Day #29: Crossing Borders

Today's Route: Bootleg Campground (8 miles S of Walker, CA) to Hope Valley Resort (5 miles W of Woodfords, CA) (61 miles)
Total Trip Miles: 1,136

Yesterday, I used the Buff in bank-robber mode to keep the flying gnat-like creatures away from entering the orifices of my head.

This morning I looked equally dorky. Only this time, I wore my balaclava to keep my head from freezing. It was damn chilly this morning, especially since the first eight miles of our ride were downhill, in a rocky canyon. The sun had not yet risen above the canyon walls to warm up the air.

Wearing my balaclava, also in bank-robber mode.

On the bright side, my balaclava was one piece of gear that I had packed but not yet used. Now I've used it. So, yeah!

Day #28: A Girl Has Gotta Do What a Girl Has Gotta Do

Today's Route: Lee Vining, CA to Bootleg Campground (8 miles south of Walker, CA) (51 miles)
Total Trip Miles: 1,075

The day started with a long slog up and out of the town of Lee Vining. This meant an average pace of roughly 5 mph as we climbed. There were some sort of gnat-like flying creatures, and they were EVERYWHERE. They were flying in our mouths. In our noses. In our ears. It seemed as though every two stroke we were either swatting at the little boogers or spitting them out from our mouths.

After a few miles of riding through these masses of flying annoyances, I finally stopped to rearrange my Buff (the blue thing I wear around my neck to help prevent sunburn) into bank-robber mode. The Buff did a great job of keeping the creatures out of my nose and mouth, with the trade-off being that it was a wee bit more difficult to suck air as I climbed.

Wearing my Buff in bank robber mode.
A girl has gotta do what a girl has gotta do.

Oh, and those nasty little boogers left round, red bite marks all over my arms and legs. Grrr.

Day #27: It's All Downhill From Here

Today's Route: Crane Flat Campground in Yosemite National Park to Lee Vining, CA (62 miles)
Total Trip Miles: 1,024

Today the trip odometer passed 1,000 miles. Woohoo!

And today was our big climb up and over Tioga Pass! At 9,945 ft, Tioga Pass is the highest point on the Sierra-Cascades route.

Just 1,945 more feet to go!

At exactly 25 miles into our ride, BJ and Lilia drove by us in their rental car. They were on their way up to Toulumne Meadows for another overnight backpacking trip. This was the last time we'd see BJ and Lilia. Although they still have another week of vacation, they are going to head south next week to explore Sequoia and King's Canyon National Parks.

Day #26: On the Road Again

Today's Route: North Pines Campground in Yosemite National Park to Crane Flat Campground in Yosemite National Park (19 miles)
Total Trip Miles: 962

BJ and Lilia mentioned that they had been hearing explosions in the middle of the night as we camped in the Yosemite Valley. They had read that rangers use search lights to spot bears, and when bears are spotted, the rangers scare away the bears with explosions. To be honest, I thought they were bullshiting. Until...

...last night. I awoke shortly before 2am, as my middle-of-the-night-need-to-get-up-and-pee urge was calling. Moments later I heard an explosion. And it was LOUD! I couldn't believe I had slept right through that sound the last few nights. I guess they weren't bullshitting after all.

Today we're on the road again. We started the morning by hauling our box back to the post office in Yosemite Valley. The box contained the hiking boots that we had shipped to Yosemite for the Half Dome hike. The box also included our stove, pots, and fuel bottle. We decided we weren't using the stove enough to justify the weight and volume taken up by these items in our panniers.

Alex hauls the box on his rear rack.

Day #25: A Half a Dome & A Whole Lot of Fun

Today's Route: Hiking to the Top of Half Dome (20 miles on foot, 2 miles on bike)
Total Trip Miles: 943

Today we hiked to the top of Half Dome.
Half Dome is one of the famous peaks in Yosemite Valley. The peak of Half Dome is at 8,839 ft. The hike rises about 5,000 ft and is 17 miles roundtrip (from the trailhead). The last 400 ft of the hike is super steep. Typically, climbing gear would be required to ascend the last section of the hike. Instead, cables have been installed, allowing hikers to pull themselves up to the top of the dome.

I've pointed out Half Dome in a few of the photo captions from the last few days. As a recap, Half Dome is the tall peak ahead of me in the photo below.

Half Dome is in the distance.

This is a super-duper popular hike. In order to limit the number of people who hike Half Dome (for both safety and environmental reasons), hikers must acquire a permit to do the hike. Even then, 300 permits are issued a day. And because there are so many requests for permits, most permits are issued based on a lottery. The rest of the permits are set aside for walk-in requests.