August 10 thru August 12

8-10-2013 Topaz Lake, NV to Bridgeport, CA

Today was a little longer by design, but almost no traffic at all. The busiest part of the day was the Casio parking lot, which was full of motorcycles and people trying to get on the road. We cycled a couple of miles up to Nevada Rt. 208 to Wellington, through warm desert.

Off to the Desert on NV Rt. 208

The vehicles vanished as we got on NV Rt. 338. This road climbed very gently along the Walker River to the Sweetwater Summit. The Sweetwater Mountains are to the west of us here, and are very scenic.

Sweetwater range along NV Rt. 338

After the summit, we descend to the California border, then climbed back up CA Rt. 138 to the Bridgeport Reservoir. The Reservoir is pretty low this time of year, leaving a large meadow at the west end. At last we roll into Bridgeport, and find our room.

Bridgeport Reservoir  

We are staying in an old and famous hotel, the Bridgeport in.  It has community bathrooms, no AC, and really steep stairs up to the rooms. The price was right, and we ate at The Barn. It was recommended to us and it was good! I like these places that make big Burritos. After dinner we noticed that the old historic Court House was being taken over by swallows.

The Historic Bridgeport Courthouse and Jail

Maybe we should not have cut the government so much.

8-11-2013 Bridgeport, CA to Lee Vining, CA

Today we started out going south down Rt. 395 toward Conway Summit. The road was narrow, fast, and full of trucks again. We got so spoiled yesterday… We did get a shoulder as the climb started, and that really helped. Marty had two fun things happen today, one was his birthday and the other was a broken bike! I am using an old rear hub from a tandem, and it uses a freewheel, not a free hub and cassette like most modern bikes. I had been hearing a small knock every now and again, and did not find the source of it until now. The cassette somehow came off of the freewheel, and it came to a noisy stop. We did manage to get it back together. It does thread on, but it would only thread on a little, not all the way. It turned out to be good enough to get us to Lee Vining. Just after the Conway summit there is a vista of Mono Lake and the valley below.

Conway Summit Vista

Mono Lake Vista from Rt 395.

Along with the breath taking view of Mono Lake, there is a length of guard rail covered with stickers from around the world.

Guard Rail Stickers

As many people were taking pictures of the guard rail  as there was people photographing the vista. Lee Vining is a tiny town right at the base of the road up to Yosemite. We are in a nice little camp ground and will sleep on a lawn for the first time in weeks. Plush!

8-12-2013 Lee Vining, CA

Today we are taking a day off to rest up for the last push into Yosemite. And a nice day it was! Our endless streak of sunny days continues. We wandered around town today, which was only an half hour long walk, and had a big cup of coffee. I did improvise a spanner wrench to try and tighten my freewheel. I think it will last a few more days. Mono Lake is really interesting. It is very salty (2-3 times more salt than sea water) and is full of brine shrimp. It is a huge breeding ground for birds, with most sea gulls in this area of the country being born here. It is also in the middle of the California water wars. Years ago the rivers feeding the lake were diverted to supply Los Angeles, and the lake level dropped dramatically. Since then the water extraction has slowed down and the lake is rising, but not to original levels. The mineral rich waters also form limestone features called Tufas, formed as springs bring minerals into the lake and react with the lake water.

Tufas in Lake Mono

We talked to many people about the big climb up to the park (Tioga Pass, 9950’), and we found that the road is too narrow and too busy. We also found that the regional bus service will bring us up to Tuolumne Meadows inside the park for three dollars, bikes and all! That should make the climb go better!

Things are moving faster (In a car)!

Hi! Remember us? We are alive and well and staying the night in Visalia, CA. We are going northwest to the bay area today, and I'm going to get caught up. So we are at ...

8-8-2013 Meyers, CA to Markleeville, CA (Grover Hot Springs State Park)

Today we took two more alternate routes, and they both worked really well. The first was to go to the end of Upper Truckee Road South, which brings us to within 4 miles of the Luther Pass summit. It was very nice but really steep at the end.

South Upper Truckee Road near Luther Pass

The climb to the summit was fine, light traffic and a shoulder. The second alternate was to take the old pass road down to the intersection of route 89 and 88.

Luther Pass end of the old highway (See it?)

This road is no longer maintained and is not open to cars. It is hardly more than a mountain biking trail that is paved, but the scenery was amazing. I took many pictures as we slowly descended. Along with washouts, the trees growing up through the roadbed were a challenge.

The View from the Old Highway

The Old Highway

We then descended down Rt. 89 to Woodfords, over to Markleeville, and finally up to Grover Hot Springs State Park.

