NCal 09 Yosemite Day 2

 

Both yesterday and today we hiked; no bicycling.  Yesterday we went on a group photo hike and then went to Mirror Lake, a total of about 8 miles.  Today’s hike to the base of the Upper Falls was shorter but much more difficult because it was all uphill or downhill. Downhill is much more difficult than uphill. Maybe that’s why I don’t like walking!  Photo on the left is from the valley; one on the right is from today’s hike.

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the afternoon we begin packing.  Tomorrow a bus will take us back to Reno.

NCal 08 Yosemite

 

Yosemite has to be one of the most spectacular spots on our planet.  3.7 million people visit this incredible 7 square miles each year.

The original land was preserved by an act of congress passed by Abraham Lincoln. Unfortunately, Lincoln never got to visit the park.

Two photographers are credited with creating and publicizing the park.  In the 1860s, Carleton Watkins created some of the first and most important photographs of the Yosemite region.  Ansel Adams first visited Yosemite with a camera at age 14 and returned until his death in 1994.  He said “I knew my destiny when I saw Yosemite.”

The legacy of Yosemite, Watkins, Adams and Theodore Rosevelt are felt throughout the world.  Never before had humankind left the legacy of the land. Now, here and in the far corners of the planet, we preserve the land, the ecology, the flora and the fauna – the ingredients of life.  We all enjoy and pass to future generations.

NOTE: MANY MORE PHOTOS OF YOSEMITE ARE IN THE SLIDE SHOW. SEE THE RIGHT HAND COLUMN – CLICK ON THE SHOW – USE F11 TO GET FULL SCREEN.

We are in Yosemite on Tuesday, June 29.  There are thousands – maybe 10’s of thousands with us – from all nations, all age groups, all economic levels.  We all get along.  I am really impressed by the staff of the Park Service. They provide food, lodging (from camp grounds, to cheap tent cabins like we were in last night, to the lodge where I am now, to extremely expensive, $500+++ day suites), transportation (50 passenger hybrid-busses with 80 people aboard), etc. for all of us. I’m amazed they do this with such patience and grace.  This morning at breakfast, the young lady taking our money of the buffet, asked each of us what we’d done yesterday or what we were going to do today. As soon at the bar-tender or the clerk sees our credit card, he/she calls us by our first name.  This is service. This is your federal government at it’s very best.  Some things – war, parks, welfare and health care – should not be based on profit.  They should be based on the general good of the governed.

NCal 07 Lee Vining to Yosemite

 

Brenda thinks yesterday’s blog suggest the Alison carries EVERYTHING with her, including tour beer, wine, snacks, etc.   NO. That is a small part of what our driver, Johno Wells does. He carries all of this as well as the luggage, bike cases and, occasionally, the bikes in a box truck

How do you describe someone who was born in the UK, raised in Australia, spent most of his life in California and now lives in New Zealand? Someone who has worked as a farmer, a carpenter, a guide, a money-changer in Nairobi, an owner of a trekking company (for 24 years in San Francisco) and a home remodeler?  And what is he doing volunteering as our driver?  Life is strange but we love it.

The climb to Tioga Pass is difficult to most of us. Brenda says it was easy.

Does this look easy? 12 miles of it? At least most of it is beautiful (see next photo). At 9,600 or so feet we stop at a cafe for a second breakfast. One of the riders who has done this before says it’s easy from here on. He lied!

At 9,985 feet (more or less) we are at Tioga Pass and the entry to Yosemite National Park.  Thanks goodness for the “Golden Age Passport”.

Our plans for the day are changed by the fact that the accommodations at Tuolumne Meadows are not yet open for the season.  Because most of us cannot do the two days ride – 77 miles and almost 6,000 feet of climbing – we wait for a shuttle.  Tonight we get to sleep with the masses – in the tent cabins of Curry Village.

NCal 06 Bridgeport to Lee Vining

 

We’re up early, have breakfast at Hays and are on the road at 7:37.  I’m not sure why we’re starting early; it’s a short day.  Although sunny, the temperature is in the 60’s and my hands and knees are cold. This day is like the others, a 2,000 feet climb and then downhill to the next town.  Today is a little different – there is a 2 mile climb at the end of the day.  And by the time we reach Lee Vining, it’s very hot.

