Las Vegas to San Francisco
October 13th, 2009
I arrived safe and sound at 9pm local time in San Francisco the 25th of August. My good friend Michael picked me up at the airport. Spent the first two nights in his house to get acclimatized from the jetlag.
Went to the bus station and hopped on a Greyhound bus to fabulous Las Vegas in Nevada. The woman at the check in desk complained and said I should have been there an hour before departure and have my bike disassembled in a bike box. In ten minutes I’ve taken the whole bike apart. I set a new personal dismantle record and made it with one spare minute before the bus departed. After a fourteen hours bus ride, I arrived in Vegas.
One of the reasons why I decided to go to Las Vegas was because three interesting national parks are situated nearby. I couldn’t even imagine the intense beauty of wilderness I was about to experience the following weeks.
Stayed the next nights at a hostel near the old downtown in Vegas. Figured I had to stay a day or two to make some repairs on my bike. Took the opportunity and went to some of the world known casinos and other touristy oriented places. I found a great sushi bar in Ceasars Palace.
Close to the hostel there is a tower called the Stratosphere. It’s the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United States. It’s a combined casino and hotel with an amusement park on the top floor 350 meters above the Strip. (only in Vegas..) Just the height made me feel nausea when I left the elevator. Of course my friend Marc convinced me do to the thrill rides. And I did, all three of them, screaming.
Big Shot, at 329 m it’s the highest thrill ride in the world; Shoots passengers straight up 48 meters at 70 km/h (over 4 Gs) until they are 329 meters above the Strip.
Insanity, at 274 m it’s the second highest thrill ride in the world, it dangles riders over the edge of the tower and then spins in a circular pattern (3 Gs) at approximately 70 km/h.
X-Scream, at 264 m its the third highest thrill ride in the world. A train that propels you 8 meters over the edge of the tower, 263 meters above the ground.
The second day I took a bus out to Grand Canyon, an outstanding creation of nature with an outlook that can totally blow one’s mind. A red coloured rocky mountain desert filled with Joshua trees and tiny lowland bushes. Planned on beforehand to take a helicopter ride over and below the rim but instead I decided to do some hiking on my own. My first stop was eagle point, which is a rock formation that looks exactly like an eagle with open wings. Next night some friends and me made a limo tour to downtown. It’s compulsory to go for a limousine ride if you’re in Vegas.
Got started around noon the following day, started cycling to the city Pahrump just before Shoshone, the entry village of the national park Death Valley. A few kilometers outside Vegas the highway patrol pulled me over.
My first thought was that I was getting a fine. But the policeman just wanted to exchange a friendly hello and wish me a safe journey.
An impressive thunderstorm was over my head. Lightening and heavy rain took me by big surprise. After passing the summit of Mountain Springs I saw an inviting sign by the road “Welcome to Mountain Springs Saloon. I was hungry and exhausted. Took a left turn.
Here I met Manny and Shirley. They invited me to spend a night at their place. Manny runs a restaurant up here with the most delicious Mexican cuisine to be found in Nevada. We played some volleyball. Our team won the game.
Manny provided me with a big package of Gatorade powder to mix with water. It’s a blend of sugar, salts and minerals to keep the body hydrated in the challenging desert heat.
Mountain Springs is surrounded by green vegetation, which was a bit unexpected due of the desert only a few hundred meters below. Natural underground springs make this place a nice green site.
Next stop on my route was Death Valley. One thing is for sure; the heat in Death Valley is hot. And can be deadly for the unwary. I packed my bike with nothing less than sixteen liters of water in Shoshone. The locals told me I was nuts going through this area the hottest time of the year. But of course I didn’t know that then.
On July 10, 1913 the village Furnace Creek in Death Valley reported a reliable record temperature of 56,7 degrees Celsius (134 degrees Fahrenheit) The only place in the world that has a reported a higher temperature is Al ‘Aziziyah in Libya on September 13, 1922 with a staggering 58 degrees Celsius (136 degrees Fahrenheit)
Intended to get going a few hours before sunrise to avoid the worst heat. Woke up, packed my bike and saw I had a flat tyre on my rear wheel. Fortunately I bought spare tubes at a bike shop in Las Vegas. But only to realize the dimension didn’t match with my tyre.
I was stuck if it weren’t for Tina, a friendly woman at the gas station in Shoshone. She gave me a ride to the nearest town, Pahrump. I got to meet two of her kids who asked me many curious questions about my journey.
We visited several shops until we found the right tubes at Wal-Mart.
I continued at four a clock the morning after. Had a nice effortless downhill ride to the valley. I understand now why they named it Death Valley.
This part was once a big lake (Lake Manly) but dried out 12.000 years ago. Now the area consists of a flat dry lakebed. Encapsulated by high mountains. The air gets trapped within the valley and then heats up like a pot with a lid. On planet earth this is as close you can get to the moon. Have you ever looked at the surface of the moon with a telescope? The landscape here looks a bit in a similar way.
