Cold in California

Trip Start Jun 07, 2010

Trip End Jul 10, 2010

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Flag of United States Lee Vining, California
Wednesday, June 16, 2010

An 8am start and a 14 mile ride took us from Oakhurst up into Yosemite National Park where we first visited Mariposa Grove to see the giant sequoia trees.

From there a short ride took us to Glacier Point. Nothing can prepare you for the sheer scale of the vista before you. There are two waterfalls at 594ft and 317ft high, but even they pale into insignificance when compared to Yosemite falls which drops over 2400ft down to the valley floor. Then there's Half Dome, basically a lump of rock which stands a height of 8895 feet and dwarfs everything else around it.

From Glacier Point the viewing areas give you great views of all of the above and also down a sheer 2000ft drop to Yosemite village below. Photographs don’t do this place justice and I don’t have the words to adequately describe it

Big bike, small tree

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A quick lunch stop in Yosemite village and we were ready for the run through Tioga Pass to the east exit of the park. We had to stop about halfway up the pass to put on fleeces or jacket liners as the pass rises to 10,000ft above sea level and there was still quite a lot of snow around. Apparently it snowed here last week and it was pretty cold today.

Tioga Lake at the park exit still has a covering of ice in the middle of June, an idea of how harsh the climate can be up here at this altitude.

The road on down to Mono Lake was a fast sweeping road dropping over 3000 feet in around 20miles to the village of Lee Vining where we are staying tonight.

Yosemite NP is, in my opinion, a must for anyone who is visiting the west coast of the US. It’s just indescribably beautiful and highly recommended.

Slideshow

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Waterfall in Yosemite	Yosemite falls	View from Glacier Point	2000ft straight down
Still lot's of snow around	Riding down into Yosemite village	View from the valley floor	Huge scenery
Into the dark	Tioga Pass	Tenaya Lake	Tioga Pass 2
Plenty of snow	Ice on Tioga Lake	I'm not cold	GS at Mono Lake viewpoint

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Comments

Wee Ballix on

Looks good Big Ballix, enjoy!!

Ash on

cracking pictures.

Jockser on

I remember Yosemite well. Mainly cos I nearly got swept over one of the waterfalls ! Late summer & there wasn't a huge amount of water running down. But it ran across a sheet of rock and, looking at it, I thought 'that's easy to get across & the view looks better from the other side'. Halfway across I lost my footing & started to slide towards the edge. After what felt like miles but was only about 10' I managed to arrest my slide & make my escape but it took quite a while for the heart rate to return to normal......

Looks like youse are having a ball. Keep up the good work ;-)

hairnet on

gotta.
do.
all.
that.

top pics sor!