Sonora Pass

With the fall season approaching we wanted to hit the 10,000 ft passes before snowfall blanketed the Sierras.  A friend recently picked up a low-mileage 1997 4Runner, so we decided to put it to the test.  He put 19 miles on the odometer before pulling it into the garage and starting the modifications.  He did all the tune-up items and changed all of the fluids, installed a transmission cooler, the Tundra/OME lift and built some rock sliders and skid plates.  This would be the maiden voyage so we stuck with the easier trails.

Here is the group, a 2000 4Runner, 1997 4Runner and a 2000 Jeep Cherokee.

Our area of interest was Sonora Pass on Highway 108.  We started on the Niagara Rim trail but got 1,000 ft into it and were stopped by a line of Jeeps being winched over a rock and another Jeep broken shortly beyond that.  We turned around and drove out before we got boxed-in by other vehicles.  I found another trail on the GPS that met up with Niagara Rim, so opted to bypass the mess and meet up with the trail further up the mountain.  I found the views to my liking.

 

After Niagara Rim we took a trail to a remote Sierra reservoir.

 

View from the cab:

 

Despite the nice cool mountain breeze we were experiencing, the Jeep wasn't happy.  It had been overheating, despite a full coolant reservoir.  Even though the temperature gauge showed a normal temperature range, it smelled hot and each time we shut it down to give it a break, it would start boiling over after a minute of sitting.  It finally blew the radiator in a spectacular fashion.  The radiator is plastic and split from top to bottom on one side.

 

We towed it to the highway to be picked up the next day by a tow truck.  Thankfully the Jeep owner had an uber-AAA towing package, so the 200 mile tow was still free.

 

A picture I took while waiting for the 4runner towing the Jeep.

 

Our camp, nestled near a neat rock outcropping.

The next morning we towed the Jeep to the highway and while we waited for the tow truck we looked over some impressive heavy machinery.

 

 

Hanna likes her Volvos

Now down to two vehicles, we headed over the top of Sonora Pass.  This is one of the steepest highways I have ever driven.  The road is so steep that cattle trucks could not climb the grade loaded, so they would stop, unload the cattle and walk them up the highway, then they would re-load the empty truck at the top.  Sonora Pass tops out at a little over 9600 ft. 

Looking up Kennedy Meadows:

We then hit the dirt again to make Leavitt Lake for lunch.

After lunch we took another dirt road over Sonora Pass rather than stay on paved Highway 108.

View looking at the Nevada side of Sonora Pass:

We took a different route back to the Sacramento area via Highway 395, then Monitor Pass and Mormon Immigrant Trail to Highway 50.  We got home at 9:00 p.m., having taken full advantage of our two day weekend and we were able to watch the sun set from the top of  Carson Pass on Highway 88.