Afternoon in Markleeville

The Park is really scenic. It also is in bear country, and had a bear incident the day we arrived. Some one left some trash in a camp site when they left (see a pattern?), and as the ranger was cleaning it up, a 400 lb black bear came up to him to help. No worries, the ranger and the bear were not hurt. This camp was bear vaults, and we were not bothered by any visitors.

Campsite in Grover Hot Springs State Park

As a side note, there are many other varmints here, and posters warning of chipmunks having the plague (Really).

8-9-2013 Markleeville, CA to Topaz Lake, NV

Today was a hard one, with Monitor Pass being the main objective. This is a shorter day by design, because the pass climb is steep.

Road To Ebbett's Pass (Don't go here!)

Some Color along the Road to Monitor Pass

We climbed 2600’ in nine miles. Ouch! We took our time and stopped many times to rest. We both think the altitude is winding us a little more than normal. Rather than intervals of distance, we did them by altitude in the steep sections.

Looking back at the road before Monitor Pass

Our normal interval was about 200’ of elevation. We did get up to the top, and then descended the really steep south side.

Monitor Pass

Yikes. We had wind gusts just to give us a little more fun, and descended over 3000’ in about eight or nine miles. We stopped twice to rest our hands and cool off our rims. At the bottom we rested and celebrated the end of Rt. 89. Good!

The view Down from Monitor Pass (Parachutes Ready!)

From there we cycled five miles north on US Rt. 395 to Topaz Lake.

White Pelicans in Topaz Lake

Topaz Lake from Nevada

We are staying at a Casino Motel in a room. The Casino is right on the Nevada border, and will give us a good start on tomorrow. We are taking an alternate route to avoid a dangerous section of US Rt. 395. It is a little longer, but has very little traffic. I just hope the coyotes and snakes are slower than us (Smile). We are just a couple of days away from Yosemite now, and getting near the end.

Hello again from California! We are trying to catch up, but we are short on time tonight. So here we go...

8-7-2013 Tahoe City to Meyers, CA

A great scenery day, and getting to know Rt. 89 all over again. We left Tahoe City and followed a bike trail about half the way to South Lake Tahoe. Soon after the end of it, we had a short stretch of the Rt. 89 we have been on before. Narrow, twisty, high speed limit. But we got our shoulder back in time to enjoy the overlooks at the end of the lake. Emerald Bay is very scenic, and we could stop and park there only because we were on bikes. There was no car parking left. No worries. 

Emerald Bay View Point, South Lake Tahoe

Marty and Esther at Inspiration Point, South Lake Tahoe

We talked to a group of cyclists traveling together, and exchanged route notes. We stopped for lunch at Baldwin Beach and got free admission because we were on bikes. Good deal. 

Lunch at Baldwin Beach, South Lake Tahoe

After lunch, we started on one of the alternate routes suggested by the bike shop in Tahoe City. It worked very well! Low to no traffic and quiet. There were some challenges due to unmarked roads and a steep section, but no big deals. We only had to cross Rt. 50 to get to the campground, and that was enough for us. Once again we learned about trash and bears that night. Even after the camp lectures people about putting the trash in the bear proof dumpster, someone couldn’t get that done and we had a black bear come in and spread it around. I guess it had ribs in it. Yum. We had cleaned our camp really well and put everything inside the office. We had no visitors. We also could barely stay awake to 7:30 PM. Maybe the altitude? We are at 6300’. Or maybe just tired.

The Road to Lake Tahoe

Friday 8-2-2013 Childs Meadow, CA to Quincy CA

Today was a longer day by design, because we needed to get better aligned with the lodging on the route. It was not so hard to start, as we are still descending away from Lassen Park. The road got better for awhile, as it merged with route 36 and went along Lake Almanor.

Lake Almanor

We stopped for lunch near the Lake Almore Dam, at a nice little beach park. We continued through Greenville and Crescent Mills into a large valley. The next stretch was very scenic, but very dangerous.

Rt 89/70 Descends into the Canyon After Crescent Mills

Rt. 89/70 descended into a canyon along Indian Creek, and it was the most dangerous road I have ever cycled on. With limited sight lines and no shoulder, we watched semi-trucks and cars go flying through there. It had turn-outs, so we ended up sprinting between them when we could not hear them coming. Thank goodness it was a descent. I would never cycle that road again. It was an act of God that no one was hurt. We got out of the canyon and stopped for a breather.

