Day 21 Sorensen's to Bear Valley. 47.9 miles, 5150' climbing.

The ride to Bear Valley took us to our highest elevation of the trip -- 8730' --  and up our steepest climbs.  At one point on the least steep part of a switchback, we registered 17%.  It could have been worse.

The elevation profile shows the big climb, Ebbetts Pass at mile 30, and the shorter steeper one following it, Pacific Grade.  Both descents were on good roads and were beautiful.  Over 50 mph on a few occasions.  We're actually getting somewhat accustomed to that!

On the way up the climb, we saw some beautiful scenery.

Yes,they look like cattle.  But these are privileged cattle living at about 6000', drinking from snow-melt streams, and breathing fresher air (except on days when wildfire smoke blows their direction).

This is from the climb up Ebbetts Pass, named after John Ebbetts.  Here is the story from Wikipedia:

John Ebbetts traversed the pass in April 1851 with a large train of mules. He hoped it would make a suitable route for the transcontinental railroad, as he noted little snow at the time. However, this was likely an anomaly, as the current highway is generally closed from November through May due to snow accumulation.^[6] He later surveyednear the pass for a possible railroad route, but found it unsuitable. He intended to return to the pass itself to survey it for a road but was killed in the explosion of the steamboat Secretary on San Pablo Bay in 1854 before he could do so. While the pass was referred to by his name earlier, it was not until 1893, when the U.S. Geological Survey surveyed the Markleeville quadrangle, that the pass was officially named after him.^[7]

There is a waterfalls hidden in the above photo that shows up better in the photo below. 

We were happy to get here.  But we knew we weren't done with the climbing.

The Pacific Grade was anything but pacific.  But we made it, albeit with a bit of walking.  We enjoyed our drum brake on the descent.  I can control the amount of drag and it's easy to adjust.  Plus once it's set I don't have to keep my hand on it.  And it is quiet.  It works on the rear wheel and I then supplement with braking on the front wheel as needed to help distribute tire wear.  The tires on our bike are Continental Gatorskin 700x32 and they went on the bike around the first of August.  They probably have 1500 miles on them with no flats.  Our ride tomorrow into Yosemite Park will be short so we should make it flat-free.

For some odd reason, we have no pics of our stay at Bear Valley Lodge.  It's a ski resort and was very popular in the early 80s.  They have many photos on the walls of Hollywood celebrities, including Clint Eastwood, Merv Griffin, and Claudine Longet.