The Road to Yosemite

The Road to Yosemite

Saturday 31^st August

What a day!! Skyline Wilderness park, Napa to Stockton Delta KOA Campground: 100kms. Had a pretty efficient getaway from Napa and it was beautiful cycling up out of the town in a tail wind at 9am in the morning. Made quick miles out to the highway and onto a very narrow road due to roadworks. Traffic built up and it required some concentration. Got through that and out to the other side above Fairfield. Had to exit Highway 12 at the freeway which we managed to do.

Then John got a puncture from the little scrubby thorns on the side of the road! Front tyre – which is the worst to change. Fortunately the temperature was slightly cooler on that side so not scorching like Napa. Second problem was that the new tube wouldn’t hold air, so had to repair the first one after all. Got that sorted and the bike blew over! No damage done except that it turns out Lucy’s kindle was damaged as it fell over on that pannier. Got going again and found the bypass – but then came to a Road Closed sign in the middle of it. Decided to ignore that and got through past some linesmen – but then came to a truly closed road with mega roadworks and an unrideable road. Really were vague about where we were but followed our nose and eneded up in Fairfield town itself eventually. Ent to Starbucks and used the wi-fi to work out where we were as well as a bike map from the bike shop. Kids ran through a fountain there that randomly stopped and started. Hilarious.

Stopped for more water and a quick bite of lunch at the last garage out of town where a guy was dealing drugs outside. Got going with much motivation for the 26 Highway 12 miles from Fairfield to Rio Vista. Very hot and 2pm by this time. Up over deserted vast plains on the motorway. Massive windmills – hundreds of them and a huge airforce base in the distance – but truly nothing else. Some very dodgy broken bits of road on the highway into Rio Vista – so had to race some bits to find a pullover for traffic. Pleased to arrive in Rio Vista about 4pm.

More plains but a little more green to the KOA and made huge progress in the tail wind. Seemed in the middle of nowhere but on arrival we saw it was PACKED. Omg! Never experienced anything like it. It really is ‘the hood’ where we are. The noise level of boom box car stereos was deafening for around three hours with each car trying to outdo the next one with their ‘hood’ music.  On the camp path by our tent you see everything – scooters, scateboards, badminton, remote-control cars, massive cruising pickups, people dancing, kids playing, security golfcarts with guards with guns and taisers… A big firework went off somewhere like a gun. It is all happening! The pool was amazing – absolutely packed and we were the lily-whitest people in the whole place. John reckons he saw gangsters there. Hugh is loving it – especially the car stereo music. Sunday morning now and everyone is frying eggs and bacon on the bbq and the noise level is rising already.

Deer at campsite in Napa

Hot air balloons over Napa - Labour Weekend Sunday

On the road east...

Fairfield fountain

Miles of nothing

Windmills

Thousands of windmills

Draw bridge closing

Stockton Delta KOA campground - camping in 'The Bronx'

 Sunday 1^st September

KOA Stockton Delta to Hogans Reserve Valley Springs. A surprising 82kms. Another incredible day! Left the KOA after a slowish start about 10am. Very tired after marathon effort the day before. Amazing to leave the startling KOA camp. What an experience. What I wrote can’t describe what went on there – total culture change. Even the cabins at the camp were like in the Spike Lee movies. Another tail wind for which we were grateful. 

Made very quick work to Lodi and stopped at a lovely vineyard on the way but it was packed so just bought fruit there. Got groceries and a lantern at Lodi and had lunch by the money machine… Got a bit hot and overwhelmed in the actual town and eventually made it out the other side. More quick kms but then about Clements it all hilly-ed up and was very gruelling in 30 degrees plus! Madeit to Buston in a meltdown and running out of hot water and had soda and iced tea. Onward to Valley Springs which felt like it would never arrive.

Went straight to supermarket and met a guy outside and chatted. Went in and then he approached us and welcomed us to have a shower at his house before we camped. We accepted and followed him out of town. Lots of hills but grateful to arrive at a lovely house and literally was the first house we had stepped inside since Renie and Jerry’s at the start of the trip! Ron and Lorraine were so kind and had a glorious shower in their ensuite and then Lorraine made me iced tea which was fabulous. We left again at 7.30pm and followed Ron up the road all the way to the camp. Felt so good to be so clean. We saw a huge tarlantua spider crawl across the road which was freaky and then saw another one and then a dead one on the road. Said our farewells to Ron at the camp entrance – it really was a treat going to their gorgeous house. Camped just on dusk- in fact the ranger just laughed when we turned up. The lantern really helped! Rattlesnakes an issue too. Had potato chips, beer and couscous. Ravenous and exhausted. Fell into bed. 

Approaching Gold Country around Wallace

Random horse and carriage...

