Tough riding today, and plans changed. Temperatures ranged from 36 to 73, with wind, rain, snow, fog, and finally sun.
My trip meter tells me I’ve ridden 3,807 miles so far on this expedition, and you know, it kind of feels like it.
It was 41 degrees when I left the Lake Tahoe area today. The rain held off during the night, though I did hear a few drops hitting the tent at some point during a waking moment.
When I checked in to the campground yesterday the host (owner?) told me to watch out for bears. A black bear and her two cubs have been causing problems in the campground the past several weeks. Some other tent campers a few spaces away from me said that the bears had opened their unlocked car doors and helped themselves to pancake batter and maple syrup.
Perhaps it’s more like some campers have been causing problems for the bears by not being more careful with their food?
Anyhow, I was hoping to meet this bear family but they did not stop by for a visit. I did hear some noise during the night that sounded like something trying to get into the trash dumpsters that are bear-proof. Might have been them?
I had planned a long day today, riding down highway 89 (very scenic!) and then highway 395 for a long ways south, then west into Needles, California.
That’s what I had planned, and this is why I like riding solo for the most part. As I approached the junction of highway 395 and highway 120 that winds its way through the Yosemite high country, a sudden urge to take that route overcame me, and off I went! The old rock climber in me has a soft spot in my heart for Yosemite, and probably always will.
The 3 to 6 inches of snow that was forecasted hadn’t materialized yet, so I figured I’d go as far as I could and turn around if needed. That didn’t happen, and I made it all the way across Yosemite and then in and through Yosemite Valley.
About fifteen miles into the park it started to snow and rain, so I stopped to put my rain pants on. Apparently I didn’t get them up high enough because my backside ended up getting wet after about three hours of riding in the rain and snow.
As with many of the places I’ve visited on this trip I would have liked to stay longer in Yosemite, but the clock is ticking and I still have a few thousand miles left, more or less, before I end this trip back in Spearfish.
Speaking of Spearfish, I’m in Fresno, in sunny southern California at the moment, in another hotel room drying out my gear, and now it’s time to turn my wheels east towards Flagstaff, Arizona tomorrow, then start working my way north through Utah and Colorado, and finally back to South Dakota, and back to real life. ?
I’m not exactly looking forward to tomorrow’s ride, as it’s mapping out at 594 miles of mostly interstate. Just for kicks, I might include a portion of Route 66 just south of the Mojave desert. If so, that will put me at approximately 609 miles.
Photo gallery of day 16
