Day 27: Up and Over

Today is Tioga Pass day.  It is also the day we will be leaving Yosemite and the second day in a row that I have woken up and not been able to stand (remnants of the Half Dome hike).

After hobbling around enough to loosen up my legs, I got packed up and ready to go.  It would be 40 miles to Tuolumne Meadows and another 8 miles beyond that to Tioga Pass.  The plan was to ride to the Meadows,  look around a bit and evaluate whether we think we'll get over the pass.

Since we may camp at the meadows and everything there is closed, we leave camp with lots of extra water.  My 6 liter bladder and all three water bottles are full.  Bruce and Lilia also did grocery shopping for us for a few days on their way into the park (very kind of them).  I leave camp carrying more groceries and more water than at any previous point on the trip.  All this for a 48 mile uphill climb.

We spent the first several hours grinding away uphill.  Pretty much utility riding.  We were making better time than I expected so my original estimates of a 10-12 hour day were rapidly decreasing.

Soon we passed 8000 ft, only to descend about 1000 ft and have to do it again.  That is how a 4000 ft elevation change turns into 5-6k ft of climbing.

Going up...

Once up into the higher areas of the park, we started to clear the trees and get some really great views.

Beautiful High Sierra views

Part 2

As we got a bit higher, we started to loop back toward the valley and see Half Dome again.  Before today, the top of Half Dome was the highest point of the trip.  By the time we reached the meadows we would be above it on our way to the highest point on the trip.

Half Dome...the scene of the leg abuse

There were some great views down the valley from Olmsted Point.

Yosemite is great if you like rocks

Down the valley

After leaving Olmsted Point we had only a bit more climbing to get to the meadows.  The road had started to flatten out a bit with the rest of the climb to come beyond the meadows.

The road ahead

Tenaya Lake

We reached the meadows a bit before 1 which was about an hour earlier than I thought we would.  We had agreed to leave a note for Randy on the gas pump at the park station to let him know if we planned to stay there or push on to Lee Vining.  After leaving a note we stopped for lunch and enjoyed the views.

Looks pretty meadow-like

We thought about waiting for Randy to show up and then heading over the pass and into town together.  However, after hanging around for more than half an hour, my legs were getting so stiff that I needed to get back on the road.

We soon passed through 9000 ft for the first time.

Another milestone

About halfway along the remaining ride to the pass I spotted a never before seen sight.  A southbound bicycle tourist.  We stopped to chat for a bit.  This fellow was French Canadian and had been riding for a couple of months now.  Having started in Canada, he has covered a lot of the same ground we still have in front of us.  He hasn't seen any other bike touring folks on his ride either which became evident by how much he wanted to talk about all sorts of things.  We stood with him for 15-20 minutes until my legs could not take the standing any longer and I had to get back on the road.

Chatty Canadian

We covered the rest of the miles without much issue and soon arrived at the highest point on our route.

Still snowy up here

The top of Tioga Pass is also the park boundary.  Once we crossed we would be out of Yosemite.  While not quite the end of our day, the pass had been my focus for much of the day.  As long as I made it there, the rest if the day would be free downhill miles into Lee Vining.

9945ft...can't we just round it up?

It would be 12 miles downhill and quite a bit steeper than we had just climbed.  We would lose several thousand feet in those short miles.

I was a little concerned when I saw that the speed limit was 50 mph outside the park instead of the 35-45mph that we have had the last few days.  I wondered about cars stacking up behind me.  I knew I would be taking the whole lane as I expected it to be a quick descent.

Turns out I didn't need to worry, at least about that.  With the thin air and steep hill, I accelerated much more quickly than previous descents.  After a couple miles the road began a 6 mile stretch of 8% grade winding down the mountainside.  I was quickly over 40 mph and approaching the speed limit.  No need to worry about stacked up traffic.  Just need to worry about staying below 50mph on the tight turns.  I glanced down at one point and saw that I was in fact at 50 mph (fastest of the trip).  It was a little tricky getting the 100+ lbs Beast to behave in the corners but it did make me focused.  Before very long I was through the steepest part of the road and into a nice high speed cruise down the rest.

While stopped at the bottom to remove layers and wait for the others, I looked at my computer and saw that the last 12 miles went by in 19 minutes and I had passed 1000 miles since the start of the trip.

Apparently, this town has everything. 

Apparently even men and women

We cruised into town and found a spot at an RV park with tent sites.  The well equipped park also had showers and laundry.  We all made use if both for the first time in about a week.  Several days overdue.