After a while the bottle water burned my tongue. I should have brought tea bags; they would have fitted the purpose perfectly. I passed Badwater Basin, the lowest point in America. This spot is 85,5 metres below sea level. After I passed this point the heat began to take out the strength of me. Had to get of the bike for a while and take a rest. The wind felt like fire. My skin burned and itched like an invasion of thousand angry ants. At this point I was close to have a serious heat stroke. My body temperature was higher than normal. I took up an empty water bottle and waved it intensively in the air to the passing cars. The people in first car didn’t carry any water at all, risky…
Shortly after a Ford van stopped. The man in the passenger seat asked me if I needed anything. I replied: “- yes please sir, water, cold if possible.”
He opened his trunk and in the interior was a huge casket. Filled with the most precious treasure I’ve ever seen. My eyes looked at water bottles floating around in an ocean of melting ice. He asked me openly, have many do you need? I must have dreamt. It felt just like a dream.
I got cold water and instead of first drinking it I poured it all over me. Slowly I started getting back to life. Would you believe me if I told you this is the nicest shower I’ve ever had?
Every now and then cars pulled over to ask if I was doing all right. Several times people stopped to take photos of my bike and me. The county sheriff also pulled over to say hello. Two Italians offered me melted chocolate cookies from Starbucks. A nice American gave me a generous contribution for my trip. A French man with his family stopped his camper, gave me cold milk and muesli. An man from Switzerland handed over some fruit. Just to mention a few..
I can’t with words express my thankfulness to the kind people that came my way.
Completed the last 50 kilometres and reached Furnace Creek at sunset. Looked for a camp site but all were closed of the heat. The temperature didn’t even go less than 40 degrees Celsius that night. Found a ranch with lodging; I checked in and got a room with air-conditioning. Ironically, after a while the room got to cold to be in.
Slept a few hours, woke up and packed my bike. This morning I got a big surprise only twenty minutes ride on road 190 outside Furnace Creek. As I admired the beautiful landscape something was moving in the small bushes just beside the road in front of me. I looked closer and saw a big animal. I knew directly what it was. A mountain lion, a puma. The puma stared at me and I gazed back. I didn’t really know how to act in this situation. Not every morning you meet a mountain lion after breakfast. Later I read in brochures you should make yourself big and make loud noises to scare the animal away. I did the opposite, thought somehow it was safer to return back to Furnace Creek so I changed direction and started cycling back.
This is utterly foolish as the animal may see you as prey. But this puma didn’t want to eat a Swedish cyclist this morning. Probably already had a big meal during the night. My luck. Later I’ve met a man in Panamint Springs who told me I was fortunate to see a mountain lion in this area, they haven’t been spotted for six-seven years. My luck…
If you’re looking for dense vegetation you’re better of in a rain forest in Borneo. This place is flat, dry and vegetation is relatively rare. The area reflects upon its name, Death Valley.
Did you know the desert scenes in Star Wars were shot in this area?
I continued to Stovepipe Wells. My last water refill station before I reached the first mountains. Had a steep climb up and a fast downhill ride until I reached Panamint Springs. From now on it was only uphill as I started working my way through Sierra Nevada. I said goodbye to the last Joshua trees I saw and came to Lone Pine. Here you can find America’s tallest mountain, mount Whitney. (4,421 m) Isn’t it a bit spectacular you can find both the lowest point (Bad Water Bassin 85,5 m below sea level) and the highest peak in this same area? A couple of good westerns were made around here.
I continued on highway 395 to Bishop through Independence and Big Pine. Had another flat tyre so I decided to stay the night in Bishop. By twist of fate a cyclist passed by and gave me a new spare tube. The following morning I headed to Mammoth Lakes. Arrived late after a steep climb. Lighted up my headlamp in the dark to see more clearly. When I focused the light beside the road I saw two big eyes getting reflected by the light. I was a bit surprised when I saw it was a bear.
I found a nice A-Frame log cabin in Mammoth Lakes. Here I met Eric. He’s a rock hard runner from Los Angeles. Check out his nicely designed and informative website on the following address: http://www.rockhardrunners.com/
He advised me to go on a scenic road around June Lake, Silver Lake and Grant Lake. His advice was not bad, not bad at all. The scenery was like taken out of a fairy tale. The surface of the lakes reflected the blue cloudy sky with neighbouring mountains. I took many nice photographs here. But none of them can resemble the true beauty that dwells here. One must see it with own eyes.
I rented an A-frame house one night by June Lake. Was kindly asked if I wanted to eat dinner with the family that runs the lodging site. It was not hard to resist the invitation. The mother in the family has no less than thirteen kids. While waiting for being seated I sat in their living room listening to two of her young sons playing the piano. They played three classical compositions in duet. After a while one of the boys began playing a piece of music I’ve never heard before.
How could I’ve missed this composition? I tried to guess the composer numerous of times but I couldn’t find out who the author was. He asked me after fifteen minutes when he finished playing if I liked the piece. And I truly assured him I did. He asked me if I knew the composer. Told him I didn’t. He said “–I composed it.” I was entirely taken by surprise. Sometimes in life you have this certain moments that totally blows you away. This was one of them.
