5 June Day 7 - Yosemite Park to Wolf Camp - 57.6 km @ 10.9 km/h

Today started off so nice but ended up absolutely brutal. But more about that later ...

It was a beautiful morning, cool but not cold. I broke camp and packed up the gear and was on my bike by 8:30. There are 8 miles of bike trails in Yosemite valley, and I decided to explore a bit.

I cycled up to Mirror Lake which was towards the head of the valley. The bike path was comfortable and wide enough to drive a vehicle on. As I rode up the valley there as a sign 'Rented Bikes Allowed No Further Due to Steep Grade'. Must be pretty bad I thought ... but of course it wasn't. I guess they are just trying to limit themselves to flat riding.

At the top of the grade there was a sign prohibiting bicycles any further so I parked my bike and walked along the trail. It was stunning. The photo below gives you some idea.

dsc00030.jpg (178620 bytes)

You can see some of the reflection of the mountains in the lake - hence the name 'Mirror Lake'. There was a delightful bush walk around the lake which I went on. They had some history plaques and I was intrigued to see that shortly after Yosemite was discovered (by soldiers chasing indians who had attacked miners) the tourist industry was up and running. They showed a photo of a turnstyle on a bridge which walkers had to pay to use to walk around the lake.

There were lots of trees and it was very relaxing to wander around. Squirrels abounded-how I wish NZ had them-and they are obviously very tourist aware. The photo below is an example of the scenery.

dsc00032.jpg (178620 bytes)

When I got back to my bike there were some families with kids who had biked up as well. They were very friendly and most interested in my plans. One of the guys had cycled Wyoming and told me that is a good place to miss; lots of 10-15% grades. I didn't need any more convincing.

There was a woman telling the occupants of a van that they should get out and walk the 5 mins to where the views were the best. After some discussions they decided against it and drove off. Indeed, they never got out of their vehicle. That reminded me of last year when Lis and I were trekking in Colorado. An American friend of Lis' had councilled her that there would be hordes of people as July is peak season. There were; within 150 m of the parking lot. It seems to be quite difficult to separate people from their cars. That's not a problem when you are on a bike, and probably why everyone is so impressed by me.

I decided to go by Camp Currie and post some cards. I also used the opportunity to work on the web site and to download my photos to the computer. I'm using a HP Digital camera with 8 MB of memory so it holds about 40 photos. I need to copy them to my Libretto palmtop computer to take more. It seems to be working OK although my palmtop is SLOW with FrontPage 98 which I'm using to do the web site.

It was very peaceful working until several families arrived. My Libretto was like a magnet to the kids which I didn't mind too much. The parents were worried more than I was. Hey, I'm on holiday. Stress? What's that. I chuckled when the parents told the kids not to touch this; get away from that; etc. Reminded me of travels with my parents. Probably a universal trait of parents with children.

I went  by the accomodation centre only to be told that the campground I was going to stay at was now closed for an indian celebration so I was in trouble. Thre was now nowhere to stay until I exited the park. They suggested  go by the Wilderness Centre and get a permit for camping on one of the trails. They were most helpful and gave me one for Porcupine Flat.  It was selected so that there was a place to store my food from the bears.

I cycled down the valley and had one last look back ... this is what I saw. I must say that in all my travels I have never seen anything as spectacular as Yosemite. It is the sort of place that defies description. It is without a doubt the most beautiful place that God has created.

dsc00033.jpg (178620 bytes)

It was a nice downhill run to the end of the valley and then I started climbing. The road was narrow with steep cliffs on one side and a granite wall on the other. It was about 13:00 when I started climbing and the heat radiating from the wall was intense. As was the sun above.

The map showed tunnels and, sure enough, they were there. Using my approach from the previous day, I had my disco light on and waited for traffic to pass. This was OK, but still a bit scarey. There were two short tunnels like the one below and one very long one. For that I walked my bicycle along the sidewalk. Stil scarey but at least all that would get wiped out would be my bike.

dsc00033.jpg (178620 bytes)

The traffic was steady, but not too heavy. Off to the left the views were stunning (see below).

dsc00035.jpg (178620 bytes)

The road continued upwards forever. I estimate that it was about 40 km of uphill with nary a break. I ascended from below 4000' to Crane Flat at 6900'. It was tough going ... The most redeeming feature was the flowers.

dsc00037.jpg (178620 bytes)

At Crane Flat (6192') I filled up with water and bought some 'New York Style' bagels. They were white and fluffy, not my style ... After a (too short) break it was right onto 120. Three words come to mind: hills, hills and hills. The grades were long and steep and never ending. As I ascended higher and higher I had to work harder due to the altitude. When I cracked 8000' I was working for every metre. Except for the occassional alpine meadow (see below), it was very hilly and inhospitable.

dsc00040.jpg (178620 bytes)

My right glutious maximus got quite sore again so I decided to stop just past the turnoff to white wolf camp. I was supposed to go 1 mile off the road but decided that 100 feet was about all I could do. I found a great campsite on soft soil under the pine trees. There was snow about on the ground and it was cold.

There were no bear lockers about so I had to hang my food in a tree. The problem was that I did not have any rope with me so I made one out of a number of bungees and tried tossing it over a tree. If I didn't already have a PhD I think that there is one in the ability of bungee hooks to catch on the first available obstruction. It never ceases to amaze me ... So, after about 30 mins of unsuccessful attempts I went to plan B. I took off the guy wires to my tent and attached a peg to the end of the rope. This was more effective, but the tree proved not to be up to the weight of the bag. I adjusted its contents and managed to manoeuvre it into the tree. Felt much safer ... As a footnote, the bears in Yosemite are brown bears which are not as dangerous as the grizzly bears we have in Canada. Still, one has to be careful.

It was a very cold night. I wore my polartec jacket and trousers inside of the sleeping bag and was still cold. In the morning the water was frozen in the pools by the side of the road. I was glad that I had my warm clothing with me ...

On to the next day

 

 

loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loans loansloans loans loans loans loans loans loans insurance insurance mortgage mortgage