From the top of the climb we see Mono lake basin.  We descend to a state park for a closer look – see below.

Our tour leader is Alison Stone, a.k.a “pink lady, shown below in Sicily in 2006.

Alison rides with fully loaded panniers both at home and abroad.  You have to admire a lady who carries a cassette tool and chain whip in her pink panniers.  She and her husband, John, have ridden across the US four  times, totally self-contained.  John is writing a book about the history of trans-USA bike rides.  Alison and John take their bikes to the far parts of the world, armed with nothing more than a map.  For a very interesting journal of a recent trip read “Montenegro?? I thought we were going to Portugal”  at http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/4669

Because this trip is remote – we’re in National Forests most of the time – Alison has cooked us breakfast twice and dinner once.  She has to carry all of the supplies for the nightly happy hours. You’ll learn more of the planning and requirements in tomorrow’s blog.  And remember, this is all volunteer effort!

Tomorrow is the ride we’ve all been anticipating and dreading, the climb to Tioga Pass - 9,945 feet.

Internet (and cell) service has been poor the last couple of days. As we arrive in Yosemite, we may not have any service.  So if you don’t find tomorrow’s blog, check later; I’ll publish it when I can.

NCal 05 Walker to Bridgeport

 

Last night Alison, John and Jonno cooked dinner; steak, salad, pasta salad, chocolate cake and ice cream – in honor of John’s 64th birthday. We ate outdoors and then were treated to a wonderful sun set.

Today’s weather was an improvement over yesterday’s; it’s warm (70) and sunny.  We turn left out of the motel and begin a 18 mile, 2,000 foot climb.  For the most part the climb is gentle.  I don’t use my lowest gear all day. We have a headwind which keeps us cool and slows us down.  Compared to headwinds in Dallas this spring, today’s was gentle.  Some of the riders complain; I don’t.

We reach the summit fairly quickly and look forward to a 12 mile downhill run.  The downhill is spoiled, however, by construction.  For a couple of miles the right hand shoulder has a sharp drop-off which forces un more into the lane.  Cars have difficulty passing if another vehicle is approaching.  It seems that California drivers don’t give you as much room as Texas drivers.

We’re in Bridgeport by 11:15.  Bridgeport has several motels and cafes – even a coffee house across the street from the motel!  Lunch at Hays Street Cafe is excellent.  George’s Root Beer Floats look good – both of them!  Brenda decides to walk around this “historic” town and I decide to take the optional 20 mile bike ride to Twin Lakes.  This was a great ride toward the snow-capped mountains. The meadows were full of purple wild Iris which had their peak a couple of weeks ago.  There’s a stream running by the road and the cows are enjoying it. The Twin Lakes were beautiful.  Photo below is of the lower lake.

NCal 04 Sorenson’s to Walker

 

It’s a cloudy morning; there’s even a little mist in the cool air (52 degrees).  We’re at 6,900 feet but in the first 11 miles descend to 5,500.  We’ve put on extra clothes, including long fingered gloves, and I’m comfortable on the descent. The route follows the Carson River for a while. The river is running fast, probably due to recent snow melt.

The climb to Monitor Pass begins at mile 15.  It’s a nine mile climb, gaining around 3,000 feet.  It begins to rain. Not a hard rain but more than a mist.  The gentle 4% to 6% grade eventually turns into 9% to 11%.  We’re using all the gears we have.  I make a mental note to equip the bikes with lower gears for our Canadian Rockies ride in August.  We stop about every 2 miles to recover, eat a snack and drink more water.  We’re working hard and breathing hard but this is doable.  With my GPS I monitor both the distance and elevation.  About 3/4’s of the way up, the grade gets gentle again as we anticipated.  But we’re surprised to to see it get difficult again near the top.  We’re close to 8,300 feet – is this the top? No. We remember hearing about a “false summit” as shown in the photo on the right.

Other cycling groups are at the summit.  Monitor Pass is part of the California Death Ride (110 miles with 16,000 feet of climbing) in July so local cyclists are here training.  Usually you get hot climbing but due to the rain and temperature we’re cold at the pass.  With an even colder descent in front is us, we add layers of clothing.  The descent is 3,000 feet in 10 miles.  Most of this is ok but there are a couple of sharp turns and one section marked 8% grade.

