"Glacier Point & Devils Postpile"

(Sept. 25th & 29th, 2010 )

By: Ned Opdyke

nedopdyke@gmail.com

OTHER STORIES BY THIS AUTHOR

Please Allow Me To Introduce My Selves

From Here to There and Back Again

I Love Texas

Sometimes You Find Love in the Most Unexpected Places

California is My Home (But I Still Love Texas)

The Last Adventure… of 2009

Momma's Boy

Killeen Texas Is My New Home

A Memorable Memorial Day Weekend in Galveston

The Hill Country, Our 2nd Visit

A Very Strange Day

- and -

An Ongoing and Growing Selection of Misc. Musings and Melodies

About My Spiritual Evolution and Enfoldment

The Gospel According to Ned (Part I and II)

The Yucatan Peninsula vs. Hurricane Wilma

A Different Kind of Adventure Story

Spiritual Exercises… The First Steps

The Best Kind of Adventure Story

Morning Thoughts

The Sound Current

Learning From The Silence

As I Grow

A Better Life

Daily Interpretations of The Eck & Rumi

-------------------------------------------------------

I am still lucky. I'm not sure why God loves me as much as he does, but I am certainly forever in his debt. I survived my exodus in Texas (that sure sounds like a good title to a story, or perhaps a country western song, doesn't it?), and am now temporarily habitating at a family friend's home near Yosemite National Park, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in California. Yes, I am a very lucky man.

The following pictorial essay will update you on my physical surroundings and my thoughts about what's going on around me, and… you guessed it… inside me:

The town center is 5 miles from the home I'm staying at. This is my kind of town.

This is the Tindall cabin. My room is under the front deck. It's private, stays cool on hot days, and is very comfortable.

This almost-dead-and-now-coming-back-to-life oak tree reminded me of me. I pass it every day, on my daily walk to the little lake just ¼ mile or so from my front door.

This is Stout Lake. I built the raft about 15 years ago. It's holding up well and looks like it should last at least that much longer. I hope I do.

Ok, that gives you an idea of what's around me when I'm home. The rest of this 'story' is gonna be about what's around me when I'm not.

9/25/10 - GLACIER POINT

First stop, Rainbow Pool. It is located 17 miles from my front door, on the South Fork of The Tuolumne River on Highway 120, about 15 miles from Groveland. This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the first time I jumped off the rocks, and swam behind the falls. This is one of my favorite places in the world. It is my nirvana… my heaven on earth.

About another 12 miles up the road from Rainbow, is the north entrance into Yosemite National Park. I wish I'd counted all the times I've been here in my life. An honest estimate is 50. We'll say this was my 50th, and I'll keep track from here on out. It's impossible to see this place too often. I'm shooting for triple digits before I see it for the last time. I think Honey has been here about 15 times or so. So far.

Surprisingly, it took me driving by the turn-off 50 times, before I finally decided to drive the 16 miles out to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. One panoramic view and another one from the damn dam.

Honey just loves this view coming into the Valley from Crane Flat entrance. Me too.

Half Dome, and beyond, Clouds Rest, are the primary obstructions in this view, from Glacier Point. Words of description?… they just get in the way, don’t they? Spectacular, unbelievable, breathtaking, awe-inspiring. I just had to try a few of the first ones that come to my mind, when I take in the grandeur of Yosemite. It's only been a week since I was there, and I'm already looking forward to going back.

My heart soars and my pulse-rate drops, when I think about what it's like to be there.

I don't remember seeing this angle of Half Dome on a post card. I wonder why?

This guy was pretty funny. He said he wanted half of all the profits I got from this picture, but readily agreed with me, when I said, "Just being here is our profit."

On the following page is one of my favorite vistas of Yosemite Valley. It is on Highway 41 coming down the hill from Glacier Point from Wawona, the south entrance to the Park, out of Fresno. There are signs at the end of the mile-long tunnel, warning you to be prepared to stop for traffic and pedestrians. Do yourself a favor. Follow the warning… and  S-T-O-P.

I did something this day that I haven't done in many years… I spent about two hours, driving through the Valley floor. Honey and I went to every (paved) nook and cranny we could get to (legally). Here is what Glacier Point looked like when we were down there and looked up to where we had just come from. I wish I had a camera, other than my cell phone.

Before heading back, I detoured about 20 miles, down to El Portal entrance to the Park. The picture didn't turn out, but the one I took on my next ride, at east entrance, and Tioga Pass did! But that's the next part of this story. This Trip… six hours and 185 miles. Turn the page for our Devils Postpile ride, somewhere neither Honey nor I had been before!

