Sunday, September 27, 2009
Hetch-Hetchy, and the end of the Dam Tour
I signed up for the Dam Tour this year, and had visited 19 of the 20 dams on my rides to and from CFR and WFO. The last dam was the one closest to my home - O’Shaughnessy Dam in north Yosemite National Park - and in hindsight I should have detoured for a visit at the end of the WFO ride, but I decided it would be better to do it as a separate ride.
I made an attempt back on August 21st, but problems prevented me from leaving. Then I had to take some time off due to a knee problem. But finally, and just in time (the Dam Tour ends officially on September 30th each year), I put it all together and rode up to Yosemite.
Back in August I was planning on a day ride of about 710 miles,
but since I had been off the bike for the better part of six weeks I decided to stop for the night - thanks to Carole and Justin who both pointed out the folly of riding that far after a long layoff.
I left around 9:20am, filled up at the 76 station, and started the long slog up I-210, I-5, and CA-99 to Fresno. I stopped for breakfast (mostly for the caffeine) in Bakersfield, and gassed up just north of Fresno. Lunch was a tri-tip combo plate at a great little barbeque place in Oakhurst - the potato salad and chili were especially good. Once I got into the mountains, the ride got real fun, even though the speeds go way down once you get inside the national park boundaries.
To get to Hetch-Hetchy from the south, you have to go almost all the way into Yosemite Valley - here's a photo of El Capitan from the side of the road.
From there it's another 40 miles until Hetch-Hetchy, but the miles are fun. I got to the dam around 5pm, and asked a nice couple to take my submission photos.
I walked around snapping more pictures until about 5:20pm, and headed out, hoping to get mostly out of the mountains before dark, but I only made it to Oakhurst before I had to take off my sunglasses. I made it back to the Motel 6 in Fresno on the same tank I had bought earlier in the afternoon.
The first room they gave me smelled too much like smoke, but the young guy at the front desk offered me one of the two non-smoking rooms they normally reserve for Accor corporate visitors, and the one I chose was nice enough. The a/c was off and the room was hot, so I cranked up the a/c and walked up the block to an El Pollo Loco for dinner and to read my book. The room was much cooler when I got back.
The next morning I walked up to a Carrows for breakfast, and hit the road. I'll just say that a good radar detector makes all the difference...
I sent in my submission photos right away, and C posted it promptly, so I am now an official finisher of the 2009 Dam Tour. The awards party is October 10th, but I'm not going to make it this year — there's just too much going on at home and at work to make it practical.
Some more photos - click for a larger view.
A view into Yosemite Valley from before the tunnel, with El Capitan on the left, and Half Dome in the middle:
Hetch-Hetchy Reservoir:
The outflow of the power house:
My first view of O’Shaughnessy Dam, from about 8 miles away:
