August 30, 2015
Posted on March 27, 2017
Our journey out of Death Valley began by heading for the very heart of it. Descending from camp, the first curious thing we found were the charcoal kilns. Used at some point to make charcoal for a nearby smelter, they stood there looking alien and inviting. Alex obviously had to ride inside of one.
Charcoal kilns
August 28-29, 2015
Posted on March 24, 2017
Several things caught up with us today. Aside from picking up Alex’s cellphone from the restaurant (yes, it was patiently waiting all night) and seeing a dentist to take care of my tooth, we also visited a motorcycle mechanic to inquire about the oil disappearing from my motorcycle. In other great news, the whole town was covered in a smoky haze due to nearby wildfires.
Smoky sky and dirt roads in Owens Valley
August 25-27, 2015
Posted on March 14, 2017
It was time to leave the city behind, but not before some scheduled maintenance. Alex’s bike was due for an oil change and Ben graciously agreed to show us around the Alameda island to warm it up. Ben has a WR250X, which is closely related to Alex’s WR250R, and they swapped bikes to try them out. Alex said it felt very very different.
After changing the oil and fixing a couple other minor things, we were off towards Yosemite. Once out of urban area and off the freeway, the path passes through numerous farm fields, with local produce advertised on the side of the road. Everything from strawberries and peaches to walnuts and almonds – I was getting seriously tempted. Sometimes when you go with a purpose in mind, you tend to keep going by inertia, instead of stopping to check something unexpected. So in this case, by the time we caved in and agreed to stop at the next available fruit stand – the farm fields ended and we were reaching into the mountains. Think faster next time.
Stanislaus National Forest
August 23-24, 2015
Posted on August 22, 2016
I woke up with an unexplainable fear in my mind. Half awake, I could faintly make out rapid banging sounds which grew louder as my consciousness took firmer grip on my surroundings. It was cold enough that I could see my own breath. Bang! Bang! Bang! I felt butterflies in my stomach as my first guess for the nature of the noise was gunfire. Suddenly, I was not sure if I should continue breathing or play dead. In a few moments I realized that it was actually someone chopping wood. At 6 am. Is this something these people do for fun? After playing Christian rock (2-3 songs tops, on repeat) until about 4 am…
It’s not that this place was getting on my nerves, it’s more like it got there so deeply and permanently, we have both silently agreed that we’d rather sleep by the side of the road than have the privilege of experiencing this side of America again. No more RV camps for me.
I waited just long enough for my brain to fully start up, after which we packed up in record time, topped up the oil again and were out of there.
A herd of elk along a California highway
Out on the road we started seeing tour buses! One stopped right on the side of hwy 101 (there wasn’t much of a side to it), and everyone poured out to indulge in some wildlife viewing. There was a small herd of elk relaxing in a clearing.