Back down to 5,000 feet - we have 10 miles to the motel. We even have a tailwind on this section but the grade is deceptive; it looks downhill but is actually uphill.  We’re all looking forward to great hamburgers at a burger joint next door to the motel.  It was as good as it’s reputation.  Of course after 44 miles and almost 4,000 feet of climbing, almost anything would taste good.  And there was no need for the early start; we’re eating our burgers shortly after 1:00 pm.

Above, road near the end of the descent from Monitor Pass. The town of Walker has 500 residents.  It’s elevation is 4,800 and regular gasoline is $4.10 per gallon.

NCal 03 South Lake Tahoe to Sorenson’s

 

Sorenson’s is a resort, not a town.

We finally leave Lake Tahoe and go into the Sierras.  Today is another short and fairly easy day designed to get us used to this altitude; the first difficult day is tomorrow when we will have more than twice today’s distance and more than twice the elevation gain.

Today’s climb to Luther Pass is about 5 miles.  The first half is a 6% grade and the second half is only 4 to 5%.  We go up 4 to 5 miles per hour; for comparison, in Dallas we walk 6 miles per hour.  The downhill run is really great, a gentle grade and gentle curves with good visibility.  Brenda ride the 3 miles without breaking or pedaling and reaches 35 mph.

Brenda near Sorenson

For the past 3 days there have been many miles of bike paths paralleling the roadway.  But the road surface on these is really poor so I prefer the road.  Of course California’s roads aren’t very good either; but they’re better than the bike paths.

Alison, our tour leader, is so concerned about the difficulty of tomorrow’s ride that she recommends we be on the road by 7:30 am.  Sorenson’s doesn’t serve breakfast until 7:30 so Alison is fixing us breakfast in her cabin; it’ll be ready at 6:30.

NCal 02 Tahoe City to South Lake Tahoe

 

Reports on Rod are good; he’s talking again.  Supposedly he’ll go home (Los Angeles) and get more treatment and therapy.

• Addition to Blog:  In “My Favorite Websites” (right hand column) you’ll see “Lake Tahoe to Yosemite”.  This is a blog by another BAC member on this ride.

I was on the bike at 6:00 a.m. – had a date with Stephanie who was saving me one of the LARGE cinnamon rolls (and cappuccino) at the Tahoe House.

This was a short day; tomorrow is also - which is good since it gives us time to adapt to the high altitude. Although we basically rode (part way) around the lake, most of the time we couldn’t see it because of the large pine trees. These trees and their pine cones are much bigger than the Pine trees of East Texas.  --  The climb was certainly noticeable although I didn’t think it was difficult – I did not get into my “granny gear”. The descent, however, was pretty technical.  Some of the switchbacks were so steep that the posted speed was 10 mph.  I’m a cautious descender but went through them at 15 mph.

Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada mountains of the United States.  At a surface elevation of 6,225 ft (1,897 m), it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevada. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America.  Its depth is 1,645 feet (501 metres) making it America's second-deepest (the deepest is Crater Lake in Oregon, being 300 ft deeper, at 1,945 feet (594 m) deep).^[2]

The lake was formed about 2 million years ago and is a part of the Lake Tahoe Basin with the modern lake being shaped during the ice ages. It is known for the clarity of its water and the panorama of surrounding mountains on all sides.

Once again we have a room with a view as seen on the right.

NCal 01 Lake Tahoe City

 

New blog format was primarily dictated by Google “improvements”. Also note in the right column I’ve begun a slide show for this trip.

Friends in Dallas are going to resent this: 7:00 am temperature is 45 (although it feels like mid 60’s), today’s high will be 70, winds 5 mph and sunny. Photo at right is from our balcony at sunrise.

It’s June 22. One year ago today I began my cross-country ride.

