Today is a rest day. At least rest from climbing. We hoped on the road bikes and road from our camp site (with the view of the Third Pillar of Dana in the background) road down to Lee Vining, north on 395 to the June Lake Loop. The ride to June Lake was beautiful and included the strongest headwinds I’ve ridden in to date. Dave estimates they were about 30 miles per hour. And they felt that way. At one point, I was going 9mph, down-hill, while pedaling!
We road past June Lake to 395 (to complete the loop), then investigated some campgrounds on our bikes returning to June Lake. In town, we had a yummy turkey sandwich and people-watched a bit. Then it was back on the bikes to camp.
The headwinds we battled en route to June Lake were still blasting. But on the way home, they were TAIL WINDS!! We hauled like super heroes back to Lee Vining. At one point, Dave exceeded 50 mph on his bike! It felt like a ten minute ride that covered about 15 miles. It was a blast!
We had a last bit of work as we turned at Lee Vining to head back to camp. We had a steep grade and headwinds to battle. Other than a foot I was ready to self-amputate, the ride was a super blast!
This evening the wind started blowing. Seems our cocky attitude of the beautiful stable Sierra weather was coming back to haunt us! A check of the weather in Lee Vining showed a freakish winter weather advisory - In August! Snow was being forecast at 9000’ – lower than the gate of Tuolumne Meadows! And big wind was coming with it. Dave had considered climbing Mt. Conness, but this weather suggested that would not be happening now.
On a side note, we had huge turnover of neighbors at this camp site. One family pulled up next to us and proceeded to set up their camp. The man had more patience than any ten people I’ve ever known. He battled a tent/dining room thing for over an hour. He’d get one side up only to have the other side collapse. So he’d move over to fix the other side only to have the other side collapse. He’d move over, fix it, as the opposite side collapsed again. This went on forever. I would have taken the damn tent and thrown it into the woods an hour before he finally and calmly got his family over to assist him.
We wondered if it was the first time they’d camped (their gear looked new). They spent the entire time scouring the place for fire wood (not a scrap anywhere). They finally took to burning pine needles and pine cones and in the process looking like they were trying to kill grandma. She never moved from this smoke either. Crazy stuff!
For dinner, we went to the infamous Lee Vining Mobil station for some fish tacos – and early birthday dinner for Dave. As usual, we were not disappointed!
Today is a rest day. At least rest from climbing. We hoped on the road bikes and road from our camp site (with the view of the Third Pillar of Dana in the background) road down to Lee Vining, north on 395 to the June Lake Loop. The ride to June Lake was beautiful and included the strongest headwinds I’ve ridden in to date. Dave estimates they were about 30 miles per hour. And they felt that way. At one point, I was going 9mph, down-hill, while pedaling!
We road past June Lake to 395 (to complete the loop), then investigated some campgrounds on our bikes returning to June Lake. In town, we had a yummy turkey sandwich and people-watched a bit. Then it was back on the bikes to camp.
The headwinds we battled en route to June Lake were still blasting. But on the way home, they were TAIL WINDS!! We hauled like super heroes back to Lee Vining. At one point, Dave exceeded 50 mph on his bike! It felt like a ten minute ride that covered about 15 miles. It was a blast!
We had a last bit of work as we turned at Lee Vining to head back to camp. We had a steep grade and headwinds to battle. Other than a foot I was ready to self-amputate, the ride was a super blast!
This evening the wind started blowing. Seems our cocky attitude of the beautiful stable Sierra weather was coming back to haunt us! A check of the weather in Lee Vining showed a freakish winter weather advisory - In August! Snow was being forecast at 9000’ – lower than the gate of Tuolumne Meadows! And big wind was coming with it. Dave had considered climbing Mt. Conness, but this weather suggested that would not be happening now.
On a side note, we had huge turnover of neighbors at this camp site. One family pulled up next to us and proceeded to set up their camp. The man had more patience than any ten people I’ve ever known. He battled a tent/dining room thing for over an hour. He’d get one side up only to have the other side collapse. So he’d move over to fix the other side only to have the other side collapse. He’d move over, fix it, as the opposite side collapsed again. This went on forever. I would have taken the damn tent and thrown it into the woods an hour before he finally and calmly got his family over to assist him.
We wondered if it was the first time they’d camped (their gear looked new). They spent the entire time scouring the place for fire wood (not a scrap anywhere). They finally took to burning pine needles and pine cones and in the process looking like they were trying to kill grandma. She never moved from this smoke either. Crazy stuff!
For dinner, we went to the infamous Lee Vining Mobil station for some fish tacos – and early birthday dinner for Dave. As usual, we were not disappointed!
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