9/29/10 - DEVILS POSTPILE

This ride was on a glorious Saturday afternoon, and I chose the ride 'cuz I knew I'd be in the 'High Country,' 6~10,000 feet in elevation, for most of the day, and it would be much cooler than the 90~95 degrees that was the forecast for the Greeley area, which is at about 3,000 feet.

My first stop was at Jordon Oak, off of Smith Station Road, about 5 miles out from Greeley. Story is that this oak is as old as some of the oldest redwoods, dating back to the time of Christ. Jesus that it. I hung my size-46 leather jacket it to give you an idea of the size of this thing. Allegedly its trunk has the largest circumference of any oak tree west of the Mississippi.

I decided to take another side road I'd never been on, and Honey and I found ourselves at the Crane Flat fire lookout station. This guy was a fellow member of the biker-hood, and a helicopter pilot. What a life, huh? He gets to fly low, and high!

The elevation at Crane Flat is 6,192 feet. Porcupine Flat, about 30 miles from there is around 8,000. I sure have some good memories about this place. We used it as base camp almost every summer for about 5~6 years. Mom would guard the trailer while my Dad, and my twin brother Don and I, would take hikes all over the High Country. Hey Don… would you like to collaborate on a story about the 11-day loop hike? Yes, he and I are both very VERY lucky men.

Ten more miles brought us to Olmstead Point. Marilyn, a Road Scholar, took a picture of Honey and me, enjoying the view of Clouds Rest and Half Dome, 180 degrees from the view we had of them a few days earlier, from Glacier Point.

Here's a couple pictures from and leaving Olmstead Point. For those of you who are reading this story on your computer, you may be able to play the video! If you can, please excuse my blunder when I said it was "July 29th." I guess I was feeling tipsy from the elevation. I know it wasn't from beer. I've been sober now for 13 weeks (and tobacco free for 9)!

After getting down the east slope of the Sierra's, and running down Hwy 395 about 25 miles to Mammoth Lakes, and just before getting to my destination for the day, Honey asked if I would take her picture in front of the Minaret Mountain Range. Ain't she purdy?

Devils Postpile was actually a little disappointing. It's my parents fault. They spoiled me from before the time I was born. I was conceived while they were visiting the Grand Canyon, and I grew up with what is in my opinion, the most picturesque geography in the world as my back yard. Damn them.

This is the last picture of the four entrances to Yosemite that Honey and I had been to, in the last 5 days. Tioga Pass, elevation 9,945 feet. It is on the east side of the Park. We were still about 80 miles from Greeley, but we both felt as if we were already home.

Round trip: 10 hours and 310 miles.

Next story… the entire length of Highway 49 through the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, from Coarsegold at the south end near Fresno, to Loyalton at the north end, near Reno.

See you then!

"9 States in 13 Days"

... this is a story that happened 5 years ago:

CA~NV~UT~WY~MO~ID~WA~OR~CA… 3,388 miles in 13 days

                                   … from the 'lost archives'

                                                                        PREFACE

My middle daughter Ashley was going to graduate from high school, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. But as important as it was to me to be there, it was equally as important for me to turn the opportunity into an adventure.

Since road trips on Honey (my motorcycle) are one of my favorite things in the world, I decided that rather than riding directly from my home in Aptos, California, to Seattle, Washington, through the State of Oregon, I would take the 'scenic route'… through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.

Unfortunately, I lost my journal-log from the trip, so this story is based only on my memories from a trip that happened almost five years ago. Mostly, it's a pictorial essay about the trip.

Day 1 - 6/10/05: Aptos, California to Austin, Nevada

The first three hours of the ride was the same route I'd taken many times in the past.
Due east, over Pacheco Pass (Hwy 156)… thru Los Banos… then Hwy 33 to Merced, then the fun part of the ride, into the foothills on Hwy 132 thru Snelling and one of my favorite pit stops at the saloon La Grange, a little blink and miss it cattle town at the edge of the Sierra Nevada mountain range foothills.

One of the reasons it's my favorite, is because of the waitress that worked there for a long time… Laura serves a killer margarita, and then for special customers, put the second one in a plastic cup to go. She trusted me. I'm usually pretty good at making people feel like they can trust me. You can trust me on that.

Normally when I'm driving this route, it's when I'm on my way to "Tokosaben," the property my family owned, and I've always driven that section of road with great care, no matter how many killer margaritas I've had.

