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Paddle, Cycle
& Backpack 14,500kms Around the USA
After kayaking 4200 kms,
backpacking, 800kms, cycling 10,000 kms I was getting close
to the Yosemite National Park. In the last two weeks I had
cycled to the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Las Vegas,
Death Valley and I was now heading from the desert and 40
degrees to the highest mountains in the USA and the snow.
At Death Valley. Elevation
282ft below sea level. Temperature near 40c
From the desert to the
mountains in one day. June Lake on the eastern side of the
Rockies
A day
in the life of a cyclist
Tuesday 29th September
It had been a chillier night than I expected as during the
very early hours of the morning the rain and clouds had cleared.
I untied the rope holding my food bags and lowered them from
the branches of the tall tree. I was in bear country again
so I had to be more careful about my food. The sun took a
while in rising above the mountains and through the trees,
and when it did, it warmed the morning.
I moved out from under the trees into a crisp morning to find
snow freshly covering the mountains. I left the campsite to
start my steep climb to and through Tioga Pass. The Tioga
Road, which was originally built as a mining road in 1882-83,
was realigned and modernized in 1961. The road passes through
an area of sparkling lakes, meadows, rock domes, and lofty
peaks that only 10,000 years ago lay under glacial ice. At
Tioga Pass the road crosses the Sierra's crest at 9,945 feet,
the highest vehicle pass in California.
I could see the road meander its way up the mountain. It looked
steep, but when I started cycling I was able to keep my bike
running above 4 mph. I started to sweat despite the chill.
I was told by the locals it was going to be a tough climb,
one of the toughest in the US they said, but it wasn't half
as tough as the climb out of Death Valley. In Death Valley
it was hot, near 100 degrees, far different from the chill
that blew down the valley here, and the Death Valley hill
was also a much longer climb. It got colder as I moved up
the slope, but I still sweated from the physical exertion.
Just before the road turned a sharp left, a snow storm dumped
huge snow flakes that soon turned to hail. There was no suitable
place to lean my bike against, to stop and search for my Gore-tex
jacket in my panniers, so I had to keep going. It got colder
and colder and the hairs on my bare legs started to stand
on end. The road was now white and when I eventually found
a post on a corner to lean my bike against, I scurried to
cover up and put on warmer gear.
Around the next bend I could see right down the valley. The
winding road that I had climbed followed the river path. I
made a rush for the top as the snow storm eased a little.
I stopped, next to a small lake, and a sign saying 9500 ft.
Two young, good looking women tourists stopped, jumped out
of their car, asked me to take their photo, had a quick word
and dashed back inside their car, warmed up and drove off.
It was so cold, I would have loved to have sheltered with
them. No it wasn't because they were good looking!!
I climbed further, and then as the sleet started falling I
freewheeled downhill to find a local cafe. What a find! The
cafe served coffee outside, but the weather was freezing and
even though you had to pay more for the privilege of going
inside, to warm up next to a log fire I was more than happy
to do so. After my lovely warm cuppa, with my insides glowing,
I decided it was time to move on. I took off towards the famous
Yosemite National Park.
Yosemite is regarded as one of the most incredible and beautiful
national parks in the world. I had only seen pictures on the
telly, so now I was here to see this famous park for myself
and to form my own opinion. On the way I passed several small
lakes. The sleet had now stopped and the haze that it had
created vanished, the day brightened and the sun suddenly
came out. Before me was a circle of snow clad mountains. It
was a scene so incredibly stunning that it literally took
my breath away. I stopped my bike and just gazed. Wow, this
was some start to Yosemite!
The entrance to Yosemite
National Park
At the park entrance I
joined a queue of cars, flashed my national park pass, crossed
the 9945 ft mark and entered the inner sanctuary of the park.
I immediately felt the excitement build inside me and as I
stopped beside a lake I gazed at the beautiful reflections
on the water. The mountains that were covered with fresh snow
and spread across the valley looked wild. A small stream followed
my progress further into the park and eventually led me to
Lambert Dome. The dome was a huge granite rock in the shape
of a half dome. A little further Tuolumne Meadows, a flattish
grass meadow came into view. People were walking and scattered
around the meadow. I stopped at the information centre. It
was only small, so it didn't take long to look around.
Tuolumne Meadows (at 8,600 feet) is the largest sub-alpine
meadow in the Sierra. It is 55 miles from Yosemite Valley
via the Tioga Road on which I was travelling. In the summer
Tuolumne Meadows is a favourite starting point for backpacking
trips and day hikes. The meadows are spectacular in early
summer, abounding with wildflowers and wildlife.
