Trip Report Day 2 - Oakhurst, Yosemite and Tonopah

I had walked to the grocery store last night and picked up some yogurt, a bagel, water and two frozen burritos. On the way back I stopped at The Rice Man for some Orange Chicken. I woke up, had a quick breakfast, made some suspicious motel room coffee maker coffee and got packed.

Getting out fairly early this morning allowed me to beat the heat and get ahead of some of the crowds. It was chilly so I put the liner in my jacket to keep the chill out. Heading north from Oakhurst, the road climbed in elevation and the temperature got downright cold, but I stayed toasty. I stopped at Wawona for a quick drink of water and stretch, and while standing there a tired woman in a car offered me several small canisters of white gas for use with a camping stove. I don't think that was a euphemism.

Heading from Wawona, the road continued to climb as I headed towards Yosemite Valley and the familiar landscape surrounding it. On the way, a long tunnel made for interesting riding and gave me an odd sense of vertigo. I popped open my face shield and that seemed to remedy the problem. I didn't even honk my horn.

Traffic was light as I entered Yosemite Valley. There they all were: Half Dome, El Capitan, Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite Falls. I kept stopping, parking, un-gearing, taking pics, re-gearing, starting - over and over. As I made the loop around the Valley, traffic picked up. Lots of cliche tour buses that pull over, allowing everyone to pile out and each take the same picture, then jump back on and go to the next example of nature.

I did see a fair number of coyotes, most of them just wandering around next to the road. For a brief moment I expected them to start chasing me like stupid little suburban dogs. None of them did.

I headed up to Tioga Road, stopping at Crane Flat for a quick fill up and break. Surprisingly gas was only about $3.35 for premium and it was nice putting in $8 worth of gas. Not quite the $4 a month I spend on scooter gas, but still better than the cars.

I tried taking a self-portrait by setting the camera on my luggage. This was the best one

Tioga Road is spectacular. It is an endless series of twists, views and rented RVs.

It climbs to nearly 10,000 feet before leveling off at Tuolumne Meadows, where I stopped for lunch. I did ask a nice woman from Sheffield, England to take a picture of me.

This morning, I had packed the two frozen burritos in my bag and by now they were thawed and slightly cool - an old backpackers trick. From there it was out the East entrance to the town of Lee Vining and on my way to reach Benton for some gas.



The drive to Benton was weird. The road is surrounded by the Inyo National Forest, where pine tress grow out of the hot sand. Truly odd. Upon entering Benton, I was disappointed and concerned that there seemed to be nothing there. But a mile or two down the road was "Actual Benton" which had a nice cafe and gas station.

As I pulled up, a group of 20 or so offroad motorcycle riders were just finishing lunch and being oh so manly. I puffed up my chest and did my best to fit in. Fortunately, my riding gear had encountered tons of bugs and other road grime, so I was gaining street credibility with every mile. After the GOMM (Group Of Macho Men) departed, a small group of female riders on BMWs and Harleys pulled up for gas and were headed to Tonopah as well.


From Benton, it was an 85 mile ride to Tonopah and I pushed fast to get there. I set the cruise control, stretched my legs out on the engine covers and settled in. Tonopah is kind of like Wendover except run down. You can tell there was a boom period at some point in the past, but it is one of those places where you cannot help but ask why people live here. It is a place where it seems that people just shouldn't scratch out a living. Like Coober Pedy in Australia, where everyone lives in the ground because it's 400 degrees outside.


I stopped at the Ramada Tonopah Station for the evening, a seemingly once legitimate hotel that has been transformed into a Victorian/mining/Western/franchised sort of affair. It had that 'smoked in since the 1800s' smell to it. The casino was filled with the usual cast of characters, most of which were either toting an oxygen tank on wheels, sporting a fanny pack, using a walker/Rascal or continuing to be morbidly obese. Yeah I know, I'm a jerk.
A quick burger at the restaurant served by a seriously strung out crackhead waitress and I went up to the room to unpack and update this blog. Tomorrow is my ride from Tonopah to Ely. Still no spare gas can to ensure I make the deserted stretch. Wish me luck.

One thing of note: everywhere I have gone today, there have been signs relating to animals. Animals are front and center out here. Good to know that abandoning animals is a crime, unless you abandon them on a ranch and they interfere with a cow - then you can just shoot them.