A taste of civilisation at Ron and Lorraine's

Tarantula on road to Hogan's Reserve

Hogan's Reserve Campground

Woodpecker at Hogan's Reserve

 Monday 2^nd September

Hogans Reserve, Valley Springs to Angels Camp RV Park. 48kms. Left at 9.45am and it was a gentle ride out the end of the camp areas to the Highway again. Carried on a hilly few kms to San Andreas (good feeling when we got to the end of Highway 12 and onto the Gold Highway 49) which was an anti-climax until we found a great diner where we had bacon and an egg and hash brown and coffee which was totally great. Carried onto Angels camp over hills and in over 30 degrees- intense. Got to the town and found a grocery store and had a cold drink and then continued into the historic town which was cool and then out to the rV Park. It was GREAT! Pool, wi-fi, nice shady area, rec room, cooking shelter. It was great. Loved it and had a relaxing time there. Kids played horseshoe throwing. Dinner later and we skyped Tama and Gordon which was fun. Went to bed late. Booked hotel in Sonora. Bed.

Finally - the end of Highway 12

Welcome lunch stop at San Andreas

Thanks for being open on Labour Day

Froggy friend at Angel's Camp

More frog

Angel's Camp historic gold town

Thunder cloud and first sign of smoke from Yosemite fires

Tuesday 3^rd September

Angels RV Camp to Sonora Gold Lodge, Sonora. 23kms. Reluctantly left the RV Park at 10am. Hot and could see the smoke from the Yosemite fire in the distance. HILLY! Very big climbs up to here. Hot and spectacularly dry. Arrived in Sonora at 1700 feet elevation. A bit hassled in 30+ degrees but stumbled upon our hotel… it wasn’t quite what we expected but we remained optimistic. First the wi-fi didn’twork.  Anyway had lunch and went into town. In the end we jumped on a trolley bus and went for a 45 minute ride for 45 minutes – it was air-conditioned and really interesting.  Back to a candy shop for icecream and then back here for a swim – only the pool is closed!! The last straw really. It really is a bit of a hopeless place! Still, it is our first bed after 46 nights camping and the air con and hot water working at least. Takeaway pizza for tea. Very pleasant. Bed now – at 8.33pm! Lovely. 

Praying mantis at Angels Camp

Angels Camp RV Park - best so far

First bed in 46 nights

Gold Lodge Sonora - half a star hotel with no wi-fi and pool closed by Health Department!

One hour trolley bus ride just to cool down in the air con

 Wednesday 4^th September

Sonora Gold Lodge, Sonora to Coulterville Motels, Coulterville. 48kms. Left Sonora after our breakfast there. Descended into Jamestown in smoke from the fires and then went to Jamestown Railway State Park. It was fascinating and at 9.30am we had a guided tour. Many movies were filmed there such as High Noon, The Unforgiven, Back to the Future 3, Little House on the Prairie, Bonanza and  Pale Rider. Left again after 11am and had a coffee in a cool old shop in Jamestown and carbo-loaded with brownie and scones.

Started out of Jamestown and to our surprise it was quite downhill and very beautiful. Got to Chinese camp and Moccasin in great time and clocked up the first 35kms. Finally found a tiny bit of shade to have lunch. After lunch we turned the corner to see a MASSIVE steep hill – in zero shade all the way. Lucy and I managed to get up it without stopping in about 50 minutes but we were just exhausted and melting down and hot. All our water was hot but drank it anyway to survive. So desperate that we sat down in the shade of a parked car at the top to recover. It was truly a test. Good ride after that to here. The motel is a saviour with air con and an ice machine and a video player. Even a bit of air con. Early night before the last of the Mariposa killer hills tomorrow.

Happily leaving the Sonora Gold Lodge

Bill our guide at Jamestown Historic Railroad State Park

The roundhouse at Jamestown Railroad

Movie set at Jamestown Railroad

Lucy at set of Back to the Future III

Coffee house at Jamestown

On the road again

Yosemite fire road closures

Hot lunch on lookout for rattlesnakes

A huge unexpected hill looms ahead on horizon

Desperate for shade we sit in a car's shadow at top

Blissful Coulterville Hotel

 Thursday 5^th September

Coulterville Motels, Coulterville to Mariposa.  48kms. Left early about 8.30am to try and beat the heat. The hills started straight out of Mariposa and the first set were quite challenging. Saw a wild tarantula on the road… BIG! Got to the summit and there was a huge and spectacular descent – a bit disconcerting. Luckily stopped for lunch halfway down because as we completed the descent, the next HUGE and spectacular hill loomed ahead above us. Went right down to Bagley recreation area and then began the grind uphill again. It was probably the biggest hill we did so far. Hot by the time we reached the top and pleased we had started early. A german man and his son stopped and gave us iced water which was great. The ice machine at the Coulterville motel was a saviour as well and lasted most of the day.

