Bridgeport is a small village of about 575 people situated right on US 395. To claim even that many people, their statistical area must really spread out into the hinterlands. You certainly don't see evidence of that many right around town. I've driven through here several times, both directions, and I remembered the name Bridgeport. However, I had absolutely no recollection of the town itself. I chose to stay here, and for a week at that, only because the Mono County Fall Color web site had reported peak color at several locations near here, while some areas I had expected to visit were not yet showing much color.
The campground I selected sits on the banks of a large reservoir, which appealed to me. I could envision glorious sunrises and sunsets reflected in the lake. There would likely be water fowl, I suspected, and probably songbirds, too. Unfortunately, like so many California lakes, this one was mostly dry. I drove onto the mud flats once and could see birds well out in the puddle. Very few photo opportunities there. Oh yeah, smoke from wildfires was an issue part of the time, and there were no good sunrises or sunsets. On a brighter note, I visited several sites with outstanding fall color and some pretty spectacular drives.
I had never been to Twin Lakes, so that was my first stop. The drive into the canyon had some very scenic mountains, and the few aspens were very colorful. But it wasn't what I had hoped for. At least the lakes were full.
After a week-end indoors watching football on TV, and a lost day on Monday due to heavy smoke, I was at it again on Tuesday. Highway CA 108 is one of the very few east-west roads through the Sierra Nevada range and not heavily traveled due to its being quite narrow and steep. On the other hand, it proved to be one of the most scenic roads I've driven lately. It's now on my short list of favorite roads. The road goes over Sonora Pass at about 9600 feet, having started at around 6000 feet. Among the many steep grades, one is 26% and another is 25%, both being steeper than any in my experience.
You'll notice quite a bit of smoke here, but it mostly stayed pretty high and sunlight came through to light up the scenery. Some of the streams seemed to have cut a narrow slice through rock, which is exactly how the road appeared in places.
Along the way, I passed the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center and saw several platoons out conducting their exercises. A V-22 vertical take-off plane was on the runway. This amazing machine can perform as a helicopter or conventional aircraft able to take off on short runways.
There was a large area that had been burned , probably last year. One cabin appeared to have been re-built since the fire.
Although the highway is about 80 miles long, I only had time to drive some thirty miles of it, so I'll have to come back another time to do the entire route.
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