Resting at the Rt 89 Rt. 70 Junction

The last ten miles to Quincy was a little better, with a lot of the trucks following Rt. 70 to the south. We climbed through the Feather River Canyon, which is famous for the rail line which also climbs up it.

Feather River Rail Line Snakes Under ...

And Over Route 89 Near Quincy

We still had fast traffic, but a little more room to deal with it. We finally got to Quincy and got a room. We talked to the locals here and they said the road opens up as we go south and we are into the weekend. That should eliminate most of the logging trucks. We have two more days to go on the road of death, so we will be careful. Do you want to cycle this route? Talk to us first.

Saturday 8-3-2013 Quincy CA to Sierraville, CA

A better day on Rt.89. We climbed out of Quincy to Lee Summit with a little shoulder and light traffic. The road follows the Feather River, then drops into the little vacation village of Graeagle.

Feather River Canyon From Rt. 89 

From Graeagle we climbed over another ridge, and descended into the Sierra Valley and Sierraville. The valley is really large and gave us Montana-like views. Really beautiful.

Big Pine Cones near Calpine

Rt.89 with Sierraville in the distance

We stayed at the Sierra Hot Springs Resort, which was a little different than we were used to. The resort is a spiritual retreat center owned by the Church of One Being (NACOB). It has a lodge, community kitchen, spiritual councilors, and offers various therapies like Massage and Rebirth. The main attraction is several hot spring fed pools. Nudity is OK here, and we were in a shower house with a group of nude people waiting for the showers. When in Rome… The campground is just a rutted field, which worked out OK. There is a drum circle tonight which lasts till midnight. Interesting place. As a final note, it turned out to be our most expensive campground yet, total cost of $60. It was weird at first but we warmed up to it and enjoyed it.

Sierra Valley from Sierra Hot Springs Resort

Sierra Hot Springs Resort

Sunday 8-4-2013 Sierraville, CA to Tahoe City, CA

We are off to Tahoe with one final day on Rt.89. We climbed out of Sierraville to a summit on the Nevada County line headed to Truckee. Things were good until we crossed over the county line and the road condition deteriorated. 

Near the Nevada County Line on Rt. 89

The edge of the shoulder-less road became broken up, and we had to hang out in traffic a little more. To add to the mess, the descent into Truckee was very busy with people going to I-80 in Truckee. It turned into a game of “hold your line” which was exhausting. As we got close to Truckee, a couple on road bikes noticed us and waited for us. They led us through side streets to get us off the highway and through Truckee. Thanks Karen and Andrew! They saved our day and our relationship (Smile). Truckee is also a famous railroad town, being the staging area for Donner Pass, a historic route dating back to the first trans-continental route. The road between Truckee and Tahoe is a busy freeway, but it had a sixteen foot shoulder which we could relax on. We cycled to the Squaw Valley entrance, and got on a bike trail which took us all the way to Tahoe. 

Squaw Valley, Site of 1960 Winter Olympics

The Bike trail was skinny, but not too crowded. It was fun to watch hundreds of rafters drifting down the Truckee River. 

Rafters on the Truckee River

We are staying about a quarter mile from the end of the bike trail, which is good as the traffic here is gridlocked. It is good to walk around and we are right next to the beach.

Monday 8-5-2013 Tahoe City, CA

We looked at our schedule and it looks like we will get to the Bay area on time with a little ingenuity. We have cycled over a thousand miles and too many thousands of feet of elevation to count and we still have some climbing in Yosemite to look forward to. Tahoe City is a cute little resort area. After our experience last week, we decided to talk to locals about the route ahead. We stopped in at Olympic Bike in town and talked to Peter, the owner. He may just have saved the remainder of the tour. He cautioned us about certain areas of the published route ahead. He gave local knowledge routes around the most dangerous areas and told us the best places to stop and eat. It now looks like we will spend a day in Nevada! It is obvious that he is passionate about the area and its history. We could not have talked to a better person. Marty bought a shop jersey and we would recommend that if ever in this area (Death Ride participants) you patronage this shop. He has everything you could need or want.

Sunny Afternoon on Lake Tahoe

Esther Hanging with her Mystery Man

Smokey Sunset at Tahoe City

Chilling in Lake Tahoe

Hi! We are alive and well and chilling in Lake Tahoe. Here is where we have been since last time.

Sunday 7-28-2013 Ashland, OR to Yreka, CA

We had noticed that the smoke was getting thicker, and today we were told that the Grants Pass, Oregon fire was growing. It is to the north of us, and no danger to us. So off we went to Siskiyou Pass. The road was quiet, gentle grade, and low traffic.

