Day 41 - Yosemite to Bass Lake

The 55 miles, 4943 up

There are no waterfalls in Yosemite this year. The Merced River is barely moving.

We decided to come back another time to spend some time. Biking shoes or camp shoes definitely limit hiking possibilities.

We stopped for a while on our way out of the valley to watch rock climbing from a safe distance.

Here's a view of our "bedroom wall" from last night. At one point I looked up and saw a light way up there.

As we left the park, headed for the Wawona exit, we stopped for a last view.

Along with a few other people...

We took their pictures, they took ours.

Then we rode through the long, dark scary tunnel...

Here's that light you hear about...

Of course, Charley and Rose had to say goodbye, too.

And, asked us to relay this message...

You know, when you ride into a valley,  the way out is often uphill. It was this time.

We stopped in Wawona for lunch and visited with a couple who had travelled from Indiana - they asked to take a photo of us, because "it's unusual to see a couple from our generation doing what you're doing!" Of course, they are our age, so it was a fun comment to hear.

These photos are of an old fire zone we passed through.

When we arrived at Bass Lake, we found a severely receded water line.

The water shortage has compromised the pines, making them vulnerable to the Pine Bark Beetle, which kills them. There are vast areas of dead pines. In fact, there was only one campground open because the trees were being cut down in the others.

While Trudy went into a store to ask directions to the campground, I visited with a couple of bikers outside (the Harley kind, with dew rags and tats) - I have to admit it's fun to see people's expressions when I tell them what we're doing. One of them offered to let us camp in his back yard, but his place was pretty far out of the way.

When we got to the campground, the host told us that we should use the bathroom for a "bear box," so we did.

It was a long day... Trudy caught up on some email late that night.

In the wee hours of the morning, we heard the trash bin slam open, then snuffing noises. It was a bear! Trudy yelled and I flashed on my headlamp and it ran away. Recent wildfires have pushed the bears into areas where they weren't living before.