Glamorous laundry night

Tomorrow we head out in search if a hot spring to soothe tired legs.

Day 26: On The Road Again

Today we are leaving Yosemite valley to get back to the bike ride.  It has been great to be in such an amazing place for the last few days but now we are off to find other amazing places.

We got an early start from the campsite to give us time to stop by the village wifi to update some of our maps.  We are considering a detour in a few days and need better map info to make the decision.  We also need to stop by the store for a couple last minute things and swing by the post office to mail our hiking stuff back home.

Mailing our gear out here and back home has been very smooth and so much better than lugging boots around for two months.  Definitely the way to go for a trip like this.

Boots headed for the post office

After a second breakfast/first lunch (bike touring is a lot like being a hobbit) we finally started out of the valley around 9 am.

We pulled over at El Capitan to watch some climbers high up on the wall for a bit.  It made what we did yesterday look super easy.

The climb up to the camp ground was not bad.  My legs were crazy stiff this morning from yesterday's hike but the biking muscles seem to be completely different.  Getting off the bike at the campground I hobbled around setting up my tent.  My legs felt very similar to after running a marathon.

Randy arrived shortly after we did and enjoyed watching us limp around like invalids.  We walked back up the road a short bit to a park store to get some cold drinks and snacks.  I laughed at my shopping priorities when I laid it out on the picnic table.

Balanced shopping: cold drink, cold drink, cold drink, brush for chain... Maybe some fruit

We stopped at the same store on the way to the campground and we met a nice older fellow named Dennis who knew quite a bit about the local area.  He is also a biker but not today.  We asked him about a spot we found on our map that indicates a hot spring close to our route.  He confirmed that it is nice and gave us some tips for a couple more.  Looking forward to soaking the sore legs in another couple days.

Our vagabond troupe has grown

Tonight is our last night camping with Bruce and Lilia.  We will see them on the road tomorrow but then they are off to do some backcountry camping.

Since we mailed our stove back to Seattle, it also means that tonight we need to use their stove to cook up all of our pasta.  With some green peppers, Roma tomatoes, sauce, and lots of pasta we had a nice farewell dinner.

This is what a fancy meal looks like

We've gotten such conflicting information about camping at Tuolumne Meadows that we decided after dinner to try to just push on over Tioga Pass tomorrow and get to the town of Lee Vining.  We will have to climb over 5000ft and cover about 60 miles to do it.  Good thing my legs aren't sore.

Off to bed to be up early for tomorrow's work.

Day 25: Half Dome

Today instead of resting another day, we are going to hike all day.  When we arrived I was considering skipping the hike but after yesterday I was feeling pretty good And I had already gone through the trouble to mail boots here for the hike.

We left camp at 6 to start. The estimates we have are that it will take 10-12 hours to do the round trip to half dome via the cables route.  It is about 10 miles each way from our campground and will take us up a bit more than 4500 vertical feet.

We packed light and headed off to meet up with the others in the valley above the two waterfalls (Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls).

Very shortly we started to see some great scenery.  The first several miles we followed the river and took the mist trail to the top of bother falls.  It is shorter but steeper than the alternate route and got us very close to the action.

Early views of Vernal Falls

Getting a morning shower with my hike

Sometimes after biking for ages, parts of your brain stop working (personal theory).  I am blaming this for my ah ha moment as we climbed past Vernal falls getting quite wet from all the spray.  I actually said (out loud even) "Oh, this is why they call it the mist trail". Duh!

We got to the top if the upper falls and headed off to the valley wondering if we would find the others still asleep.  We were making good time and it was still early.

Still a very long 4.5 miles

Little Yosemite Valley was a flat oasis

We found them and waited a bit for them to get packed up before heading up for the larger climb.  We were not yet to the halfway point of vertical gain.

As we got closer to the sub dome we were treated to great views and a few peeks at where we were headed.

I wonder if the folks in those planes know what is below them

There it is...still a long way up

Eventually we made it to the sub dome where things start to get more exposed.  We were climbing on bare granite at this point following a trail that had been cut into parts of the rock and must have required tremendous effort.

Starting to look like a dome

A crazy amount of work went into this trail

Once clearing the sub dome, the main event comes into view.  I have to admit to having questions at this point about whether another rest day might have been a good idea after all.

Well, I'm here. I guess I have to go.

No turning back at this point and just like the bike, the top comes if you just keep moving your feet.  In this case it was arms and feet as hands on the cables were necessary to help on the way up.  That is why gloves were in the box with the boots.

