October 24  78 miles  YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Upper Pines Camp  ($18.00)

Across the Sierra Nevada in Yosemite National Park and into its 'Incomparable Valley'

A mile out of Lee Vining we turned onto US.20, the old mining road (upgraded in the 1960's) which runs through Yosemite Park. We were soon climbing into the Inyo National Forest, reaching 8,000 ft in 5 miles. Parking by Ellery Lake (4 miles higher up, at 9,510 ft), we met Tom Burnside (Motorsport Photographer and Archivist from Santa Rosa) and found he had known all the racing champions from Stirling Moss onwards and was also a friend of the founder of Bradford's Museum of Film and Photography. We talked of Yorkshire, travel, photography – all subjects dear to Barry's heart! He is also to be found at www.tomburnside.com. Our beautiful route continued past Tioga Lake, camping and nature trails, then Tioga Lodge (food and cabins – closed).

The National Park boundary is at the top of Tioga Pass, California's highest road pass, on the crest of the Sierra Nevada at 9,945 ft, 4 miles after Ellery. We showed our NP Pass (saving the 7-day entry fee of $20), collected our map and park guide book and continued through the tall pine forest. Today is wonderfully clear and sunny, but this road will soon be closed for winter (Nov to May). 

Still at 8,600 ft, 6 miles into the Park, we stopped below the Lembert Dome for a walk on its smooth granite slope before lunch. On past the Tuolumne Visitor Centre (closed) and the Pothole Dome (these granite domes rise bare out of the forest, gleaming above the treeline). Before reaching the long Tenaya Lake, we paused below Midicott Dome to watch 2 pairs of expert rock climbers perched high above.

45 miles from the Park entrance, down at 6,800 ft, we reached the junction near Crane Flat and turned left along road 41 (Big Oak Flat Rd). After 6 miles, through a short tunnel, we had our first breathtaking view of the Merced River in the Yosemite Valley below. The road dropped for 4 miles to cross the river down at 3,877 ft, and we stopped less than a mile later below the massive face of El Capitan – the world's largest granite monolith (rising 3,593 ft from its base to a height of 7,569 ft), which attracts many climbers to scale its sheer walls. A footpath opposite, through the forest of Californian Black Oaks, led to the base of the Bridal Veil Falls and we took the obligatory walk (1.6 miles return), though the wisp of water dropping 620 ft against the sheer canyon wall is presumably more impressive after snow-melt than after a dry summer.

The amount of traffic and visitors is much higher on this western side of the Park. Yosemite Village, 5 miles on, is a confusing and crowded mess of shops, shuttle buses and a car park which is half a mile from the Visitor Centre! The campground reservation office lies a mile along the road (follow signs to 'Curry Village and Camping') and you will be allocated a place (if available) on one of 3campgrounds, none of which have hook-ups. North Pines camp had closed (April-Sept), Lower Pines (March-Oct) is full, so here we are on the larger (open all year) Upper Pines Campground. Squeezed in narrow pitches under the trees, alongside neighbours mostly in RV's with a few in tents, we are provided with flush toilets, cold water (no showers), and bear-proof trash dumpsters and metal food-storage lockers (for those in tents).

A few outdoor types have lit bonfires in the allotted places to keep the wild beasts away – there are 500 or so black bears (not to mention the mountain lions) sharing Yosemite with us! The forecast storm may be on its way, as rain is pattering on the roof, though it's warm, down in the forest at 3,990 ft – the lowest we've been for over 3 weeks! (71 degrees at 10 pm, without heating). This is our home until 10 am tomorrow (check-out time). And for this, we pay over £10!

See www.yosemitepark.com and www.americanparknetwork.com and www.nps.gov/yose for more on this famous park, established in 1890, which is 1,169 square miles in area.

October 25     104 miles     SAN ANDREAS, Gold Strike Village    ($25.00)

Cycling in Yosemite Valley, then on to San Andreas (nobody's fault)

A wonderful morning after a thundery night, with shafts of early sunlight filtering through the misty trees. We relocated to Curry Village car park before 10 am (it's in the Rules!), unloaded the bikes and explored the Yosemite Valley – 12 miles of rock, light and water. Along the Merced River to the Happy Isles (Nature Center closed for winter), then up Tenaya Creek to Mirror Lake (dry in autumn). The tracks were quiet - open only to hikers, bikers and the occasional shuttle bus – and we saw several deer. We rode back to Yosemite Village, then along past the Lodge to the base of Yosemite Falls. The Upper and Lower Falls together comprise the world's 5th highest falls (a drop of 2,425 ft) – our guidebook listed the Top 10, from Angel Falls in Venezuela down to Kjellfossen in Norway. The height was impressive, though water volume low at this time of year.

After the beautiful 12-mile ride, we had lunch and drove up the Valley, returning through the short tunnels and along Big Oak Flat Road for 17 miles to Crane Flat. We took US.120 climbing to 5,617 ft after 7 miles, then dropping 1,000 ft in the next 5 miles to the National Park exit. Continuing through the Stanislaus National Forest, we descended rapidly, coming down off the Sierra Nevada.

We dropped through Buck Meadows (3,000 ft), out of the Forest and through Groveland (population 1,500) 20 miles after the Park exit. The road was narrow, twisting, very scenic and steep for another 5 miles, then a more gradual descent to the New Don Pedro Reservoir, right down at 879 ft. After bridging the water, it climbed again for 12 miles, to 1,280 ft at Chinese Camp. Here we turned right for Jamestown (town?), through 17 miles of cattle breeding country (Montezuma Angus ranches). A short cut from there, via Rawhide on a narrow lane shared with logging trucks, took us to Tuttletown on US.49, past a sign for Mark Twain's cabin.