When I was 13, my family and 4 others bought 40 acres just outside of Greely Hill, and the name I came up with was voted as the unanimous winner. Here's how I came up with the name:

I took the "T" from the Tindall family; the "O" from the Opdyke (my) family; the "KO" from the Kobiashi's; the "SA" from the Sato's; and the "BEN" from the Benthin's. The really cool thing about the name was that before we voted on the name, we all voted on our choices for which of the five 2-acre parcels each family would get to build their cabin on. Based on the statistical math (5 x 5 x 5 x 5 x 5), the odds of each family getting their first choice were 3,125 to 1. And that's what happened.

Then, as if to prove what a 'special' place it was that we were creating… the parcels that each of the families chose as their first choice, was in the same order as the way I had put the letters from their names together. The odds of that happening are 9,765,635 to 1 (3,125 x 3,125).

Basically, Tokosaben had a one in ten million chance of happening the way it did. All of the families have always felt that this was how lucky we were to be together in the place we were. Two of the families have since sold their parcels, but the feeling of 'community and love' is still being carried on to this day, and I hope it continues that way forever.

I've spent parts of 39 summers up there (and counting), enjoying that part of the Sierra's, and it never gets old.

 Stout Lake

And then Rainbow Pool, one of my favorite places in the world, located on Highway 120, about half way between Groveland and the Crane Flat entrance to Yosemite National Park.

So... back to the Adventure Ride.  It was at the La Grange Saloon that my route changed on this trip. Instead of continuing east on Hwy 132, I veered slightly to the north, and went thru the town of Sonora, over the pass with the same name on Hwy 108, and down the other side to Mono Lake.

                                                                       Elevation 9,624'

Even in June the air was cold, and the snow was deep on the sides of the road, but the pavement was warm and dry, and I remember thinking to myself that I really needed to do a lot more of these road trips. Five years later, I've written stories about this one, and seven others.

Please visit my blog listed at the beginning of this story, to read about them, and see all the other pretty pictures.

As I remounted Honey, I said good-bye to the cool mountain air, and prepared myself for the hot desert variety I was gonna be in for the next couple of days.
After reaching the bottom of the east side of the Sierras, I traveled north on Hwy 395 for just a few miles, before turning east on Hwy 50, "The Loneliest Highway in America." My day ended in Austin (Nevada) after a first day of (+/-) 570 miles.

Day 2 - 6/11/05: Austin, Nevada to Heber City, Utah

                Welcome to Utah - still on Hwy 50… and still lonely… next services 83 miles.

Besides remembering how nice the road was, unfortunately, I'm at a loss to remember anything else noteworthy. Oh… there was one thing… I remember a stretch of about 100 miles coming into Salt Lake City, where I was riding thru a cool early summer rainstorm. Day 2: 317 miles.

Day 3 - 6/12/05: Heber City, Utah to Jackson Hole, Wyoming

                        Welcome to Wyoming - drive thru cocktails… I Love Wyoming.

It was surprisingly cold, but fortunately I'd packed my warm weather gear, and it wasn't too uncomfortable for me. And no, I did not stop at any of the drive thru's.

Day 4 - 6/13/05: Jackson Hole, Wyoming to Livingston, Montana

          The Grand Tetons

That morning it was cold… really cold… and I stopped at a random person's home and was given hot tea and as much time as I had wanted. I just love (most of) the people I meet on my adventures. Most of them are really nice. It warms me to my cockles to think about all the wonderful people on this planet. That day however, I needed a little bit more to warm my cockles.

                      The road crisscrossed the divide three times, before taking me to…

                                                                          Old Faithful

But not willing to wait another 54 minutes… I continued on, and stopped in Livingston, Montana. It was a spectacular 213 mile day.

Day 5 - 6/14/05 - Livingston, Montana to Spokane, Washington

I remember enjoying the ride and the terrain, but cannot remember anything specific about this 426 mile day.

Day 6 - 6/15/05 - Spokane, WA to Seattle, WA

Same as above about this 293 mile day.

