to get back together as well as take images of all the cars participating.

Lunch stop will be at the Mono Lake Visitor Center (box lunch to be provided)

Address: 336 Visitor Center Dr, Lee Vining, CA
Time: ~12:30pm arrive with a 30 or so minute lunch stop

After lunch, there will be a short scenic drive around Grant, Silver, and June Lakes on our way to the Devils Postpile.

Address: Devils Postpile - Pacific Crest Trail, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
Time: ~1:30pm till you are ready to go to the hotel.

Hotel for the road trip is – Quality Inn and Suites.
- Includes continental breakfast
Address: 3537 Main Street, Mammoth Lakes, CA 9354
Time: ~ 6:00pm

Dinner at: Slocums Grill & Bar - 3221 Main Street, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
Time: 6:30pm till you are tired or the bar closes


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Day 2: Yosemite Valley and a Steam Train

This day will be focused on making stops at several overlooks on the road into the Yosemite Valley. Once the group reaches the Yosemite Valley, we will make the loop around the Valley with stops to see the major attractions. We will leave from the hotel at 8:30am on the DOT!!!

Stops on the drive in will include views of:
- Half Dome
- Yosemite Valley
- Sierra Nevada Mountain rage
- El Capitan
- Yosemite Falls

Lunch stop will be at the Yosemite Village, which has several food options.
Time: ~ 12:30 – 1:30 for Lunch

After lunch, we will make our way to the Sugar Pine Railway for a ride on a steam train or to hang out one last time before we all make our way home.

Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad
Address: 56001 California 41, Fish Camp, CA 93623
Time: 2:30pm 3:30PM

After the train stop, participants are welcome to make their way home as they see fit. For those heading back to the Bay Area and Sacramento, the drive will head toward Merced where they can jump on HWY 99 to head north. Those heading back to Southern California can take HWY 41 to Fresno to make their way south on HWY 99.


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If you have any questions, please email me, as I don't always get notified that a post happened.
norcal.drivers@gmail.com

Register here for the weekend:

[m3dragon]

Just a reminder that deadline to go is September 8th for group rate on the hotels. After that you are on your own to book a room.

[m3dragon]

Reminder this is the last week for group rates on hotel. After this week you will need to book your own room or camp site.

Register for Mammoth Here

[m3dragon]

Well better late than never. Sorry for the long delay on the event recap.

For all the images of the trip see the album link here:
http://www.raddrives.com/albums/2014...rip/index.html

Here is a great video from one of the participants.


Event Recap:

Saturday everyone meet up at the coffee meeting point. There was a little concern as there was a wild fire in El Dorado that was near the route we were going. Thankfully it was well west of the roads we were traveling so all we had was little smoke.

The first part of the drive was good. We hit a little traffic as expected but after a short way the road opened up. We made great time and picked up one member of the group in Plymouth as they lived in that area. First stop and restroom break was Merkleeville.



After Merkleeville we headed over the range to 395 and Mono Lake for lunch. The weather was clear and sunny with just a few wisps of clouds.



Before leaving Mono Lake Visitor center we made a group call to see if we stop and see the Tuffa Rocks. The group said yes and we made a slight plan change to go see the rocks by the lake. We almost had an incident there which you might see in the photos. A Honda parked between two trip members and all of us were wondering what they were thinking. Thankfully no damage to anyone's doors even though you wonder how they got out.





After Mono Lake we headed to the Devils post pile to see the rock formations there before calling it a day. These rock formation only are seen in a few places around the world so it is well worth the short hike.



Sunday Recap
Today was all about making it to Yosemite. The group first made a detour to June Lake which was very calm and serine. Made for some great shots and a fun little detour before hitting the busy park.





After the lake stop we hit the park. We made stops to see the usual big items before making our way to Yosemite Village for lunch.





This trip of course had a lot more going on and this recap just touches the surface of what we did. While it was a weekend run we did A LOT. We hope to do this run again but make it a three day run so we have more time to see things.

For more details of the trip, see the albums to see all the fun you missed on this trip. Hope to see some of you on future trips.