We left San Ramon after saying our goodbye's to our host for the week, Pete Balshaw, thanks Pete for your help & hospitality! We headed East to Yosemite National Park, impressive place, especially the valley, it was also a first sighting of a bear on the trip! We kept a safe distance and managed a shot so then we happily continued along the amazing road to Mammoth Lakes where we camped for the night, our first night camping in Bear Country and the first time we had to use secure food lockers so the bears didn't come into the tent at night looking for food! I must admit the thought of sharing a place with bears didn't make for a good nights sleep, anyway my clothes must have smelled bad enough to keep them away!
Friday we headed through Death Valley, aptly named, it was so hot it was incredible, hotter than any other place on the trip so far. my high Temp warning light came on at one point, luckily next to a car park so i parked my bike at the back of the toilets in the shade to cool it down, the shade was good, the smell wasn't! The little BMW's run hot anyway so I was keeping a close eye on them for just that reason. At one point I opened my visor to get some air but it was like opening an oven door, hot air burned my face so I quickly shut it again. I wish I could figure out a way to export some of the heat home!!
We camped last night in Shoshone Village, just outside Death Valley, very hot but no Bears, only scorpions & Rattlesnakes the barmaid told us...... Today we took the recommendation of some guys we met this morning in the campsite pool (they flew up from South California for a swim in the Natural hot spring water then were going to fly home for a BBQ in the afternoon!) and visited China Ranch which involved a little ripio, my head bearings are quite bad now and the bike felt terrible on the gravel! After a chat with the nice lady there we headed into Vegas where we've booked a Airstream caravan on a campsite near the strip (no tents allowed), some exploring to do now!
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| Posing at the entrance of Yosemite Park |
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| Stunning vistas, we both thought it looked like a film set! |
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| Lunch stop at Yosemite village |
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| Nice Waterfall |
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| Bikes waiting patiently for us ! |
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| This is as close as I hope to get to a bear, this wasn't a huge one but big enough! |
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| At one point in Yosemite we were above the snow line (just to keep my friends back home happy) |
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| Petrol stop with Mono Lake in the background |
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| Dinner at Mammoth Lakes camp site, it was quite cold here! |
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| Bear Locker |
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| Luch stop in Lonely Pine, strange name for a town? |
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| Entering Death Valley |
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| an amazing place |
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| Where we paid our fee to get in, |
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| And it got hotter than this!! |
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| At Minus 190 feet it felt like a furnace |
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| Amazing rock formations |
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| Finally leaving!! But not much cooler |
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| Cool name for a school, the scorpions thing though didn't help my sleep! |
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| This guy has been waiting a while for Gas... |
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| Heading to China Ranch you go through this nice canyon |
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| China Ranch, as you can see, very hot |
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| Hiding in the shade while Fi takes the Photos |
Photos are stunning as always mr Rondelli ,glad you survived Death Valley and the bears ,scorpions,snakes etc ,can't wait to hear all about it ,speak soon from Vegas hopefully ,take care and keep safe love Laura and co xxxxxxx
ReplyDeleteCheers Sis, hopefully spek in a wee while xx
DeleteFantastic photos Gino and great blogging.
ReplyDeleteStuart McLean
Cheers Stuart, good to hear from you, hope all is well in a not so sunny Perth
DeleteGino
Cool photos actually hot pics . No need for the stove then . Dan and Jack xx
ReplyDeleteSo hot you could fry eggs on the pannier lids, cold drinks only in the heat.....mainly beer!
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