Bicycle tour with Loren

Sunday, August 4, in Yosemite valley

Because of Loren’s crash and our late arrival in the valley yesterday, we decided to lay over in the valley for a day, rather than heading for Tuolumne meadows today. Went hiking.

Vernal falls. At the top of the falls, I took pictures for two German hikers, then for three orientals. I offered to photograph Loren, too, but he declined. I would have only charged him $5 – such a deal!

We were at the Nevada falls lookout, soaking up gorp. Surrounded by at least five, maybe as many as eight, squirrels, looking for a handout. Thought they might attack us; there were enough to carry us away if they wanted to. I explained to them, very politely, that nuts and berries were people food; if they wanted squirrel food, they would have to look elsewhere for such things as beefsteak.

Lots of French and German visitors. No Japanese! True of the entire trip. Compare with the Golden Gate bridge visitor center, where the Japanese frequently outnumber the Americans. Doubtless says something about the cultures involved.

A guy noticed Loren’s leg, asked if he’d had a fall, commented, “Builds character!” How did he know?

Told Loren about the theory that you can have the trail to yourself by merely walking half a mile from the parking lot. This was on a fairly busy John Muir trail coming down from Nevada falls. I concluded the theory was invalid in Yosemite. Then we got to the bridge one mile from the bus stop, and I concluded the theory was absolutely valid! What a mob! There is a large class of people whose athletic ability is exceeded by that one mile – granted, it’s uphill.

Got back from hike. Ate, loafed, took shuttle busses around the valley. Saw a deer and two fawns. Free shuttle busses all over the valley – all of the drivers were mellow, helpful, friendly. Loren’s leg hurt a lot when he showered.

The feds caught us camped illegally, “encouraged” us to move to North Pines backpacker camp, on shore of Tenaya creek. Ate at Four Seasons, part of Yosemite lodge. Good fettucine primavera.

Monday, August 5, Yosemite valley to Tuolumne meadows

Last night: three Brits and a German at the next campsite, babbling endlessly. The Brits were obviously twitting the German. They suggested that he should sleep outside and let them use his tent, and he bought it. Then they tried to convince him they weren’t serious… (so I figure the German succeeded in twitting the Brits). Loren thought they all ended up sleeping outside. With all the chatter, I had trouble sleeping. Not Loren.

Wildlife census: raccoon this morning at Curry village – everyone watching it, parents pointing it out to their kids, people trying to get pictures. Later on, saw two deer along Tioga road. In the forest, a bird that looked like a duck, but flew up and landed in a tree – don’t know what it might have been.

Lent Loren the second pair of cycling shorts I had with me. The original wasn’t much good.

Early start. Breakfast at Curry village, on the road by 7:45. Easy roll out of Yosemite valley, then a long serious climb of about 2200' to Crane Flat, where Tioga road joins. There are three tunnels on the Big Oak Flat road out of the valley. A view of Half Dome from a lookout just west of the long tunnel. Cool and felt good at Crane Flat. Figured we’d have no trouble on Tioga road.

Wrong.

Grades were not all that bad in absolute terms, but above 6000' (all of Tioga road), there’s no oxygen. Then it turned out that I had badly underestimated the day’s elevation gain. I thought it would be 4000' – 4500'. See the log record above!

Loren made it on sheer guts, far beyond the point of total exhaustion. A long, long day.

Following the precedent of Jacky’s and my transcontinental trip, I proposed a nap about 1 PM, about 4500' of climb. Unrolled tent a hundred feet off the road. Mosquitoes bad, so we went ahead and finished erecting tent. Caught most of the mosquitoes that had slipped inside the tent with our bare fingers. Nap helped.

Olmsted point lookout has a great view of Half Dome and a lot of other spectacular rock. This is where Beth brought Jacky and me last summer.

Found lumps of yellow algæ in a water bottle. Gack! I haven’t been religious about washing and drying them every night, but from now on…

Down the other side from Olmsted point is Tenaya lake (last night we camped twenty feet from Tenaya creek, which drains from Tenaya lake). One of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. The road runs along one shore, and the opposite side is a bare ridge of granite, reflected in the water.

High country, fewer trees, some whitebark pines. Big thunderheads ahead of us all afternoon had me concerned, but they dissipated into a general overcast. Getting on toward twilight when we finally rolled into Tuolumne meadows. First thing we saw was Curry canteen. Order at counter, eat standing up. Bowl of chili for me, grilled cheese sandwich for Loren. Much better!

Ranger at campground said it was full up, go somewhere else! I said that wasn’t physically possible; she reluctantly let us stay in the backpacker camp. Made a big deal about bending the rules for us. Cyclists aren’t legal there, she said, though the Ticketron clerk at Yosemite valley told me yesterday that’s how it worked at Tuolumne meadows.

