Muzza Bike's video: Monitor Creek to Ebbetts Pass BMWCOSC

Riding my Aprilia Tuono with the BMW Club of Southern California (BMWCOSC) on one of the most beautiful roads of the state – the segment of Highway 4 between Monitor Creek and Ebbetts Pass, which is one of the least used passes of Sierra Nevada. A long section of Highway 4 is less than two-lane wide, and has no dividing line. The area is densely forested, and the road has many hairpins, blind corners, crests and significant elevation changes. The road is not recommended for vehicles towing trailers, and driving or riding mistakes can be costly (see my error at 11:10…). In 1971 Highway 4 received the designation of California State Scenic Highway for its natural beauty and unique characteristics. Thirty-four years later, in 2005, the United States Department of Transportation conceded it the title of National Scenic Byway – making Highway 4 one of the seven nationally-designated scenic byways located in California. The road current road reaches 2661 meters (8730 feet) at Ebbetts Pass, although the historic pass is located slightly higher, a few hundred meters to the east. Ebbetts Pass is registered as a California Historical Landmark, and the Pacific Crest Trail, a 4260-kilometer (2,650-mile) trail crosses Highway 4 at the pass. It is believed that multiple Native Americans trails crossed the valleys and passes in the region where Highway 4 is laid. The first non-Native to have recorded the traverse was the explorer and cartographer Jedediah Smith in 1827, when he took on what are today called Ebbetts Pass and Monitor Pass while returning east from his first expedition to California. The discovery of gold in Coloma, some 160 kilometers west of Ebbetts Pass, sparked the California Gold Rush of 1848-1855 and brought a large influx of parties crossing the Sierra Nevada. One of these groups was led by John Ebbetts, known as “Major Ebbetts”, who further explored the region and in 1851 participated in a railroad survey across the Sonora Pass that had George Goddard as mapmaker. When Ebbetts died in the explosion of the steamboat Secretary in the San Pablo Bay in 1854 Goddard named the pass after him. Several other prospectors used the general route of the present Highway 4, such as Leonard Withington Noyes, who first travelled it in 1853 and three years later was awarded, together with Dr. N. Congdon, a contract to clear a wagon road from Murphys in current Calaveras County to the Carson Valley. However, the real momentum for the construction of a road across Ebbetts Pass only came in the early 1860s, with the discovery of silver in Comstock Lode, Nevada, and then in the much closer Silver Mountain, just a few miles beyond the pass itself. The cost to build the road was as steep as the terrain, and after several frustrated attempts settlers Harvey Blood and Jonathan Curtis of Bear Valley were awarded a contract by Big Tree and Carson Valley Turnpike Company – which allow them to charge a toll on the road for five years for completing its construction. Toll stations placed along the road, in fact, were the genesis of most of the communities that today seat along Highway 4, such as Bear Valley, Hermit Valley and Cottage Springs. One year after the death of Harvey Blood, in 1910, the gravel road was added to the California Highway System under the name of Alpine Highway. It was surfaced to the Big Trees in the early 1930s, with the road over the Ebbetts Pass oiled gradually over a period of several years. For decades the road was reshaped and smoothed, with its route changing multiple times. Driven by the growth of Bear Valley – and particularly of its ski resort, opened in 1967 –, it was realigned and re-graded once again, and finally completed in 1968. The segment of Highway 4 south of the Silver Creek Campground is often closed between mid-November and June, and other sections may be closed during the Winter too. Soundtrack: 00:07-05:37: "Ravi", by Broken Cities 05:37- 13:24: "The Birth and Death of The Day", by Explosions in The Sky 13:24-17:31: "Is This Really Happening?!", by Show Me A Dinosaur Recorded on September 27th 2019. Closing song: "Extreme Action", by Benjamin Tissot (http://www.bensound.com).