The road to Mariposa wasn’t as hilly but still a grind in the heat of the afternoon and went on a bit. A lot of fire engines and activity at the Mariposa airport due to the fires.  Arrived to the Visitor Centre about 2.30pm and the lady was very short about camping possibilities. Managed to find the Fairgrounds were open for camping and they were actually really nice – thogh two miles down a hill! Had a coffee at the café next door to get out of the heat. Got groceries and headed there. Relaxing evening though road to Yosemite ahead and logisitics after that making us a bit stressed.

Coulterville main street

First hill!

TARANTULA on road!

Looking back at where we had come...

Top of first hill

OMG! Looking towards second hill

Going up second hill

Looking back!

Grinding up second hill

Thetop of second hill

Looking back to Bagly Bridge

Bear Valley - 2050 feet 

Bear Valley abandonned store

Hummingbird at Mariposa

Hugh at Stetson shop

Mariposa Fairgrounds campground

 Friday 6^th September

Mariposa Fairgrounds to El Portal. 50kms. Really tired from the Bagly hills and made a late start and then had coffee in town to use the internet. Groceries after that and didn’t head out of town till 11.30am. Really hot! Really surprisingly hilly! Didn’t know there was a summit at Mid-Pines – which indeed there was at 2900 feet! And  a huge descent! We were gutted – stopped at Midpines picnic area and had lunch before carrying on – down further still. Again gutted to find that the road descended for 9 miles and steeply at a 7% grade for three miles – spectacular but gutting as we had had too many hills already too long. Really worn out. Got down to the valley and along the river and it was much more manageable with a 2-3% uphill grade where we made good progress. Real furnace in the valley and met a man later who stopped to see us and he said it was mid nineties! Hot! 

Got to Cedar Lodge and knew the camp was near so had a beer and lemonades and carried on to camp. Got further and further past Indian Flat and started to panic about where the camp was. Saw a camp on the other side of the river but by the time we got to the bridge it was three miles back. Ended up camping in a picnic area just out of El Portal which was fine and we swam in the river, but really were too tired for the stress of free-camping. Someone else arrived at midnight and then John saw a bear at 3.30am. Motivated us to get up early and leave for the last big push to Yosemite.

Midpines Summit before 9 mile descent!

The road down!

The road back up to El Portal

Bear and rattlesnake camp at El Portal - one brown bear spotted by John at 3am!

Saturday 7^th September

El Portal to Yosemite Village. 31kms. We are here – Yosemite – with El Capitain, Half Dome and all the other glorious peaks and rocks around us. BEAUTIFUL. The ride up actually was a joy! 8 miles of 8% grade but started out of El Portal after finding water and food at the shop – so relieved to find one. The road out of El Portal rose gently until the entrance to the park and then wound up for three hours to the valley. Another 8 or 10 miles of flattish riding through the valley to here. Arrived at 2pm straight to the Campsite Reservations and were delighted to get a place in the Walk-in backpacker camp – and two nights after that in the Upper Pines Campground. Excellent and could finally relax. Made up for being charged $40 to bike into the park compared to paying $20 per car! Seemeda little back to front. Got camped and went on free shuttle bus into village and had some lunch and a wander around. Back about 5pm and cooked tea and then went to a Yosemite climbing film at 7pm. It was good and more a nature film as well as climbing and then the climber talked at the end – Ron Kauk. It was fun to go and come back on the shuttle bus. Bed.

Entry to Yosemite National Park and start of the real climbing

The grind upward

About halfway

The Rock Arch halfway to Yosemite at the Park entry

Nearly there...

Site of President Roosevelt's camp

El Capitan

 Sunday 8^th September

Rest day. Laundry. Showers – down the road as none at camp. Moving camp to Upper Pines today and at laundomat now and will go to Curry Village for a look. Kids may go to the Junior ranger programme walk at 1.30pm. Lovely to know we made it to here. Lynne Allen very ill at home so thinking of her and her family and it is nice to be in a nice place where we can think about her. 

Camp ranger at Backpackers Camp on first night at Yosemite

Half Dome

Freezing Yosemite river

Swimming regardless of icy cold water...

Ahwhanee Hotel, Yosemite

Ahwhanee Hotel, Yosemite

 Monday 9^th September

Good day in the valley, though the smoke from the fires came over and obscured the view somewhat at Glacier Point. Sunday finished well with pizza at the pizza patio and beer. Kids loved it. Went to Glacier Point on Monday for 10am. Met Nitana and Wes, climbers and bikers from Burlington Camp who we’d met earlier on their bamboo bikes. Glacier Point bus trip was something else – amazing road and great commentary from the guide. The view at the top was somewhat obscured by the smoke that came over which was disappointing for John who had memories of photos of Nana Lucy there. Great walk down – Hugh talked fishing the whole way and it was a steep descent of 3000 feet for over three hours. Out to the shuttle – legs a bit weird. Back to the camp and had tortillas and chilli for dinner. 

