April 4th, 2010

Yesterday late afternoon we had a quick bite at El Pollo Loco in Fresno, California and headed north towards Yosemite National Park.  I don’t remember if I had researched for a campsite earlier or we just happened to stumble across it, but we ended up camping at a BLM site in Briceburg along route 140. 

Wonder if this bridge is maintained…

…looks alright to me.

A little off-road fun by the river as we search for a campsite

Success!  We couldn’t have picked a better spot; right by the river and no one else but us.  We noticed our days are getting longer as the sun is starting to set at a much later time, which gives us the luxury to explore or ride longer and not have to worry about finding a campsite in the dark.  We capped off the evening with a boil-in-the-bag for supper and a nice toasty campfire.

We woke up early this morning so we can have as much time possible to explore Yosemite National Park.  The ride towards the park was very scenic as we rode alongside the Merced River which carved a gorge between cliffs.  One can’t help but to anticipate that a rockslide can happen at any second and what do you do to dodge it.  Ironically enough there was a detour up ahead of us and to our right we saw the aftermath of a rockslide.  About a mile stretch of highway was completely covered in rocks and boulders.  After doing a little research, this is known to be the site of the Ferguson rockslide that occurred in the spring of 2006.

El Capitan, one of Yosemite’s famous landmarks

Just prior to taking this photo, we saw a lone coyote cross the street and into the woods to the right of us

Yosemite Falls, another famous landmark in the park

We spent some time exploring Yosemite Village and found out that a snow storm was headed this way.  Sure enough that was our cue we should better get going.

Somehow we missed the sign on our way in so we snagged a pic on our way out at the northwest entrance.  Amanda lost her balance right after the picture was taken and ended up dumping the bike.

361 km

Look, El Capitan!

On rock climber’s must-do list.

Snow storm on its way.