Yosemite Valley

Yosemite Valley, El Captian on left

Close up of El Capitan

The valley and I

Making my way down into the valley

Don't fall off the side!

Notice the waterfall in the background

All smiles....

Beautiful River below

Western Sierra Foothills leaving Yosemite

One of the best rides of the trip in these "hills" that

we call mountains back east.

Bamboo-like grasses

Dead Giant Sequoia

Redwoods/Sequoias

Mariposa Grove, Giant Sequoias

A friend from CT that I met on the trails

Front View of El Capitan

Valley River

Valley River

Meadow surrounded by granite cliffs

Off beaten hike to lower Yosemite falls

Yosemite Falls

Hiking

View of upper Yosemite Falls

Lower Yosemite Falls

Mule Deer

Coyote probably looking for some food near my campsite

Ride down into the valley

"In God's wildness lies the hope of the world—the great fresh unblighted, unredeemed wilderness. The galling harness of civilization drops off, wounds heal and we are aware."

"Yosemite is by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter"

- Writings of Naturalist and Yosemite preservationist, John Muir

I wasn't prepared for the magnitude and immense beauty of Yosemite Valley. I've seen all the pictures and watched the documentaries, however , they hadn't prepared me for this face-to-face almost mind bending encounter. As I made my way through dense thickets of pine trees and flora, the lookout views of the valley came into sight...I was stunned by the size of valley's granite cliffs, the many towering waterfalls (some close to 2,500 ft high), and the crystal blue-green river that serenely flowed between. In all my explorations, I have never come across a place so beautiful, perfect, and peaceful...it was almost a religious experience. My mouth must have been wide open as I winded down through the valley's twists and turns...at one point I was so entranced that I almost forgot to turn with the curvature of the road...I slammed on the breaks last second before hurling myself off the side of valley walls. From that point on I decided to take extended glances only when I pulled over and got off the bike.

I made my way into the valley and village areas. The air was still quite cool and brisk and made for a great, slow ride. The Yosemite highlands were mostly remote, but to my dismay the valley villages were bustling camping towns...a sort of a refugee camp-type setting with hundreds and hundreds of tents pitched in designated areas. On the one hand, its nice to have all the amenities of a developed national park....there were many restaurants, stores, groceries and public bathrooms with paved paths to easily accessible trail heads. The downside is that if your looking to be alone in solitude and really experience nature in tranquility, it's quite impossible within the valley. The more rustic camping sites were located in the high country approximately 30 miles away, and I didn't feel like riding back up and out of the valley to reach them...besides, I was starving by this time and there was a mexican taco stand calling out my name.

Finding a spot to camp was a daunting task. All the camping signs read, "Registration Needed"...so began my search to find a village office to make a reservation. The signs to register a campsite brought me to a parking lot..and from there there were more inconspicuous and confusing signs that suggested I had to trek another 2 miles along paved walkways to where the offices were located. The frustrating thing was that I drove through a couple of campgrounds that were half empty, so why would I need a reservation? Anyway, as soon as I got off my scooter and started to make my way towards the walkway, I bumped into a couple from Jersey. We began talking and they said that they were also frustrated and confused about the camping situation, however, they just got back from the offices and were told that reservations were not needed...they told me it was okay to just go find a plot and set-up camp anywhere inside the valley. I decided to get back on my scooter and do just that...I still felt a bit uncertain because signs throughout the valley clearly showed that reservations were needed, but on the other hand, I was tired and didn't feel like dealing with crowds of people, walking another 2 miles, and waiting in line for who knows how long.

After a quick bite of Mexican, I went to the grocery store and bought the nighttime camping essentials...Yosemite brand IPA beer and a stack of dried-out wood. I set up camp inside Curry Village's north pine camping site. This was day 27 of my trip, and it was the first time I made a bona fide fire (I never had the time to make a fire in the past and my one and only attempt on day one failed). While resting on my rolled up sleeping bag, chugging back a beer, and staring into the flames and glowing embers, I took a deep breath of relief and relaxation. I thought to myself, "The trip will be complete in just a few days...then its back to society, responsibility, traffic jams, and endless busyness...I much rather just stay out here..." Then I dozed off....

