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| As I get ready to leave Lee Vining, I have
trouble with the Beemer for the first time on the trip. It will not
start and I’m fearful that I am going to run down the battery. I
have done all of the things you do when the motorcycle is cold, choke,
give a little gas, reduce choke, etc. Nothing seems to work. Don’t
let me down now, big fella! As I’m grinding away on the starter, an elderly gentleman tells me not to choke it. He is walking his dog and says we’re at 7000 ft. and it’s a common mistake motorcyclist make; they choke it because it’s cold. He goes on to tell me that he rode motorcycles all his life, up until he was 75 years old. He says his first motorcycle was an Indian straight four. I asked how old he is now and he tells me 80. He sure doesn’t look 80 but I stop choking the bike and sure enough, it starts. I thank him for his help and experience. He is obviously pleased that his suggestion worked. Those who have been riding for a while, tend to look out for each other. With a big “thumbs up,” the Beemer and I are on our way. I get away from the motel a little after 8:00 a.m. and ride six miles towards Yosemite to gas up. Another eight miles and I enter Yosemite National Park but what a great eight miles they were. As you leave Lee Vining, you start climbing into the granite covered eastern side of the Sierra’s, winding back and forth into a Michaleangelo sculpture (photos 1,2,&3). I stop to take pictures and discover that my camera has broken, that the film will not rewind. The camera has worked without a hitch the entire trip and now this. As soon as I get into the park, I stop at the first store and buy a disposible camera. I’m glad I did since, in many ways, this is the most spactular of the parks and it would be a crime not to get some pictures. Unfortunately, the quality is in keeping with a disposable camera. Poor.
As I enter Toulemee Meadows, I find myself riding and stopping for a picture, riding and stopping for a picture, and making little progress. I pass transperant mountain lake, large granite stuctures left from the ice age, and quiet mountain streams, all of which are eye candy for the motorcycleist (photos 4,5,6,7,8 & 9). Finally I start the long trip out of the high country and down towards Yosemite Valley. It takes me about two and a half hours to reach Crane Flat where I should turn towards the valley. Because of traffic, because I like what I’m doing but want to get home to Linda, and because I’m ready, I turn right onto Hwy. 120 and home.
The road passes through several small towns where I again get gas for the trip home and then head out. The road climbs into the surrounding mountains past Lake Don Pedro (photos 10 & 11), then sharply decends with snakelike agility into the Central Valley, the bread basket of California. Hwy. 120 takes me through Manteca, the Tracy, and then on to Hwy. 205 to Hwy 580. The trip is not too bad until we get close to Hwy 580 then it turns to crap. I can’t believe the amount of trucks, cars, noise, and wind that greet me on Hwy. 580. It seems that most of the cars are in a hurry, trucks are passing each other in three lanes of a five lane road, what’s that all about. Cars are cutting me off, people are trying to merge into this mess with a “Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead” kind of attitude and I’m hanging on for dear life.
At one point, when a car cuts into my lane from my right side, I find myself yelling into my helmet, “What the …. do you want from me?” After a little more than an hour, I pull into my meager little driveway (photo 12), the end to an almost perfect trip. Maybe I’ve been on backroads too long and have forgotten what “normal” traffic is like in the bayarea. At any rate, I loved the trip but I’m glad to be home. Miles traveled today - 231 Want more Yosemite? This site has lots of scenic photos: Yosemite Association - Virutal Yosemite. |
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