According to the handout, Tuolumne meadows lodge has showers from 12 noon to 3:30. Oh, great! Not tonight, I guess. Won’t be the first time …but I can smell myself.

Our pet chipmunk has been up on the table where we’re working on diaries to check us out. No fear whatever.

The John Muir trail comes here from Yosemite valley.

Getting cold.

Tuesday, August 6, Tuolumne meadows to Lee Vining

Jim reminded me before I left that Tuolumne meadows would be cold, and I threw in a polypro undershirt and a pair of winter tights at the last minute. Good advice – I wore those, my regular cycling clothes, and my jacket in the sleeping bag, and did okay. Wouldn’t have wanted less.

Loren talks in his sleep. Unintelligible except for the word cold.

Noisy neighbors again. Climbers. Didn’t keep Loren awake. Our neighbors on the other side were a British couple from Newcastle who started their holidays touring by bicycle, discovered that America is a big place, ran short of time, and are now covering more distance with a hire car.

Campfire last night was some hokey songs – but fun – and a sermon about wilderness preservation…blah! The ranger was on about paper plates, plastic silverware. The Curry canteen was the only user of paper and plastic I saw. She also complained that people only stay a day or two, in contrast to the Indians, who allegedly had a long-term interest in the continuing viability of their homelands. But a US government sign at the campground limits camping to a total of 14 days per year!

11:30 AM On the road by about 8, Lee Vining by about 10. Twenty miles, about 1300' elevation gain. More beautiful country and moderate grades to Tioga pass. Warmed up fast when the sun came up. We stripped extra clothes by the time we had climbed three or four hundred feet. The picture above shows the Tuolumne river just above Tuolumne meadows, and here, two riders who made it to the top.

Cool beautiful downhill – we stopped two or three times to enjoy the view.

The east side of the Sierra has less grass, lots of sagebrush. Quite a few trees, but smaller and farther apart than the west side.

With a name like Lee Vining, I expected a lot more charm. An anticlimax of a town. I think charm is directly proportional to the prevalence of trees. Lee Vining is open, hot, no trees, not very interesting. Can see Mono lake below town.

Second breakfast at Lee Vining, got the last room at Best Western Lake View lodge. Showers, badly needed! Tourist info shop. Laundry. The motel had sprinklers going all the time we were there, apparently watering the gulch behind the building. Don’t know what was down there that might have justified the water, but they sure didn’t act as if there were a drought!

Loren’s bike shorts glued themselves to his wounds, so he’s soaking them loose. Wounds healing okay; really colorful today. Feel better than they look, but then it would be hard not to.

Helen gave us home-dried apricots before we left Palo Alto. We ate them first, then opened the store-bought ones we had. No comparison – we ended up throwing away the commercial ones.

Stripped bike except rear panniers; went for a little ride to Mono lake. Loren decided to stay behind.

North tufa area – boardwalk across marsh. Heard someone say that so many shoes had been lost in the muck, they finally built a boardwalk. This tufa is coated onto big blocks of pumice that were beached long ago. The pumice looked like plain gray rock, but sure enough, when I nudged a chunk with my foot, it felt like styrofoam.

Lots of brine flies along the shore, so thick the ground was black. When you walk among them, you stir them up and can hear them buzz. Birds, mostly seagulls, ignored the flies. Didn’t see any brine shrimp, but gulls wading a few feet out had a well-established routine of stamping up the bottom mud with their feet and then eating something in the water, presumably shrimp that had been flushed out.

Then to the south tufa area. Stiff wind from south and west. Highway 395 south of Lee Vining being re-paved. Went south under flagman control – I stayed in the center passing lane, and let the cars go by in both directions. Bad sand, gravel road from highway 120 into the south tufa area, about a mile. Didn’t fall, but came close. One of the Mono craters even shows a protruding stone plug. No doubt whatever that they’re volcanic.

The south tufa area is quite different from the north tufa area, which apparently has no towers of any interest. There seems to be no loose pumice at the south tufa area, which would be consistent with prevailing southerly winds.

Strong tailwind on the way back. Even on the slight upgrades, I sailed along in the low 20s.

Ate at Nicely’s. Germans at the next table. Orange roughy and deep dish peach pie a la mode. Meal was saved by baked potato, lots of black pepper, and the raw onion that Loren didn’t want for his chili. Mixed veggies – yuch! I hated them as a kid, and I hate them now – they’re always cooked to mush!

Went to a Mono lake slide show and sermon at the info center. As the water level recedes, the islands are no longer isolated, and the predators can invade the bird nesting areas. I always thought this was a shame until I realized that the birds affected are seagulls. Must say that leaves me much less sympathetic!

Called home, left a message. Phone company is ConTel. Low budget – I could hear digits being outpulsed after I keyed in the number.