Cars were parked further down the road where a walking track
led towards the picturesque Cathedral Peak. Before long I
had passed a granite slab, left the meadows and cycled into
a valley of huge, striking granite domes. I stopped, they
were just too spectacular to ride by. There were no posts
to lean my bike against, so I took a gamble, I wheeled it
into a gutter and used the pedal to keep it upright, and it
balanced precariously there. The rock around me was quite
phenomenal.
Further down the road the sun lit up the mountains surrounding
Tenaya Lake. I stopped at the far end and had a short rest,
took some photos and admired the truly beautiful scene. I
didn't think the day could get any better.
Suddenly the clouds started to move in. With them came the
mist, then the mist turned into fog, then rain. Visibility
was cut to 20 - 30 yards. There was no shoulder at the side
of the road so the cars passed close, in fact too close for
comfort. They could hardly see me, but I couldn't move off
the road or stop cycling as the weather was rapidly deteriorating.
I cycled on, lightning struck right in front of me, which
was quickly followed by a clap of thunder so loud it reverberated
throughout the valley. It was that loud it was frightening!
I stopped to put on my Gore-tex waterproofs, jumped back on
my bike and pushed along a road that had now turned into a
river. It started to hail and the hail stung my face as if
someone was using it as a pincushion. I was happy when the
hail eased and the rain returned. As the cars passed I could
only see their red rear lights through the foggy mist. One
driver stopped ahead and scraped all the hail stones off his
windscreen before moving off again.
From clear skies to
snow to hail to rain in the matter of an hour
I put my hood over my
helmet to stop the cold rain running down my neck and back.
I followed the winding road, with the thunder and lightning
shadowing me as I struggled up hills and sailed down the slopes.
I was high in the mountains and authorities had closed the
road twice in the last three days because of snow. I didn't
want to become stranded up there without a warm sleeping bag
so I just kept going. My feet were wet and cold, but fortunately
I was wearing my Gore-tex jacket so at least my body was warm
and dry.
A wet, steep downhill run tested my brakes and gave me hope
that it was the last hill before Yosemite Valley. With no
chance of reading my map due to the rain destroying my visibility,
I was longing to get to my destination and I just hoped the
Yosemite Valley was close by. However as I crossed Yosemite
Creek my superfast freewheeling ride ceased and my hopes were
sorely dashed as I started climbing again.
There was now no traffic on the road to present any hazards
to me, but there were still the dangerous descents and those
agonising ascents to contend with. On top of that my feet
were soaked and like two ice blocks that were absolutely freezing.
At last I descended a long hill that had a closed steel gate
at the bottom of it and beside it a female ranger who stopped
me. She told me that it was now snowing heavily up in the
mountains where I had just come from and that the road was
now closed. I was more than pleased to have crossed the mountain
range as it was just too cold to be camping up there without
my warm sleeping bag which I was collecting at Yosemite.
I stopped at a service station at the next junction, asked
about the local camp ground, which was $15.00, but the lady
suggested going on to Yosemite Valley to the Sunnyside campsite
as it was only $3.00. It sounded feasible, so I decided to
head there, but it was 6.00pm and I still had 16 miles to
go, although she did say it was all downhill all the way.
I'd heard that one before!
I bought a tin of beans, put it in my pannier, zipped my Gore-tex
jacket and hood and descended. I was cold and became colder
as I gathered speed. I was now longing to climb a steep hill
to get warm again, but I just kept accelerating downwards.
I sped through two tunnels and suddenly right in front of
me there it was - one of the most incredible sights in the
world, the Yosemite Valley.
It was like something out of a fairy tale book. If there was
a fairy tale world out there, then this view was it. It was
more than amazing and my heart pounded with absolute joy.
A river flowed below in the valley, winding through the pine
trees and between huge cliffs and mountains. On the left was
a huge, vertical cliff called El Capitan, a very famous climber's
cliff. It was right there dominating the scene, but there
were many other amazingly beautiful mountains drawing me in.
A lush valley between the breathtaking mountains narrowed
until eventually the mountains totally engulfed it. A waterfall
fell from a lower point between the mountains and I could
imagine beyond the crest a magical stream cascading over a
narrow rocky valley into a stunning wilderness. I was in complete
awe of the sight before me. I shivered with total elation.