Climbing Siskiyou Pass

The excitement that morning was provided by some teenagers skate boarding down the pass. We saw them go by once fast and a little out of control. As far as I know, they lived through it. The top of the pass has a restaurant and a bar that the Pacific Crest trail hikers stop at for a drink (or two). We stopped for a snack and saw a few hikers. They looked like they had been in the woods for a while. After that we ended up on I-5 to descend into California. It is the only road there, but is safe and all downhill. We again departed the route on the advice of some locals and got off at a rest stop to take Rt. 263 into Yreka. Rt 263 is like Canyon Road near Yakima, rollers and warm. 

Kalamath River from Rt. 263

We ended up at an RV park in Yreka, and enjoyed the sunset with the large RV crowd. Great place, new and clean, but be sure to have them turn off the sprinklers at night.

Monday 7-29-2013 Yreka, CA to Mt. Shasta, CA

Today we took small roads that paralleled I-5 south to Mt. Shasta. The roads had great names like Easy Street, Old Highway 99, and Old Stage Road. We did notice the smoke in the air got so thick that we could barely see Mt. Shasta.

Mt. Shasta in Smoke

The smoke did not clear off that night, but we did check with the Forest Service. No local fires, and all the smoke was still from the Grants Pass fire. We also noticed a large population of young transients. We talked to one at the grocery store and he said there were at least 50 of them living in some camp by the river. There also were several firefighting crews resting at the Forest Service Headquarters. We were glad to see they were getting a break.

Tuesday 7-30-2013 Mt. Shasta, CA to Mc Arthur-Burney Falls State Park, CA 

Today we got our first look at CA Rt. 89. The Adventure Cycling route uses this road for the next couple hundred miles, and warns about it being narrow and busy. They are correct about that. We had one person in McCloud warn us about it and give us a run-down on the recent bicyclist fatalities. Rt. 89 is a busy road with many semi’s and RV’s. We came up with a system to get off the road when we saw truck traffic coming from behind us and in front of us. We got off the road several times an hour. It was very tense all day and we did not get to look around that much. We did try to find alternates, but had no luck at that. We found the traffic tapered off later in the day, but we only felt better after we were off the road. Just to add a little more excitement to the day, Esther had a bee fly into her glasses and sting her a couple of times. It didn’t look too bad at the end of the day (Smile). We stayed at a state park that night with really nice staff, nice sites, and a beautiful waterfall. 
Qunicy 447

Looking West from Rt. 89 near McArther Burney Falls State Park

Burney Falls

The waterfall is amazing because much of the water comes out of the ground on the face of the falls. They also had varmint boxes, to keep all the little critters from crewing holes in your gear.  The fire smoke seemed to have gone away today, and that was fine with us. It also cooled off into the 50’s at night. Good sleeping weather!

Wednesday 7-31-2013 Mc Arthur-Burney Falls State Park, CA to Manzanita Village, Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA. 

We woke up this morning and Esther’s eye had swollen shut over night. Guess the bee really did sting her. What do you think?

We had a little better day on the road of death today. The traffic was lighter and the heavy truck traffic died off as we approached the Park. The skies were clear and smoke from the fires up north was gone. 

Rt. 89 near Lassen Volcanic National Park

Memorial to Cyclist near Lassen Volcanic National Park

We ended up in a large campground just inside the park gate. We had not heard of Lassen Volcanic National Park before, and really didn't know what to expect. All we knew for sure was we would climb most of tomorrow to 8500 feet. We couldn't wait!

Thursday 8-1-2013 Manzanita Village, Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA to Childs Meadow, CA


Lassen National Park is the high point of our trip so far in a couple of ways. First, the park is beautiful: quiet roads, slow traffic, amazing vistas. Second, Lassen Peak summit was at 8500’. That is our highest road so far. The history of the park is similar to Mt. St. Helens, except it blew in 1914. It is amazing how much it changed the surroundings. The Park also had a major fire, the Reading Fire, in August 2012. 

Some of the Burn from the Reading Fire

Getting Close to the Top

Vista of Lake Almanor from Near the Top

The descent was a little nervous, as we had gusty winds on top which moved our bikes around. 

Getting Dressed for the Descent

The park is like a little Yellowstone, mud pots and all. We really liked it. 

Boiling Mud Pot 

We dropped out of the park and stayed at the first place we found. It was getting late and we were tired from the day. Childs Meadow is an old resort near the south park gate. 

Mt. Lassen from Child's Meadow

It was a very dated and weathered place, but it worked out fine. Esther kept saying something about the Bates Motel under her breath. We even got the owners opinion about everything also (No charge!).