The crowds and the idea that the Tioga Road might irrevocably close for the season before I get over it make it impossible for me to relax and so I flee Yosemite Valley without exploring it thoroughly.
Morning sun in the meadows of Yosemite Valley.
I haul myself back up the hill to the turn off to the pass.
Looking down - the road goes up and up and up and I'm not even back to where I was yesterday afternoon.
The climb out of the Valley is pretty stiff and it takes an hour or two of pedaling before I reach the Tioga Road turn off again. However, once on the Tioga Road, even though the elevation gain is constant over about forty miles, the gradient is never really steep. The weather is gorgeous and the scenery is absolutely spectacular.
Climbing the Tioga Road is a visual feast.
In theory I have to complete the pass in one day because all the campsites at higher elevations are closed for the season but as I want to take some time to enjoy being here I find a quiet out of the way corner to put up my tent for the night. I am extremely glad, now, for my new sleeping bag and in the morning when I do my dishes and filter water from a stream I find that all my wet things freeze together.
A quiet place in the mountains to spend the night. It was well below zero overnight.
Snow thawing and freezing again by the road.
A constant stream of visual splendour passes by as I continue climbing.
A view of Tenaya Lake from Olmsted Point.
The view from Olmsted Point.
Tenacity.
Tuolumne River. (Thanks, Steve ;-))
Tuolumne Meadows.
Tuolumne Meadows.
The vegetation has changed again - I don't know this tree but it is beautiful.*
Approaching the pass.
Getting to the top.
Made it!
* A lodgepole pine. (Thanks again, Steve.)
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