Thu - July 3, 2003

The 4th of July in Mammoth! God Bless America (the the National Park System)


I've spent the 4th in Mammoth several times and it is always great. The Sierras in the Summer are fantastic because there is always so much more to do. In the Winter your activities are more limited. OF course this is my opinion but it is my blog. This year Inge went up and stayed in our place with some of her Soccer teammates. Their goal was to climb Half-Dome in Yosemite. That is an entire story unto itself. I went up with our friend, John Herzog, with less ambitious goals. Although we were light on ambition, we were heavy on gear. We drove his BMW with 2 mountain bikes on top, a dirt bike on the back, and the inside full of food, camera gear, and hiking gear. I'm sure we looked like an ad for some Cable TV Yuppie Adventure Reality Show.

Mammoth was beautiful as always. The first day we went to Yosemite and hiked up to Nevada Falls. This is the same trail that the girls would later be taking to Half-Dome. I was tired when I got to the top of the falls and it is 6 more hard miles to Half Dome. The Mist Trail was a beautiful (and refreshing) place with lush plant life and a multitude of rainbow caused by Vernal Falls. We had a snack at the top of the Falls and cooled our feet in the chilly water. The view from our destination, the top of Nevada was breathtaking. We could see the whole valley stretched out beneath us. After a nice rest and another cooling of the feet, we headed back down to the car and road out bikes around the valley floor until dark. During my ride, I learned a valuable lesson about clip-in pedals. This was my first real test of the new clip-in bike shoes and pedals. They are a great thing and make riding so much easier and efficient. However, it is imperative that you remember to unclip before you stop. I had been told this several times but apparently it was a lesson that I needed to learn first hand. As we were pedaling around, we came to Bridal Veil Falls. As we coasted up to the falls, I got distracted by the beauty and by the time I remembered to unclip, it was too late. In slow-motion I fell over (in front of people - of, course) and lay there on the path, securely attached to my bicycle.
Unfortunately, this was not to be my last reminder.

Once I was back in the saddle we cruised around some, taking in the fresh air and beauty. Finally, it getting too dark and we headed back to car and the the condo. Yosemite is truly a magical place.

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