 

Our three ride options today are really not that viable due to excessive highway construction (the U.S. government stimulus package at work).  After breakfast I do the final adjustments on the bikes, air up the tires and lube the chains. We’re ready to go but in no hurry since it’ll be a short day.  Our ride take us to Starbucks in Squaw Valley (photo on left).  There is a bike path (photo below) all the way along the Truckee River, the same river we hiked along on Sunday in Reno.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Truckee River is a river, 140 mi (230 km) long in northern California and northernNevada in the United States. It drains part of the high Sierra Nevada, emptying intoPyramid Lake in the Great Basin. It is the sole outlet of Lake Tahoe. Its waters are an important source of irrigation along its valley and adjacent valleys. The water is quite clear.

Two of the riders who we know from previous BAC rides are both 77 or 78 years old.  They’re usually among the stronger riders.  Today, while riding near Truckee, Rod suffered a stroke and fell off his bicycle.  Latest report from the hospital, based on an MRI, is that it’s a “significant” stroke.  After Happy Hour, I help George pack Rod’s bike.

NCal 00 Reno, NV to Tahoe City, Ca

 

The plan is for everyone, 18 on this trip, to meet in Reno and be transported to Tahoe City.  After breakfast, I assembled the bikes in only 90 minutes. (see one bike in case on the left.) The only problem is Brenda’s right shifter didn’t work; she had a 3-speed instead of a 27-speed.  She’ll need all the gears she can find in the Sierras.  Using Google Maps, I located a bike store a couple of miles from the motel.  On the way to the shop I had a flat tire. I found 2 bike shops, both closed on Monday. And on the way back I got lost with no map, no GPS and no cell phone.  I finally find my way back and, in a bad mood, hurriedly get ready for the for the bus ride. After the  bus ride to Tahoe City, a climb of several thousand feet, I again went in search of a bike shop. This trip was successful; the problem fixed in less than a minute and with no charge.

My ride to a bike shop at 3:00 pm is pleasant since the temperature is probably in the 60’s, far less than Dallas’ 100 degree forecast.  Our motel is at a beautiful spot right on the lake. This photo is from our bedroom deck. Although we’ve sort of met everyone on the bus, the official welcoming and logistics meeting is at 5:00 followed by dinner. We’ll stay at this motel two nights; there are 3 ride options tomorrow.

NCal –1 Dallas to Reno

 

The Basically Boring Bike Blog returns, at least for a couple of weeks as Brenda and I participate in a Bicycle Adventure Club tour from Lake Tahoe to Yosemite.

This will be a shock to our system, going from the hot (100 degrees) and humid North Texas flat (500 feet) plains to the cold (35 degrees) North California Sierra mountains (12,000+ feet).  With no time to acclimate, this might be a difficult tour.  Oh well, you usually remember the difficult ones the best.

This is basically a North to South ride through the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

The Sierra Nevada (Spanish: [ˈsjera neˈβaða], snowy mountain range) is a mountain range in the U.S. states of California and Nevada, between the California Central Valley and the Basin and Range Province. The Sierra run 400 miles (640 km) north-to-south, and are approximately 70 miles (110 km) across east-to-west. Notable Sierra features include Lake Tahoe, the largestalpine lake in North America; Mount Whitney at 14,505 feet (4,421 m), the highest point in the contiguous United States; and Yosemite Valley sculpted by glaciers out of 100-million-year-old granite. The Sierra is home to three parks, 20 wilderness areas, and a national monument. These areas include Yosemite and Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks.

At 7:00 am this morning I realize our e-ticket lists an earlier flight time than the itinerary I printed some months ago. I frantically call my daughter, Pamela, waking her up.  But she pulls into our drive 5 minutes later and we make it to the airport in plenty of time. Good luck continues as we get upgraded to first class.  In Reno our luggage arrives quickly; a call to the Best Western and a shuttle shows up, also 5 minutes later.  So far so good. As I write this, noon Pacific time,Brenda is reading.  We’re killing time, waiting for the tour leader to arrive and tell us whether we should assemble the bikes here is Reno or tomorrow in Tahoe City.  We decide to take a walk and end up walking over 5 miles on the Truckee River – see photo of Brenda.

We’re here a day early; we always arrive a day early after our experience in 2000.  In that year we flew to Florence with 4 cases, 2 suitcases of clothes and 2 cases each containing 1/2 of a tandem bicycle. Only one case – half a tandem – arrived.  The other cases took 3 days.