Just before Angels Camp, 14 miles further on, we came to an RV Park. At $48 a night (including Good Sam discount), we made a rapid withdrawal and continued – the highest price yet (and more than we paid for a motel room in Carson City!) We have apparently entered 'Gold Country' – Sacramento's playground.

Luckily, at San Andreas (15 miles along the road), we struck gold ourselves! On Gold Strike Road we found a large RV Park with just one place left, free WiFi internet and a more reasonable price. The 'Village' - mostly semi-permanent mobile homes – is on the site of the Kate Hageman Gold Mine. Down at 800 ft, we found it warm, though the occupants complained of the cold (64 degrees!)

October 26     181 miles     PLACERVILLE, K-Mart Car Park    

Back into the Sierra Nevada

After looking at the relics of the gold mine (a tunnel entrance nestled below the oak-studded hillside and a caved-in 'glory hole' above), we left the Gold Strike residents (for a day, a week, a month or forever …)

Continuing north on US.49, we climbed to 1,545 ft at Mokelumne Hill, down to 655 ft to cross Mokelumne River, then up to Jackson at 1,200 ft, 14 miles in all. At this historic mining town (population 3,500) we stocked up at Safeway and the Shell service station before turning north on US.88, 'America's Most Scenic Highway' – we missed the mountains and wanted to check Anne Mustoe's cycle route across the Sierra Nevada to Carson City.

US.88 climbed to Pinegrove, 8 miles along at 2,300 ft, a busy shopping centre where we had difficulty parking for lunch. Rain drizzled and it was cooler, at 56 degrees. From here, the route became emptier. The sign indicated 43 miles to Silver Lake, 95 to Carson City (with Kit Carson Pass between them).

(For full details of heights and distances see the Cyclist's Route Table at ***). The villages of Pioneer and Buckhorn had shops and cafes, but the next accommodation was a series of roadside inns starting 19 miles from Jackson – the Deer Ridge Inn, Pioneer Inn and Black Station Inn, at 4,000 ft.

Cook's Station and Ham's Station (an old stage-coach inn), at 26 and 30 miles from Jackson, had food but no rooms. After another 3 miles, we entered El Dorado Forest, as the rain fell and the cloud descended at 6,000 ft. No view today from the vista point at 6,737 ft, 5 miles on!

Past a sign for the Mormon Emigrant Trail and up to 8,000 ft (48 miles from Jackson) before leaving the Forest for the descent to Silver Lake. Kay's Resort, by the water at 7,272 ft, was closed but appeared to offer only food. Another climb to the Lake Kirkwood turnoff (7,836 ft), past a turning for a ski resort 2 miles off the road, and so to the Kirkwood Inn at 7,680 ft, 59 miles from Jackson. Again, this offered food but no rooms.  Another mile uphill is Caples Lake Resort, by the lake, at 7,820 ft. Anne Mustoe had stayed here, but the sign said 'Closed till Holidays' (which holidays?) Still 50 miles to Carson City.

Kit Carson Pass is just 4 miles further, at 8,575 ft, topped with a modern memorial to pioneer 'Snowshoe Thompson' who died in 1876. We didn't linger, as the rain had turned to sleet and we had neither snowshoes nor chains on board! Kit Carson was a trapper, who led Captain John Fremont over the Sierra Nevada in 1844, opening up the wagon route followed by thousands of emigrants to California: go west, young man!

We left Anne's route 9 miles down, at 7,100 ft, turning left onto US.89 to link with US.50 from Lake Tahoe. It climbed again for 3 miles, over Luther Pass at 7,740 ft, then steeply down for 8 miles to meet US.50 at 6,345 ft (8 miles west of Lake Tahoe). We turned left towards Sacramento – another possible cycle route to Carson City (which we later discounted!) We soon passed a KOA camp, which had closed for the winter. The road climbed again for 4 miles to 7,360 ft, then down through the El Dorado Forest again, past a ski resort. It was raining hard and wet grey rocks shone like snow in our headlights.

The lovely Strawberry Lodge at 5,714 ft, 13 miles along US.50, had food and rooms priced for skiers; the Kyburz Motel, 9 miles lower down at 4,100 ft, looked more affordable. After another 16 miles at Pollock Pines, US.51 became a freeway for the last 15 miles into Placerville. We reached the city (2,000 ft) as it went dark, and droved another 6 miles west to find the next campground, a KOA at Shingle Springs. The office had closed at 7 pm (we arrived at 7.02 pm to find the whole site dark and deserted, with a note indicating 2 awkward places left, at a price of $32).

Weary of being overcharged for what amounts to an overnight parking place, we drove back to Placerville and the large K-Mart we had spotted from the freeway. With permission from the Customer Service Dept ('of course, no problem, you're welcome'), we spent a free night in a corner of their car park. The rumour that they (and Wal Mart) welcome RV's appears to be true – though no-one mentioned the noise of the outside sweeping machines once the store closed at 10 pm!

That was all we saw of Placerville, 'Gateway to the Sierras and Lake Tahoe', also known as 'Hangtown'. (Three men, found guilty of robbery and murder at the height of the Gold Rush, were hanged from a tree here in 1849.) We did see plenty of the pine forests, green foothills and steep granite slopes which lead into the Sierra Nevada, mostly through the rain which keeps it all verdant. See www.visit-eldorado.com for more.