I guess all the driving and hiking was catching up to me because I slept an hour more than planned. This was another rushed day, because I had to see all of Yosemite I could and still make it over the Tioga Pass and up to Carson City, NV. Unfortunately I decided to eat at the same restaurant next door because they had a 20% discount for Best Western customers. I arrived at the wrong time and even after getting seat it took 10 minutes before a waitress even asked me if I wanted coffee. Yes, coffee please! Almost an hour later, as I watched streams of cars driving headed towards the park, I paid my bill and left.
Once I got my car packed, again, I finally joined the stream of cars going into Yosemite. I was surprised that there was no wait at the entrance. I paid my $20 and entered the park. Since I had been here twice before I was not as concerned about seen everything in one day. My plan was to drive to Yosemite Vally, park my car and so some hiking and finally ride my bike. The roads in the valley were very busy, even for a Monday. They had people directing traffic and I found a parking spot in a dirt lot. I gathered my boots, backpack food and of course lots of water and walked to the visitors center.
From there I made the easy walk to lower Yosemite Falls, a place I had been to before. It was quite warm and the mist from the falls felt nice. The falls also make for good photos, and I had a man take a photo of me with the waterfall in the background. With no time to waste, I went to the visitors center, bought a tee-shirt and went back to my car where I removed my bike from it's rack. The ranger told me I could ride my bike all the way to Mirror Lake. Bikes were allowed on all paved roads but not dirt paths. When I was in Yosemite in 1989 with my friends we hiked to Mirror Lake. Riding a bike was the way to go. The 2.5 miles went by quick. Once at the lake I locked up my bike, took some photos, ate a snack and then got on my bike and rode back to the visitors center.
I rode around for another 30 minutes, but soon got tired of all the traffic. There were cars, shuttles and people everywhere. So after a trip to the store to buy ice and water, I put my bike back on the rack and headed out of the park via the Tioga Pass. I had never taken this route and was looking forwards to the drive. This road is closed during the winter and usually opens up in May or June, depending on the snow pack.
I knew that it might take up to two hours to drive this route, but I was in no hurry, so I stopped any place that was picture worthy. Something I forgot to mention was that the valley was filled with smoke from a controlled fire, which not only irritated my eyes and throat, but made many of my photos hazy. The Tioga Pass goes up above 9000 feet, and once out of the valley the air cleared up and also the hills were much greener. All along the road there were beautiful meadows and clear, blue lakes. I stopped at Tenaya Lake which sat right next to the road, walked to the shore and felt the cold, snow-melted water.
There was a very small visitors center near the east end. I felt obligated to stop, but there was nothing much to see. As I drove back down the steep and windy road, I made several more quick stops to take photos. Once I got to highway 395, I realized I never saw the sign that indicate where the actual pass was at its highest point. The road meets 395 at Lee Vining and Mono Lake, a place I'm very familiar with because I have driven though this town every time I drive to Lake Tahoe.
My plan was to make it to Carson City, but I only made it as far as Minden, which is only 10 miles south of Carson City. I saw a new looking Holiday Inn Express and decided to say there. It was only one month old and the room was very large and clean. For dinner I ate at an Italian place down the road. The lasagna was so big I could not finish it. Me not eating all the food on my plate?!?Tomorrow was going to be a travel day, as I had to get all the way to Salt Lake City, a trip I told myself I'd never do again. Oh well - it was worth it.
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