I got up at five a clock in the morning to continue cycling before the sunrise. The heat from the Nevada desert was only a fading memory as the temperature went down at the thermometer. Now it showed as low as five degrees Celsius. I wasn’t dressed properly for this temperature. In Silver Lake I got myself a little souvenir. Normally I not the biggest fan of souvenir shops but now I welcomed it with big arms. I bought a sweatshirt with a Silver Lake logo printed on it. It’s made out of fleece and held the cold away. I had warm oatmeal with hand picked fresh blueberries before I continued.
I made a left turn out of highway 395 and started going uphill on the Tioga Pass road that led me up to the Tioga Pass and the way in to the Yosemite national park. I was told it was hailing, snowing and raining in elevated areas. I bought a poncho and a fleece inliner for my sleeping bag. I climbed 2000 meters during the day and felt a relief when I finally reached the summit. The view at the peak was beyond belief. I spent the night at a campsite close after I reached the peak.
Later this night I met Kati and Andreas, two Germans from Bavaria. We shared a camp spot and they offered me some delicious camp stove cuisine. Soon it got freezing cold. Now I was really pleased I bought the fleece inliner earlier the same day. In the following morning I didn’t feel like leaving my tent. I wanted warm gloves, a dune jacket and thick cotton trousers. My hands went blue when I put the tent together. But when the first sunrays touched my cheek it got much nicer.
I stayed and had my compulsory warm delicious oat porridge for breakfast. I paid my entrance fee to the park ranger and entered. I met Steven Christenson, a fellow photographer. Here you can find a collection of very creative and beautiful landscape photography: http://theamusing.com/photography
We met several times along the road. We seemed to stop at the same spots for shooting photos.
Yosemite is a popular national park in America. My two eyes clarified that fact. The surrounding scenery, no words can truly illustrate what I observed in this moment of time. Impressive grey granite mountains formed by an ancient glacier filled with lush green forests and lakes with a surface comparable to a silver mirror. It was eye-catching just about everywhere.
Spent a night at Porcupine campsite. It got dark and I found out my headlamp was missing. Must have lost it somewhere or close to Mammoth Lakes. Met a young woman who worked with fire prevention. She had seen me earlier that day cycling and in fact found a headlamp of the same brand lying beside the road. She handed it over to me and I saw it wasn’t mine and gave it back. But she said I could have it. I could see in the dark again. Someone’s misfortune became my luck. Good karma maybe.
I started my ride down into Yosemite Valley. During springtime the valley is a lovely place for people that like looking at waterfalls. I stopped at a viewpoint just before going down in the valley. One week earlier the Big Meadow Fire demolished 7,500 acres of woodland in this region. It started as a prescribed fire that got out of hand when the wind changed direction. As far I could stretch my eyes it looked like a no mans land from a devastating war battle.
During the weekends the valley is crammed with tourists and it’s more or less impossible to find a campsite. I met another cyclist and we decided to go hunting for a camp spot together. Wild camping is strictly prohibited here. We explained it would be a bit hard to go out of the park to find a spot for our tents. It was already getting dark. On a bicycle you are a bit limited sometimes when it comes to speed and distance. We had luck. The nice lady got us the last two spots at Camp 4. That’s where all the cool climbers hang out. Yosemite is well known among rock climbers.
During the night you could hear someone scream “BEEEAAAAR”. At daytime you had to fight with intrusive squirrels. One squirrel bit through my bike panniers in search for food. A day later I heard a story that made me totally crack up in laughter. I met Kati and Andreas again, the two Bavarians I shared a camp spot with up in the Tioga pass. They stayed at a campground above the valley in the mountains. They also had a bad experience with evil squirrels. He told me about a big mark on their rental van. The mark came from falling pinecones. The squirrels probably looked for food in the pinecones. Their weight made they loose the footing and fell to the ground. And these pinecones are everything but small. I just imagined what he was going to tell the rental company “– I can assure you sir, the squirrels were throwing pine cones at our car.”
Andreas and Kati were heading in the same direction and asked me if I wanted a ride back to San Francisco. This kindly offer came well timed. My body was screaming for a time-out. The bike ride in America has been my toughest yet.
Now I had three weeks to explore San Francisco. I got back to my friends house and met his roommates. During the upcoming weeks we visited open-air concerts, various festivals and did a hike in the national park Point Reyes. Michael asked if I would like to go to Pacifica Beach and Santa Cruz to try out surfing for the first time. He is an experienced surfer since twenty years and taught me the basics. Off we went. I loved it straight away.
I sure had a great deal of fun and didn’t want to leave this part of the world. I liked this city so much I decided to stay a bit longer and delayed my flight one more week.
Unfortunately nothing lasts forever. Everything comes to an end.
But within my dreams, the journey never ends..
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My gratitude goes to the people that made my stay in America a complete wonderful experience. The kindness and curiosity I met on the numerous of travelled roads is definitely worth mentioning.
Thanks you all, no one forgotten.
/Andreas Narfström, Gran Canaria, Spain 2009