Monitor Pass
The two striking things about Monitor Pass are: 1. It is the
perfect vantage point to get an overview of all the major
ranges and peaks in the area, or as the case may be: a last
goodbye view of all the areas visited. The second thing,
that you can't help but be impressed by, is the striking
difference between the landscapes to the east and the west
of the pass. To the east: dessert valleys and naked rock
outcrops. During my visit, background to this scene was a
sky ful of smoke, put there by the burning Pine Nut
Mountains. Descending west of the pass, there is still
plenty of sagebrush, but the high alpine peaks appear in the
distance.
From West. Immediately south of Markleeville Ca89
reaches a low point, when it crosses the East Fork of the Carson
River. The road gently follows the creek in a curvy sagebrush
canyon, at times climbing a hundred feet above it, with scenic
view onto the many fishermen below. In a place labeled Mount
Bullion on maps, the routes split. This profile goes up the left
side to Monitor Pass, while Ca4 keeps following the Carson River
to Ebbetts Pass. Ca4 climbs in a canyon filled with sagebrush and shrub
forest. After a good workout, the road swings up a few far flung
switchbacks and vistas stretching more than 180 degrees. The
most striking feature are the two sets of peaks on each side of
Ebbetts Pass: the ragged ridgeline of the peaks in the Mokelumne
Peaks in the distance to the west, next to it a higher obtuse
triangle shaped peak in the Carson - Iceberg Wilderness. Then
there are the smaller rock outcrops around Kit
Carson Pass. Long before the road reaches the summit, the
view also stretches north to the mountains lining the east side
of Lake Tahoe. 
The road reaches for a high point in the forest. That must be
the summit for sure. But the road has one more surprise in
store. It crosses an inclined plate shaped depression in one
straight line. This summit meadow of sorts is not an alpine
meadow, but still filled with sagebrush. At this elevation on Ebbetts
Pass, the surroundings would be alpine already, but you
would not have such far reaching vistas. At the summit two pass signs on each side of the road face
each other. One is a modern generic green sign. The other looks
more like a headstone, containing only the name and the date of
dedication. 
From East. (described downwards) On this side no trees
to get into the way of far views. The road snakes down in wide,
fast turns. The map labels the rock outcrops to the north as
"Stinking Valley". The road can be seen far below,
still waving snake like through the dessert grasses. As the
temperature has become much hotter, the road exits into Antelope
Valley through a set of gate like cliffs. During my ride, for some reason I assumed that I would
descend into Carson Valley. This comes from the simplified view
of seeing the west landscape as an endless, orderly set of north
south running valleys and ridges. But to my surprise I had to
cross another low summit to get to Carson Valley: the Simee
Dimeh Summit.
Dayride with this point as highest summit: COMPLETELY PAVED: ( < Pacific
Grade Summit | Forestdale
Divide > ) History Modern Roads: This pass is the result of road building
in the 1950s, one of the newest road mountain passes in the
Sierra Nevada Mountains. Before this all the traffic remained
below, following the Carson River into Carson Valley, barely a
detour, compared to crossing this pass 
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