Vegas to California

Three days rest in Vegas, sitting by the pool with an occasional beer and pina colada. Walking down the strip was an exhausting task due to the continued high temperatures this week. The days were as high as 111 and the nights only cooled to the upper 90's sometime after midnight. A trip to the Harley store to replace lost neck coolers and Target for a hydration system ( small backpack with rubber bladder ) which ended up being of no use due to extreme leaking.

We decided to leave early (6:00 am local time) Saturday to beat the heat as we continued our journey through the desert towards Yosemite National Park in Eastern California. The first half of this ride was simple enough, four lanes running down to two after 1/2 hour but flat and straight, calm breeze and little traffic. There were only two signs of life on this stretch... a gas station in a town called Indian Springs and one traffic light in downtown Beatty. Indian Springs may have been the inspiration for the fictional town of Radiator Springs in the animated movie Cars. There was little there to speak of today, but we did see some burned-out remnants of a life long ago, before the interstates redirected North/South traffic flow away from this area. Somewhere between these two towns was a sign announcing Death Valley to the left, however, at the advice of the attendant at the Nevada visitor center, we avoided this route due to temperatures in excess of 120 degrees.

Somewhere along the way we took a turn and began the ascent to over 6000 feet and back down through what appear to be the White Mountains heading toward the snow capped Sierra Nevada range. If you have read earlier posts or followed our trips in the past, you may recall that climbing mountains involves riding through switchbacks (successive left and right turns while climbing) which may be all well and good for the rider, but can have dramatic effects on the passenger.. increased heart rate, loss of color in the face and loss of feelings in hands and feet from gripping tightly. Then once you reach the summit, the process is repeated in reverse to get down to the other side. Left right left right ...Over the years Debbie has learned to cope with the process but always favors straight flat warm roads with not a curve in sight.

Our home tonight is the town of Bishop California surrounded by some of the most wonderful scenery including Kings Canyon National Park, the Sierra Nevada's, Mammoth Lake and Yosemite. Since we started early, we arrived before noon and had time to ride up another mountain road for more sightseeing in the afternoon, finding waterfalls and whitewater streams. I took some time for a badly needed bike wash and parked beside several bikes at Rusty's bar to cool down and research dinner options in town. I got 3 suggestions, but the favorite place of everyone was the bowling alley which happens to be across the street from where we are staying. Regardless of our experience there this is apparently the best place to eat in town so we must have made the right choice.