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Old 06-02-2013, 08:47 PM   #1
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Tioga

I guess I should have posted before leaving so I could meet up with other Sportsmobiles. Opps, next time.

Tioga is a small National Forest Service campground on Tioga lake, a couple of miles east of the entrance to Yosemite. The campground was probably engineered for tent camping only so a Class C is a tight fit.



It was 90% Class B so the tecno rap about RV's was a little more interesting than our first trip to Twin Lakes where we were the only Camper Van.





Forest Service allows campgrounds on the lake, National Parks do not. We could walk our boats to the lake right from the picnic table. I also like the old geezer half off price!



So what did I trip over on our second trip? Much of this I will do nothing about, but one might think of before ordering a new one. The penthouse is much more interesting than I first thought. It is more spacious than the cab over I remember from my father's camper which we called the coffin. My thought was I wish there was a zipper to open up the back of the tent part. Then one could exit to the outside and down the ladder. A zippered opening in the front would allow me to put my dirty socks and other biohazzards outside on the top of the cab. I doubt I will do any of this, it is easier to put a clothe pin on the wife's nose.

I went to great effort to have a step for entry into the back, but this created more bumps on the head. With out the step one just goes in on one's knees and never cracks the cranium.

I have just one stupid marine battery that is not a true deep cycle, but that ran the DC fridge for 2 days and 8 hours of movie watching. It was down to 11.4 volts. Then I let the motor idle for half an hour and it seemed to be back up. This was better than I expected. The fridge is rated at 2.5 amps and the NAXA 19 inch is rated at 2.5 amps. My lights are all LED. I wish I had a good battery tester rather than just checking the resting voltage.

All my effort to put in a sink, grey water bucket and the Coleman hot water heater was wasted. The 5 gallon jug on the picnic table was much more popular.

Why is the fridge not on a thermostat? I have to turn it down at night and up in the day.

My Princess and the Pee test is always the most interesting. She finds the penthouse bed a bit too firm. I wonder what kind of space foam to put on top of it? She really likes the ride. We took 8 hours to come home, a 2 hour trip. We were good on dirt roads and it got a little sandy so I think the limited slip got some work out. Never have we had a car where she was so happy in the passenger seat. She never gets the long thin pantry thing closed properly. That should be the kind of latch that works when slammed. Now I have to always check it.

Anybody else tired of stepping on the dog? I feel like putting a dog house on wheels to trail around just so she is out of the way!



And one gratuitous pic



And I made an avatar pic. The Harbor Freight T bar on the front seems to be the one thing that will make me recognizable on the highway so there it is.

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Old 06-02-2013, 09:10 PM   #2
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Re: Tioga

Looks like you had a good time. I love camping at that high of an altitude. Sure was a lot of snow up there still. Did you check to see if Saddlebag was open?

Thanks for the pics.
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Old 06-02-2013, 09:34 PM   #3
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Re: Tioga

Quote:
Originally Posted by daveb
Did you check to see if Saddlebag was open?
We rode our bikes up there. That is one steep road. 10,000 feet and all I could think of was I need a cigarette. Probably would have killed me. Campground was closed, but there were plenty of people all fishing and the boat ramp was clear. Too much snow to walk around it, but it is melting. I forgot the camera or I would show you a pic. After that brutal hill climb I need the pic to prove I did it.

Although a big lake, Tioga was far more interesting for us. Tioga, Elery, and the Junction campgrounds were open with one host doing all three. They got them open a month early.
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Old 06-02-2013, 09:37 PM   #4
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Re: Tioga

x2 on the thanks for the pictures. It's been to long since I've camped in the high Sierras. Yakkin around on the lake must have been quite a treat!
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Old 06-02-2013, 09:48 PM   #5
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Re: Tioga

Any new is good news for the Twogone clan. We're getting some hot weather down in the valley but I don't know if it will clear the snow by the time they get here. We got some weird colder weather the last few weeks. Anyway, it does add to the scenery. Thanks wish I could have seen you guys up there.
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Old 06-02-2013, 10:02 PM   #6
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Re: Tioga

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gnarvan
Yakkin around on the lake must have been quite a treat!
The really high lakes above tree line like Saddlebag are not quite as interesting. I don't have pictures of me because like the pantry drawer, I seem to be the only able to operate the camera. But I use a row boat or rowing scull as the preppy crowd say. You probably see them up in Washington. You never see them on high alpine lakes so I am getting quite a few looky loos. But it is so perfect because even with wind it doesn't get too rough.

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Old 06-02-2013, 10:14 PM   #7
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Re: Tioga

Quote:
Originally Posted by daveb
Thanks wish I could have seen you guys up there.
Dave
I will look for your posts. However with 2 wheel drive I don't know how many places I will get to. This week I will look at 108 and 4 for places.

This last couple of days seem to be the first normal summer days. We are starting to return to the pattern. My travel log of everything, not just Sportsmobile, is full of weather karma. The sport that defines me is soaring, a very weather dependent sport. My youth was influenced by the movies On Any Sunday and Endless Summer. Soaring is obscure, but think surfing. My youth was spent chasing the perfect wave like in Endless Summer and then I gave up and moved to Tahoe where I just wait for the perfect wave to come to me. Well wouldn't you know it, on this trip summer returned and Saturday was epic soaring. The perfect wave came. My email is full of: Dude, where were you? Should have been here. This camping is upsetting my chi. But these pictures of the weekend are helping me find some balance.
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Old 06-03-2013, 01:06 AM   #8
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Re: Tioga

So most of the pictures of my lifetime are more overview. It was great to get on the ground and get the details. Tioga and Ellery lake are together. In the picture Ellery is at the bottom and the road is 120 up from Lee Vining.



Their campground is nice, but not right on the lake. Most spots are based around tent camping with parking spots right next to each other. There is a chance of being parked 6 inches from someone running a generator.

Saddlebag is a bit higher. You can see how it is more barren being above tree line.



We drove around June Lake loop and looked at the lakes in counter clockwise order. The big one, Grant, was big but not very interesting. Then Silver looked the nicest. However one campground was just all crushed rock with 30 foot motor homes parked 5 feet from each other. Then Gull had a nice tiny campground right on the lake in the trees with another across the street. And then of course June Lake itself.



Then we were off to Mono and the dirt road to Navy beach where they Kayak and look at tufas. I think it better to just go in the water near town. A tufa is a tufa and there are some close to town. You can't go to the island anyways or you disturb the birds. I don't see any reason to put in here. I did learn that the no camping signs refer only to area in the old and ancient, never to return, natural rim of Mono. As long as you are above that you can open camp anywhere.



Lundy lake is in the lower left of the next photo. Mono is the big lake. We drove up to Lundy and there is an interesting campground at the top with a boat ramp. The campground below the lake is nice in that there was some space between them.



Here is a pic of Twin Lakes which was the first placed we camped



So these pics are from soaring this area.
The pic is a gps track of me going over the area



still wound up from the trip, can't sleep...
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Old 06-09-2013, 09:20 PM   #9
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Re: Tioga

Saddlebag resort is open now, don't know about the camp ground. snow is gone from the east side of the lake. Took a picture yesterday.

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Old 06-09-2013, 09:36 PM   #10
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Re: Tioga

Great stuff--beats Google Earth.

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