Today was another National Park day. I spent the first half of the day just getting into the park, coming from the small town of Fish Camp, roughly 35 miles from the main valley. Several good climbs along the way, and pretty cold temperatures. It was supposed to be roughly 15-20 degrees tonight, with rain/snow the next day.
I decided to skip the side trips to some sequoias, since I have already seen a bunch, and spend more time in the valley. There are several large rock formations along the valley, and usually some good waterfalls as well. Unfortunately it was very dry, so a lot of the waterfalls either weren't flowing, or were considerably diminished from their spring grandeur.
The diminished water levels actually made one of the waterfalls even better though. There was a small waterfall that is known for being blown around by the wind on the way to its bottom. Since there was a lot less water flowing through it, the waterfall didn't actually even get down to the bottom before the wind dispersed it. It was cool to see a waterfall that kept changing back and forth as the wind gusted.
Another water feature was Mirror Lake, but it was entirely dry. Otherwise it is supposed to have a nice reflection of Half Dome, one of the most prominent rock formations. One side of the park is actually closed to vehicles, so I was able to ride around on my bike with just a bunch of pedestrians and other bikers on rental bikes.
On the way out of the park I met two Swiss touring bikers, who were headed into the park and then towards Las Vegas. They didn't realize the weather conditions that were coming up, since they were going over a 10,000+ foot pass on the day of rain and snow. They were still going for it after I mentioned this, but a little bit more cautiously.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61247038@N02/sets/72157631837695918/
Adventuring around the country, one step, one paddle, one pedal at a time.
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