Hugh, Lucy and friendly deer

Half Dome from Glacier Point

View from Glacier Point including smoke from Yosemite fires

Chipmunk at Glacier Point

Descent from Glacier Point

Glacier Point Track and smoke from Yosemite fires

More downhill...

Lucy and bear at Curry Village

Hugh on deck at Curry Village

Tuesday 10^th September

Great start to the day with breakfast at the Awahanee Hotel. It really was the peak of celebrating what we have achieved in getting here so great to enjoy that, looking out on a beautiful clear view of the cliffs and yes –it was exceptionally flash! The kids were overjoyed with their buffet breakfast of waffles, pancakes, pastries, orange juice, sausages, bacon, bagels, scones and fruit salad. John and I had bacon and eggs and endless cups of coffee.

 Left there and walked into town and met Nitana and Wes again and a photographer. Talked for ages. Finally left and went to Curry Village to use the internet and booked a Merced hotel and rang the bike shop. Back to camp and moved from Site 57 to Site 61 which involved lifting the tent across the road… 

After lunch we left and went on the El Capitain shuttle and walked up to near El Capitan. Spotted numerous climbers on the Slathe Wall and then carried on to look at the Nose. Observed a party descending and on closer inspection it turned out to be a full-scale face rescue. The rescuer was being lowered from a continuous rope from the top. On the way we met a French woman walking in with a walky-talky who we presume was the partner of the climber. She was followed by six girls who were Yosemite Search and Rescue – one carrying a trolley for the stretcher. Really freaky that we just happened to be there. John asked them if he was ok and they said it could have been much worse but we didn’t enquire further and walked back down to leave them to it. Amazing. 

Ran to catch the shuttle after walking the wrong way and got back to camp just as a thunder and lightning storm hit. Packed up a bit and headed to Curry Village for tea. Rained heavily as we arrived but has stopped now. It has been a glorious break in Yosemite.

View from Upper Pines Campground

Half Dome

Breakfast at the Ahwhanee Hotel

Hugh's idea of packing up

El Capitan

Yosemite SAR team

Rescue on El Capitan - SAR climber abseiling with stretcher 

 Wednesday 11^th September

Got up and biked to Tunnel View.  22kms. Lost each other somehow but managed to reunite on the El Capitan Bridge where a guy has a telescope so that you can look at the climbers on El Capitan. Managed to spot some of the parties from the day before. Climbed up to Tunnel View – good to get on the bikes again. It was beautiful there –panoramic view of the valley. Rushed back to the campsiteand packed up for checkout time at midday. Had pizza for lunch at Curry Village and then went to do laundry at Housekeeping Camp. The machine malfunctioned and ended up with it only half dry but had to go to catch the bus. John was really nervous that he wouldn’t get the bikes on. We remained calm and because it was the start of the ride, we certainly did get them on, but it was a tight squeeze. Ecstatic to get on the road successfully at 3.15pm. Smooth ride to Merced and it looked like it would have been a challenging ride with a 15 mile straight and a headwind to finish, as well as many hills, so definitely made the right decision to stay in Yosemite longer and bus out. Got to Merced about 6.15pm. Asked at the station about the bikes as there was a train in, and seemed all good. Found the motel and a supermarket and it was nice. Watched some news on tv and a light snack dinner and bed.

Us at Tunnel View

Last morning in Yosemite

El Capitan

Catching the YARTS bus out of Yosemite - trying to make the bikes look small...

 Thursday 12^th September

12kms.Relaxed and biked to the bike shop. Left the bikes there and walked to the mall nearby. Had Subway for lunch. Went to a gorgeous bookshop for an hour to escape the 90s temperatures in the heat of the day. Went back to the bikeshop and picked up the bikes about 2pm after hanging at Starbucks till the guy was finished. He did a great job and it wasn’t expensive. Replaced my derailer and both chains. Went back to the motel and John had his haircut at a Mexican barbers – which was expensive… and we did some preparations for the early getaway next morning.

Friday 13^th September

AMTRAK! The train left at 7.48am and we foolishly got there early as the lady had recommended and were on the deserted platform at 7.20am. Within 10 minutes the train guy called over the loud speaker for the man with the tandems to come to the office (tandems not allowed on the trains in the fine print!).John was stunned! Anyway I explained that we had talked to the baggage guy on the train the night before – though technically I hadn’t actually used the tandem word. They tried to ring through to the train and we kept a low profile and the train arrived and we got them on!! Hard to find a seat together but we didn’t care as long as we were on the train, with the bikes and moving.

Lucy and the AMTRAK in Merced

Optimistically hoping to get on the train

Made it to Merced...