Up, up, and up

The views at the top were pretty spectacular and I stopped for a few photos before deciding that I would head down before the cables became crowded (we were still among the early arrivals).  

The view up the valley we entered

Pretty spectacular and worth the climb

Going down shares the same route as going up so it was a bit tight on the way down as quite a crowd had built up while I was in top.  Down was a bit trickier than up and the crowd complicated it even more.  I was happy when I was again at the bottom of the cables.  Great view, interesting story to tell but I probably won't need to repeat it.

The rest of the hike down was pretty straightforward.  We took a slightly different route down from the waterfalls so that we could see the top of Nevada falls.  It was nice to see the new views as well.

Nevada Falls is not a swimming hole

By the bottom my legs and especially my feet were noticing the days work.  I had worked up a blister on one heel that was a bit uncomfortable.  After making it back to camp we headed over to our favorite rocking chair porch to try the wifi for uploading some pictures.  I was able to call home for a nice chat and we packed up our boots for sending back to Seattle.

We also decided to mail the stove back to Seattle.  We haven't been using it much and losing it means losing the fuel bottle and pots as well.  More space for food and water.

We are leaving the valley tomorrow but we will hang around until the post office opens.  The original plan was to take tomorrow as a rest day but we have decided to move part of the way up Tioga pass to a campground about 20 miles down the road and a couple thousand feet higher.  That should make the trip to the top of the pass a bit easier on Saturday and give us a chance to stretch our legs after today's hike.

Day 24: Zero Day Part 2

Today is going to be another zero day.  We are not traveling down the road and for the first time on this trip I don't have to pack up my tent in the morning. Today we are going to hang out in Yosemite valley and relax.

The first order of business was to sleep in.  I woke up right on schedule at 5:30 and tried to get back to sleep for a while to no avail.  I finally gave up at 6:30 and crawled out of the tent.  I slept pretty soundly I discovered when the others woke and asked if I had heard the screaming baby? Nope.  Did I hear the rangers fire the fun to scare the bear? Nope.  Pretty good sleep.

After a quick breakfast it was off to explore the areas of the valley not seen yesterday.  The first was Curry Village where I found coffee and a great guest lounge complete with rocking chairs on the porch.  After connecting to the spotty  wifi connection (but the only one in the valley) I settled in to relax and catch up with the road journal.  It had gotten a bit behind.

I wonder if I can find a sailboat with a porch and rocker

After a while we went back to our campsite to coordinate with Sarah's brother. We are all to hike to the top of half dome tomorrow and he and his girlfriend are going to hike up to the Little Yosemite Valley with all their gear to camp.  None of that silliness for me on my day off.  I'll hike up and meet them in the morning with a light day pack.

After that it was off to the Ahwannahee hotel to check out 1920's park grandeur.  Turns out that folks liked it fancy back then and it is still fancy.

Those folks in the 1920's knew about location

Stone surrounded by stone

We spent time in a very nice lounge area inside and I did some reading.  It was then time to head over to the wilderness office and see if we can get a clear picture of what Saturday's camping will be.  

We passed the rescue team doing some drills.

We have the unfortunate situation that all the campgrounds close to Tioga pass are still closed.  We plan to head out on Friday and climb a couple thousand feet to one of the last open campgrounds (all we could get was space in an RV spot).  That leaves several thousand feet and quite a few miles for Saturday.  We would like to stop just short of the pass and go over and down when rested on Sunday.

We've been getting conflicting information about our ability to show up on bicycles and camp anyway so we wanted to see if there is a backcountry camping option to keep us legit.  The folks at the wilderness center were not super helpful.  It sounds like we will just show up, feign ignorance, and "emergency bivy" on a durable surface.  The rangers we have talked to have told us that this shouldn't present a problem but it would be nice to have some definitive info.

We caught a Ken Burn's film about Yosemite (I managed to stay awake this time) and checked the post office hours for mailing our boots out on Friday.

After that it was back to curry village for more wifi and relaxing.  We met Randy for dinner.  He and Sarah scratched their pizza itch while I had a bug salad from a salad bar I found.

Early to bed tonight. Tomorrow (against my better judgement) I am forgoing another rest day for a 20 mile hike to the top of Half Dome.

Day 23: Yosemite Valley

Today is a moderate climb out of the valley at Wawona and a descent into the Yosemite Valley.  We at  to meet Sarah's brother at the valley lodge at 11 so we made our usual early start time.

