Re: Yet Another Day on the Madera Sugar Pine Grades...

Glad you're enjoying the trip Chris!

Eventually, we worked our way around the edge of Chowchilla Mountain (the railroad follows along the east side then loops across the north side and then heads back down south along the west side of Chowchilla Mountain to Granite Creek Saddle).
Here's a view just after we turned south:

We are looking north. The grade continues south behind me towards Granite Creek Saddle. It then heads north again to the top of the ridge in the left side of the photo.
At this point, my wife decided she needed a break so she told me to go on ahead and she'd wait for me. I headed off towards Granite Creek Saddle, planning to be back in about 40 minutes.

Here's a view of a nice rock wall next to the grade:


Here's a nice dirt cut:


There were numerous trees down across the grade, making my progress much slower than anticipated. I eventually, left the bike and decided to just hike the last part. After about 20 minutes, I reached Granite Creek Saddle:


To be continued...