Day 7 - 6/16/05 - Seattle and surrounding areas

I spent most of the day with Kellie, my oldest daughter. It was a gorgeous day in the Emerald City…

... but I also made time to take a ride up to a place I found just before moving back to Santa Cruz way back in 1989:

                                                                           Denny Creek

THE DENNY CREEK DOCTRINE

You need to know where to go To meet the people you want to know
Life in the city is full of illusions
People in the city are full of... Shit in the water?! Don’t you care?
What are you thinking of?
You’re a fool to live in the city

You need to know where to go
To find the people you want to know
Life in the country is simple
People in the country understand
Shit in the water, and you get
Sick of the people in the city

I want to sit on the rocks
And watch the crystalline water
Tumble across my feet... no shit In the Denny Creek water

Day 8 - 6/17/05 - Party on the patio…

 Ashley's pre-graduation party took place at her mom Mimi's house and was attended by a small handful of her friends. Including, but not limited to: (3) friends - one seated in ponytail, one dressed in yellow, and one in aqua… aunt Tracy (Mimi's sister) - standing/ eating… sister Kellie - standing next to… her (then) boyfriend (now ex-husband) Jon… and (Mimi's mother) Blah - sitting, with last name the same as the color as her hair (Grey).

Day 9 - 6/18/05 - Father's Day…

                                                             … with Daughters #1 & 2

Day 10 - 6/19/05 - Ashley's Graduation from High School

When this picture was taken, it was only the 2nd time I'd worn this shirt. The first time was for Kellie's graduation from high school, two years previously. Since then, the shirt has (only) been worn for… in order… Kellie's graduation from college, Eron's (my youngest Daughter) graduation from high school (when she was only 16!), Kellie's graduation from college, and Ashley's graduation from college. One more (at least) graduation to go, before I can 'retire' the shirt, and put it in my cedar chest along with my high school and college graduation gowns and a few other priceless heirlooms.

Some pictures of the happy occasion:

The proud parents

The loving sisters

Art & Pat, the grandparents

… Look out World!

Day 11 - 6/20/05 - Seattle, Washington to Newport Beach, Oregon

Now I was headed south, back to Santa Cruz, but I had a passenger with me. My oldest daughter (Kellie) was sitting behind me! She'd already done a fair amount of riding with me, but this was our first 'inter-state' ride.

Instead of heading due south, we went west. Luckily, Kellie is like her Dad… she doesn't like straight lines either. At one of our stops on the north coast of Oregon, we found a photo op… several years earlier, I'd picked my 'road name,' and now… I have a picture of me standing next to my namesake…

             "I am Thor, master of the universe."

Of course there's always time to stop and kiss the girls

When we got to Newport Beach (Oregon), we were greeted and welcomed by two very loving relatives. They are technically 'ex' relatives… the brother and sister in law of my second ex wife, but to me they will always be my brother and sister… the same as Tracy and David, my first ex wife's sister and brother in law.
  

                                                                   Brad and Wren
Day 11: 334 miles.

Day 12 - 6/21/05 - Newport Beach, Oregon to Arcata, CA

It's interesting to me, how different people are when they get on the back of a motorcycle. Kellie had a really hard time. She was so relaxed and comfortable, that she kept falling asleep.

Kellie and Dad:

                                             Leaving Newport Beach

Kellie and I really enjoyed the Oregon coast, even though I had to wake her up when we stopped! =)

Day 12: 308 miles.

Day 13 - 6/22/05 - Arcata, CA to Aptos, CA; the last leg!

                                  We rode thru a redwood tree in "The Avenue of the Giants"…

                                             … and across the Golden Gate, in San Francisco

I dropped Kellie off in Los Gatos, just short of Aptos, so she could hook up with her mom, and the rest of her Seattle family, to attend a family reunion that weekend. It was a tremendous adventure. A 306 mile day, and 3,338 for the trip. And for those math wizards out there, this total includes 300 miles while I was in Seattle.

California is My Home... Day 5 - 300 words

THURSDAY 10/1/09:  BAKERSFIELD (CA) to SANTA CRUZ (CA)

A wonderful 9-hour sleep and a leisurely morning got me on the road at 8:45am.  I only had about another 5~6 hours left to this adventure, and part of me was glad, and part of me was sad.  Seldom do I feel the contentment and fulfillment as when I'm on these trips.  Even as I sit here and edit this story, I am wishing I knew when my next adventure ride was gonna happen.  Gaeir has her helmet and riding gear now, so I hope she will be with Honey and me when we head out again, next time.

I had a quick lunch in Coalinga and then headed west on one of my favorite roads, Route 198.  When I got to the intersection of Hwy 25 North, I pulled over and checked my road map for the distance to the next gas station.  I knew it was a desolate road and that there wouldn't be any fuel 'til just before Hollister.

