The 65 miles, 6848 up - that makes it a long day!
It all started out nicely enough, a nice rolling climb around what's left of Lake Kaweah.
The view from the driver's seat.
After we passed the dam, we rolled through miles of lemon orchards.
Then we turned onto Yokohl Dr., and the ride gradually became more intense.
Here's the valley we came from.
I just thought this looked good.
So, on we rolled... A twenty mile climb, then a ten mile decent into Springville, where we found a Mexican restaurant that served burritos that were so big, I could only eat half! So, I added about 5 pounds of leftovers to my baggage...
The next available campground was 15 miles away - uphill, seriously uphill!
Trudy said "I've got another 15 miles in me!"
Not so... There were pitches so steep she had to push her bike. Not fun, 57 miles into the day (or any time!)
It was so tempting to drop the bike and jump in here.
Here's fortitude!
With about 7-8 miles to go, Trudy was done. We decided she would try to get a ride to Camp Nelson. I would ride on and if she didn't get a ride, I would recruit someone or, worst case, dump my baggage and come back to carry hers up. It was 4:30, so we didn't have much daylight left!
Fortunately, Road Angels Gary and Cindy appeared with a pickup to give her a lift.
They stopped when they reached me to let me know she was all right and where to find her.
I kept riding - it took me two hours to finish the ride, 6:30, and it was starting to get dark.
With about two miles to go, the "face flies" came to torment me!
When I reached town, I asked someone for directions to our camping spot. Within ten minutes of my getting there, he came by and offered to let us stay at his place!
Trudy had already unpacked and set up, so we declined, but we're running into this kind o generosity all the time, so I wanted to mention it.
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