The entrance to Yosemite
National Park
The sun dipped beyond
the mountain behind me leaving an illuminated trail that slowly
grew fainter until finally the bright light that was shining
into the valley had virtually vanished. The whole scene was
overwhelming, breathtaking and I just wanted to camp right
there to wake up to it in the morning. Unfortunately, the
steep sided mountain pass offered no place to camp as it was
just too steep.
A low wall ran beside the twisty road and guarded traffic
from running off it and dropping thousands of feet to the
valley floor. I followed it down zipping by it at great speeds
until I crossed the Merced River and where the hill ceased.
Shivering, I now followed a one-way road shielded by towering
trees. I was seemingly in another world and trying to grasp
the stark contrast in scenery.
Half Dome & Nevada
Falls. Yosemite Valley
As the last of the sun's
rays faded from above the mountains on either side of me,
I felt a rush of excitement that pulsed through my whole body.
I kept getting glimpses of the huge rock walls between the
trees and occasionally I would see a tiny ray of sunshine
through the clouds that would illuminate a small part of the
high vertical cliffs. It looked mysterious, surreal, but brilliant.
Further, a huge rock tower (Sentinel Rock) to my right stood
like a giant pillar at the entrance of a hidden world. The
shallow Merced River flowed to my left with tiny meadows beside
it which were layered with mist. The canyon narrowed further
leaving me with a sense of being locked in. I knew then why
this place was turned into a National Park.
Yosemite Valley
I was entering a very
special area, but suddenly those last remnants of light had
gone and the darkness now robbed me of seeing one of the most
stunning valleys in the world. The canopy of trees and the
cliffs blocked the light from even the brightest star from
filtering through, leaving my trail towards Yosemite Village
black, wet and cold.
I had no map of the village, so I followed my nose towards
the lights and the camping registration building. There was
a sign on the wall saying, 'No Vacancies'. I crossed the potholed
car park and asked a couple, whose bright clothes and hair
colour indicated that they were climbers, where the best place
to camp was. They suggested that I should sneak into a vacant
staff tent, but I just didn't have the courage to do that.
The only thing now was to go in search of Sunnyside, the climber's
campsite.
It was absolutely black, the road was wet and dazzling lights
from the passing cars made it difficult to cycle safely, but
I arrived at the climbers camp without falling off or being
hit. Disappointingly though I was out of luck again, there
was a sign saying 'full', so a man suggested I go to the backpackers
campsite, back up the valley. This campsite is only for backpackers
heading out on a walk, but I was past caring, I needed to
camp somewhere. As I struggled to find a place to rest my
head, my evening had now turned into a nightmare and my morale
had taken a dive. I should have camped back up near the service
station, I thought.
Yosemite Valley
I was cold and could see
little on the darkened cycleway. Every few moments I would
accidentally deviate from the cycleway on to the dirt, despite
my dim torch shining on the path. I was told to look for a
sign, but found nothing and ended up lost. I returned the
way I came wondering if the night could get any worse. I then
spotted campers in the distance through the trees around a
blazing fire. I went over to them and asked them if they knew
where the backpacker's campsite was. "You're here,"
they said. I don't think you could begin to imagine how happy
I felt.
I was so relieved to find a place to camp. The group welcomed
me and I was content to get warm around their fire and have
a good talk about my walk ahead. Steel lockers were scattered
around the camp, which gave campers a place to store their
food away from the bears. It is illegal to camp with your
food in your tent, but my new friends said that there was
little threat of a bear entering your tent if you are in it.
They said, they always camp with their food.
Yosemite Valley
Although they had a lot
of camping experience, they couldn't convince me to sleep
with my food. Read any book about bears and it's always strongly
recommended to put your food in a food bag, find the highest
tree and hoist your food high in the air. Of course there
are smart bears around, so you have to make sure they can't
climb the tree and grab it. The other alternative is to carry
a bear drum. This is a small drum made of light strong plastic,
with a lid that a bear can't open. The idea is to put all
your food, toothpaste or anything sweet in it, place it 50-100
yards away from your tent so the bear is attracted to it and
not you. Although I have been using the 'up the tree' method,
I will be taking a bear drum with me on my walk.
It was late when we stopped
talking and all the others hit the sack. It gave me a chance
to change clothes, erect my tent and have some food. After
such a big day (13 hours cycling steep hills) and the last
hour cycling in circles, it was great to be warm, settled
and camped.
Two days later I left
my cycle in the park, donned my backpack and started a 450km
walk along the John Muir Trail, which is one of the most scenic
trails in the world.
Mountain scene from the John Muir Trail
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