After a cold beer and some easy addition, I took off towards my older brother and parents' resting place, at The Pinnacles National Monument.  I stopped at the entrance to the Park and had a moment of silence, and promised myself I'd speak with Gaeir about  having her do a 'service' of sorts with my brothers and sister.  I should spread the last of my parents' ashes, which I'd been saving for unknown sentimental reasons.  More on that in another story.

I arrived at Honey's new home at 320 High St, in Santa Cruz, California, at 3:30pm.  It was an enjoyable 278 miles for the day and a glorious total of 2,089 for the trip.

I always try to end my stories with a total let down, so in keeping with that pattern:

                                                                      THE END

 

California is My Home... Day 4 - 800 words

WEDNESDAY 9/30/09:  PEORIA (AZ) TO BAKERSFIELD (CA)

I had my alarm set for 5:30am, but when I decided to get on my feet it was 4:15.  It wasn't supposed to be quite as hot that day, but I wanted to beat as much of the heat as possible anyway.  Ann got up and hugged me good-bye out on the street @ 5:30, and I took off down the street for the nearest GSMM and some hot coffee.

Down the road at my second stop of the morning,  I had a very nice conversation with Gaeir.  We found out we both had 'wet dreams' about each other that morning.  Actually I bent the truth a little when we were talking… I was actually wide-awake when I got myself wet.

About 30 miles from Quartzite, I noticed a big American flag standing straight out in the wind… a direct head wind.  I hadn't realized how strong it was, and I thought to myself that Honey's gas mileage wasn't gonna be too good.  Before the thought was complete in my mind, she burped and sputtered, and I flipped her gas valve to reserve, which gave her one more gallon.  I was only getting about 25 miles per gallon, and there was no gas between were I was and Quartzite.  I assumed my tuck position to lessen the wind resistance and lowered my speed from 75 mph to 65.

One mile from Quartzite, Honey ran dry.  I instantly pulled in her clutch and coasted to a stop… right behind an Arizona State Trooper, who had pulled someone over on the side of the freeway.  Fernando finished giving the guy his ticket and then walked back and asked me if he could help.

I told him, "If you have a thimble full of gas it would be a great help to me."  He shook his head and said, "No, but I can take you up to the gas station and bring you back."  I hesitated… thinking about leaving Honey unattended, out on the open road.  My five-second hesitation was all the time it took for Curtis the County Sheriff to pull up behind us.  He offered to sit next to Honey for me, until we got back. 

After getting back with the gas I'd put in my empty water bottle, I was ready to get back on the road.  Only ten minutes had expired since I'd coasted to a stop.  I LOVE ARIZONA!!  Curtis said he worked in the 'Drug Intervention Unit', so he didn't want me to take a picture of his face.  I asked them if I could take a pic of their backs.  They both smiled and turned around for me.

When I got to Vidal, I went in the door and found Bonnie behind the counter at the GSMM.  I had a huge smile on my face.  For those of you who haven't read my "Please Allow Me To Introduce My Selves" story… Bonnie is a gem.  She said she hadn't received her copy of the story I sent her, so she gave me her mailing address, and I promised her that I'd send it to her upon my return.

As I was finishing my beverage of choice, two biker brothers and a sister pulled up.  Peitra, Paul, and Volker were doing a two-week loop ride from LA to Yellowstone and were on their last leg, back to LA to catch their return flight to Germany.  I wish I had felt more social… they would've been fun to talk to for a while.

I'm not sure why sometimes I feel like the life of the party, and other times I feel like a wallflower.  Do any of you others wonder about your mood swings?  I'd love to know I'm not the only crazy one out there.  Ok… no I wouldn't.  I like to feel special.

My obligatory stop at BK's Pepper Lounge in Needles enabled me to find out why Bonnie hadn't received her copy of my story.  Brenda didn't give it to her, as she said she would.  In a gesture of repentance, she gave me a free beer and an apology.  Sunny the bartender was a cutie and gave me a private dance while she played her favorite Dave Mathews song on the jukebox.  Chris Medley, a friend of Brenda's, gave me the impression she wanted me to stick around, but I had to break her heart and get back on the road.  This stallion has already been corralled.  Sorry Chris.

                                                                      Sunny & Brenda       

                                                                      Chris Medley                                                                    

I boogied thru Ludlow, Barstow, Kramer Junction, and Tehachapi, and bedded down for the night in Bakersfield, CA.  It was a 546-mile day, and 1,811 for the trip.  One more (short) day, and Honey and I would be home in the warm embraces of Gaeir and my Santa Cruz California Coast.