Day six started in Jackson, CA. The sore throat had started to go away, and I decided it was time to press on. Leaving Jackson the landscape is much like you would find in the high desert forests of northern New Mexico. Lots of dry pine, and scrub brush. The road was beautiful and wound through small old mining towns with hand painted signs on the buildings. It was very charming and I am able now to understand why the Gold Rush caused such a ruckus. I found myself at one point wondering if I might be able to find some gold out there. There is so much land, they couldn't have possibly combed it all, right? There was even a stretch of road where the rocks along the side of the road were covered in mica deposits to add to the allure. Alas, I did not stop to find my fortune.
Approaching the entrance to Yosemite National Park it continues to look much the same as around Jackson. Mitch had warned me about this the night before, and said that I would come around a corner and be awestruck. He did not, however, tell me about the uphill stretch of highway that wound back and forth up a roughly 2000 foot climb in about 2 miles! It was awesome, except for the motorhome in front of me for a part of it…
Once inside the park I stopped for a snack and got a chance to talk with a couple riding a Harley. He asked if I had ever been in the park. When I told him no he said that I was in for a treat, "especially that one corner", he said. (This is becoming a theme.) He also told me that I should be sure to take Glacier Point Road if I had time. "People travel from across the globe to ride that road," he said. So I marked it on the map and decided to do that instead of going deep into Yosemite Valley.
So I started the climb up the hill into the park. The road was lined with signs containing a little red bear and the words, "Speeding Kills Bears". I appreciate the idea, but for some reason the signs made me laugh a little. So up I went, and up, and up. Then started to come back down. Around every turn I would think to myself, "Is this the corner?" Just when I was about to stop thinking that it happened.
As I descended into the valley I continued to get little glimpses of the park, and continued to gasp at the amazing view. I got to the valley floor and stopped at Bridal Veil falls before heading up to Glacier Point. Bridal Veil was spectacular! I would love to go into the Valley sometime and see more. (We have to come back here, Mandy.)
Then I took the ride up to Glacier Point. The guy wasn't kidding. The road was a perfect road to ride, and it even had new pavement for more than half of it! If you have a bike you MUST come to Yosemite. It would be a great place to kill a few days riding and seeing things like this:
After Glacier Point I headed back to Tioga Pass Road to get out of the park on the East Side. The road again was wonderful. At somewhere around 8000ft though I was wishing that the heat worked a little better on the bike, but I managed though knowing that a lot of the trip was going to be in the heat, so I enjoyed the cool weather while I could. I was shocked that there was still a fair amount of snowpack up there. From what I gather they had record snow this year. I passed by several sights, but these two were tops:
Coming down the pass out of the park the road was still fun, and the views still spectacular. I could spend weeks here.
The meeting for the day was the Mammoth Lakes Group. I had noticed in the schedule that it was a Dart/Tag meeting. I was hoping that it meant we got to tag each other by throwing a dart (Nerf, of course) at the next person to talk. But it turns out that the chairperson, who wound up being me (Thanks, Amber), throws a dart at a board with a bunch of topics, shares about the topic, and then tags someone, and so on. A little disappointing logistically, but a phenomenal meeting filled with young people on fire for the program. Thanks, Mammoth Lakes Group!
