Vito ValentinettiDay 28
Location: Twin Bridges, CA
Resorts: 15 out of 50
Oh, Sierra. If only we had more time…
We limped out of South Lake Tahoe on Thursday morning. Another night of gambling, er…research at the Lakeside and our Tahoe adventure was over. One last stop was at Sierra. Four inches of fresh snow and rockstar RV parking in the front row was just the way to end our fourth week on the road. Sierra is on the south side of the lake, located on forest service land so there’s hardly any development at the base. It’s an easy place to park and be on the mountain in minutes.
Sierra has great trees. Try the glades tucked all around the West Bowl and along the Grandview lift. Just like Northstar, it seems like nobody ever rides them, but the real treat Sierra offers is Huckleberry Canyon. Five backcountry gates provide access to a diverse amount of terrain, including a long ridge with pillow drops and powder stashes. If you like your hiking on the easy side, it doesn’t get much lazier than a cat track along the ride. It’s too bad on the day we rode Sierra that the Canyon was socked in with fog. By the time it cleared, it was already two in the afternoon which meant the upper gates had closed.
Damn. Next time, next time. We seem to be saying that a lot on this trip…
Lucky for us, Coco had run into an old friend at the Lakeside the previous night who rides at Sierra. Kiefer gave us the grand tour of the lower gates, taking us into the glades off Gate 2. The best part is the snowmobile/cat track at the bottom which opens up the whole area for exploration — you’ll end up on the cat track.
When Gate 2 closed, we just jumped it further down at Gate 1. The whole space is like a natural freestyle park. Snow covered boulders offer 5 to 10 foot drops. Some are lined up in a row. Others you need to ride off the side. This is the real park, tucked here in the woods with a riverbeds and trees and all that good stuff.
And just like that, we were done with Lake Tahoe and heading down to never scenic Sacramento. Time to get the RV re-stocked at a Super Wal-Mart. We’re heading to Oregon.
The Cheat Sheet:
Sierra-At-Tahoe
1111 Sierra-at-Tahoe Road
Twin Bridges, CA 95735
Super Walmart Stockton
3702 E Hammer Ln
Stockton, CA 95212