The climb was a very manageable grade for about 12 miles followed by about the same downhill.  With so much downhill, we were running ahead of schedule which gave us plenty of time to stop an  take in the pretty spectacular views.

Wide open and lovely

The first view of the valley came while rounding a downhill corner and was truly breathtaking.  It definitely required a stop and son  time to gaze.  After taking in the view and a few pictures, we continued down the road which led to a tunnel just under a mile long.

Wow, where did that come from?

The downhill tunnel is not too big a deal a  I am usually travelling near the speed limit and don't worry about traffic behind me.  This tunnel was a bit dark (so I couldn't see my speed) and the noise from the oncoming cars made it sound like there was a freeway stacked up behind me.  I hesitated to take my eyes off the road to check behind me but when I did it was all clear.  It was still a relief to break out of the tunnel.

The view on the other side of the tunnel was stunning and required another stop and more pictures.

It just gets better

After we made it to the valley floor, the traffic was all very slow as everyone was looking up and around (including me)

This is real life

We made it to the lodge to meet Sarah's brother but then learned that they were in line for backcountry permits at another location.  We made our way there and found them.  They are planning to hike part way up to half dome tomorrow and finish on Thursday.  Tomorrow is a rest day so none of that silliness for me.  I'll hike up on Thursday and not lug a bunch of overnight gear along.

My boots and a few other supplies were shipped here shortly after I left Seattle (Thanks Julie).  Sure enough, when we got here my first general delivery package was waiting.  Boots and gloves for the climb and a few other supplies for the second half of the ride.

Sarah and her brother took off to go hike part way up Yosemite falls.  I stayed in Yosemite village to check out the visitors center (more stamps for my book) and some of the historic exhibits.  I also got in some quality lounging and reading time.

We met up later in the afternoon and packed our dinner into the rental car and headed up to glacier point for dinner and a sweeping view of the entire valley.

Great table for dinner

A preview of our hike later this week

After our late sunset dinner it was well past my bedtime when we headed back in the car.  It was a bit weird being in a car again after so long on the bike.  It was definitely worth the trip to see the view but I was beat. I fell asleep in the car and was out as soon as I crawled into my tent exhausted.

Day 22: Into Yosemite...but not very far

Today was a sleeping in day.  Quite a luxury.  We had a slow morning and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with the Mitchell clan (tasty pancakes and fresh fruit).

We continued swapping stories and enjoying their company all morning.  I took advantage of the kitchen to give my water bottles a thorough scrubbing.  With all the various water sources, Gatorade, and other drinks baking in the heat over the last few weeks, the insides had begun to be a bit more "organic" than was good.

With fresh clothes, full bellies and warm goodbyes, we headed out and over to the lodge from yesterday where we were meeting Randy.  He was climbing up from Oakhurst this morning.

A great family

We had just gotten there when he rolled in.  The climb had been a quick one for him as well.  We hung around for a bit and I had a second breakfast of yogurt and juice (the cold things are quite a rare luxury on this trip).

We are meeting Sarah's brother in Yosemite Valley tomorrow so we decided to stay tonight at a campground just past Wawona not too far into the park.  This would make this our shortest day so far but accommodate our late start and some site seeing along the way.

After all the climbing,

I thought th  sign would be bigger

We stopped at the Wawona Hotel to check it out.  It has been in operation since the late 19th century when folks arrived by stage over some truly rough roads.

Waiting for the stage arrival

It looked like something from Dirty Dancing.  We took a brief stroll through the lobby and spent some time enjoying the porch.  Randy seems to settle into comfort with a newspaper quite naturally.

Not much has changed

Thankfully the roads are slightly better

Randy in his element

Nearby there was a small visitors center in an old artists studio.  Being the first visitors center of the park, naturally I headed straight over to find another stamp for my book.

Alex in his element

There were several interesting birds around the porch and some came quite close.  There was even a funny fellow bathing in the fountain.  If I hadn't just had a shower yesterday, I may have been inclined to join him.

A happy blue visitor

We all need a bath

After a quick tour through a group of historic buildings (essentially a collection of relocated cabins from days gone by) and a quick lunch, we headed out to meet Randy at our campsite for the night.

It was a nice spot right alongside a river.  After setting up camp we took a quick dip in the river.  With the sunshine, it was much warmer than the last swim experience but still a bit chilly.  

Taking a look ahead at our future maps I found a spot that we will pass labeled "hot springs".  I will definitely be on the look out for that in the coming weeks.

 A fresh paper is big news

Off to bed and on to the valley tomorrow.