Tuesday May 21, Jamestown, CA to Hogdon Meadows campground

"Climbing Toward Yosemite"

Old Priest Grade. That's Hwy 120 in the distance.

Our shortest day so far was also our toughest: 47 miles and 6050 ft of climbing. We decided to take Old Priest Grade, that bypasses the climb on Hwy 120 after it splits off from Hwy 49 on the way to Yosemite. It is shorter and we figured it would have less traffic than the highway. Unfortunately we discovered that many drivers have also found this shortcut. Also, "shorter" up a hill means "steeper" as well - 14.6% AVERAGE grade. We walked much of it, on the narrow shoulder with cars speeding by.

Not advisable for bicycles either :=)

The constant cold rain showers in the afternoon didn't help make the day any pleasanter. As we pulled up in the rain to the Big Oak Flat entrance station we got our first "You guys are crazy" of the tour (from the Ranger). We are now camped at Hogdon Meadows campground a few miles from Yosemite Valley.

Vista point on Hwy 120 past Buck Meadows

As we were getting ready to prepare dinner, we noticed a camper circling through the campground looking for a site. All the sites were filled so we offered to let them park in our driveway since we obviously weren't using it. We found out they were from France, here to see the famous Yosemite Valley. The wife spoke no English and Frank was very impressed that I was able to chatter away with her in my 25-year-old college French. Fortunately he couldn't hear all the mistakes I was making.

(Frank) I have learned to hate down hills. On a normal ride I usually ride up the hills, then get rewarded with the downhill. Well, we are planning to camp way up the hill, and until we get high enough we have to keep climbing. It's raining, I'm a little cold, and I'm really tired. Hoping to get reservations in Yosemite, we pushed most of the day. We have fought for the elevation we have with our 60+ pound bicycles, and every time we go down, we will have to climb that elevation again. For the first time in my life I dreaded the downhill. Downhill just took us further away from camp.

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