Tap, Tap Tap...Tap, Tap, Tap..."Excuse me sir, you're in our site...sorry, sir, this is our site..." I woke up to see a young, pretty woman standing over me and her van's high beams shinning directly into my eyes...at first, still not fully awake, I thought that the lights were the pearly gates and the pretty woman was an angel, but after I regained consciousness, I realized that I must have fallen asleep and my slumber was abruptly disturbed. I quickly popped up and said, "Sorry, I don't understand..." She said, "We reserved site# 150 four months ago, and you are in it..." "Shit!" I thought to myself, "This is the last time I listen to Jersey folk!"

Noticing that the van was customized for a handicapped person, I immediately said, "Oh, I'm really sorry, I'll move my things, just give me about 10 minutes or so." I quickly began to drag all of my things - tent, bags, scooter, etc - across the forest floor about 20-30 yards away from the campsite. I squeezed into a small space between an RV and tent, on the border of two designated camping spots, hoping no one would mind my late night intrusion. They proceeded to make a u-turn and pull into the now coveted spot # 150. At first I was a little perturbed...because the Jersey folk fed me B.S., because I ate it up instead of going with my gut, and because I was being asked to move all my things at 12:00 mid-night....however, the woman and her handicapped boyfriend/husband were really nice...and I felt a strong sense of compassion for her boyfriend/husband...It must be so frustrating to be in this beautiful wilderness and not be able to get out of a wheelchair to experience it like the rest of us. As I crawled back into my tent, he hollered out across the woods, "Thanks dude! I hope you have a great night's sleep!" I yelled back, " No problem. You all have a good night's rest too!" All my frustration left me and I fell asleep.

The next morning while getting coffee, I discovered that all the sites were actually booked about 3-4 months in advance...there were no open and free spots available that weekend, and typically on a Friday night many people drive in from the western cities and arrive quite late. I unknowingly stole a spot for the night.

That day I drove 30 miles south to hike inside the Mariposa Grove...where the Giant Redwood Sequoias thrive...I then exited Yosemite from the south entrance, and began my descent into the western Sierra Nevada foothills into the central valley farmlands. The foothills are great for riding...there are twisting, winding roads where speeds top off at 30 mph. Once again, I had to be vigilant and alert because there were many roads without side guards that switchbacked along cliffs dropping off hundreds of feet. On one occasion, a mule deer darted out in front of me and then abruptly stopped at the shoulder's edge. Freaked out and scared, he then quickly ran back into the forest...if he decided to run across the entire road, I would have surely hit him...probably ending both my life and his. In my mind, I imagined what the accident scene would have looked like to the arriving ETM's....blood and body parts everywhere, both deer and man, scooter shrapnel would dot the road's painted lines, and finally my severed head would have been discovered beside the road's shoulder, where amazingly during impact, the deer's antlers would have become fused into the top of my head, creating an entirely new species called the Manalope. The ETM's would think, "That's too bad, we never got to see the Manalope run in the wild..."

Because the trip was coming to an end, I decided to use up my two (1) gallon reserve tanks. I thought if I started to get low on gas, there would surely be gas stations every 50 miles or so between Yosemite and the next town...well I was wrong. I drove 170 miles on my final two reserve tanks. I passed one gas station in this little country town called Chinese Camp but they were out of gas. I thought my reserves would get me to Oakdale, CA but I knew it was going to be close. As soon as I saw the city limits entrance sign for Oakdale, my scooter died...I heard a Put Put Put followed by a final gasp for life then I quickly rolled to a stop...the tank was completely drained and there were no gas stations in sight. I ended up pushing my scooter about two miles up a steep hill until I arrived at a highway intersection where I thankfully found a Valero gas station. As I pushed my sweaty self and the scooter into the station, an old man walking by jokingly asked me, "What's the brand name of your moped? Runs-only-when-you-push-it?" He chuckled to himself then sped off. Although I was frustrated, I quickly regained my optimism, thinking that it was a good thing I ran out of gas...After all, I needed one running-out-of-gas experience to solidify the trip. It was just one more of the many set-backs yet good story telling experiences of the trip.