Yosemite National Park to Groveland, CA – 73 miles
Yesterday I woke up at around 8. Said bye to the German couple. They were headed to Sequoia National Park and offered to drive the girl cyclist down to the valley for a hike (I was so zapped when I got back to camp the night before I didn’t retain any names). Said bye to Meric as well. He also got out of camp before me and was headed to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
On my way out I wandered over to the community camp fire circle and drank some free cowboy coffee they had going (non-filtered with grounds still in it). Hung out and talked for awhile and was on the bike by 930.
The goal was to get to Groveland, CA where I had set up a Warmshowers place to stay at. It was only about 60-70 miles and a lot of it was downhill, so I didn’t feel in much of a rush.
Traffic was terrible through the park, but most people were pretty good about slowing down and/or giving me some room. There was some climbing, but it was mostly downhill.
As I left the park the trees disappeared and it got much hotter. What trees were still around appeared to be burned and it must have been a forest fire area. I rolled into Groveland at around 3. Marv, the Warmshowers host, loved about 7 miles down a hilly windy paved forest road.
He’s a super cool guy. I grabbed a shower and then we ate sandwiches and talked about some of our travels. He’s done a bunch of hiking in the Sierras starting all the way back in 1950 and started bike touring in 1970. It sounds like he’s slowed down a bit in recent years due to health issues, but you can tell he still likes to get outside. His bike tours ranged from thousands of miles in the U.S. to New Zealand and Australia!
After we ate he went for a hike and I biked to the country club nearby to try to get some wifi. On the way out of his neighborhood I saw a couple of deer who were not afraid of me at all.
When I got to the country club I ordered an overpriced beer at the bar, and tried to use the wifi, but it was super slow. After I finished the beer I headed down the street to Two Guys Pizza Pies. Grabbed a second dinner and the wifi was much better.
Ended up staying at the pizza place until around 10 and had to ride back to Marv’s house in the dark. Luckily I had all my lights with me, so it wasn’t bad even though it was a hilly three miles or so. When I got there I went straight to bed.
Just three ride days left. The Pacific is so close I can almost smell the salt in the air!
