Gary -- Thanks for the link. I have backpacked extensively through that region over the past three decades. I have seen many, many bears in that time, but only one mountain lion - and it scared the heck out of me! It was in Kings Canyon about three years ago, quite near upper Crabtree Meadow which is the approach to Whitney Pass on the John Muir Trail at about 10K feet. I was solo and just two days out from completing the JMT. It was evening, and I rounded a bend following the creek and there was the lion finishing off the fresh kill of a yearling deer. Very alarming, as the lion did not see or hear me approach due to the noise of the cascading creek. My first thought was that it would attack, fearing I was going to move in on it's kill. It didn't. It just drug the dear off across the meadow and I got out of there as fast as possible. I, too, told the back-country ranger about it, but he wasn't concerned. You know, nature, that thing.
Anyway, back to the real world - I am curious how you found the going through Yosemite on 120 since it has virtually no shoulder whatsoever. Was it dangerous in the traffic? Ray --- On Thu, 8/20/09, Gary <g...@worldcyclotour.com> wrote: From: Gary <g...@worldcyclotour.com> Subject: [RBW] Re: Touring 101 and beyond To: "RBW Owners Bunch" <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> Date: Thursday, August 20, 2009, 3:38 PM Hi Ray & Don, Here is the route at mapmyride. http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/sierra-mountains/317186114301 I did the route in reverse from what I originally planned and stopped in Sequoia NP. I almost was unable to go due to time availability so I did the route in reverse and had to cut it short. Still it was absolutely breathtaking. I only camped 6 days in campgrounds and the rest in the national forests offroad. One thing about dirt roads and loaded touring bikes, its a tradeoff between tire width and stability. As long as I stayed on decent dirt it was great, but the sand can make you create a whole new language. I saw a mountain Lion, first time ever! 4 bears, usual deer, golden eagle and a weasel of all things. I reported the mtn. lion when I came into the park. Lots of climbing, amazing views. Don, the mapping program works great for getting your mileage down and the route. For my tours I also use USGS topo maps and compass since I explore as much as possible off road when in the forest. I dumped the GPS two years ago due to charging unavailabilty. For your tour it sounds as if you will be near people and infrastructure so a good gps may be an asset for finding places just always verify by map. Gary On Aug 20, 11:11 am, Ray Shine <r.sh...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: > Sorry -- it was Gary's route i am interested in looking over, not Don's (yet). > > Ray > > --- On Thu, 8/20/09, Don <donl...@bellsouth.net> wrote: > > From: Don <donl...@bellsouth.net> > Subject: [RBW] Re: Touring 101 and beyond > To: "RBW Owners Bunch" <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> > Date: Thursday, August 20, 2009, 11:09 AM > > Wow, > I just want to say how helpful all of the responses have been thus > far. Each response has has some real practical information.This is one > heck of a group for offering help to one another. Thank you all so > very much. > Cheers, > Don > > On Aug 20, 1:59 pm, Ray Shine <r.sh...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: > > > > > Don - do you have a link to the route you mapped? I'd be very interested > > in looking it over. > > > Ray > > > --- On Thu, 8/20/09, Gary <g...@worldcyclotour.com> wrote: > > > From: Gary <g...@worldcyclotour.com> > > Subject: [RBW] Re: Touring 101 and beyond > > To: "RBW Owners Bunch" <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> > > Date: Thursday, August 20, 2009, 7:41 AM > > > Hello Don, > > > You can ship your bike to a LBS in the area before hand and have it > > tuned for you arrival and then reverse the same procedure for your > > trip home. That way it will be good to go for your trip. I just > > returned this weekend from a two week solo self contained tour of the > > Sierras through Yosemite, Kings and Sequoia NP's starting on the 395 > > in Mammoth. I just used Map My Ride for the route and it was amazing. > > No real need to follow bike routes if you are up for some adventure. > > But if you are going to follow a route, try Adventure Cycling for some > > maps. > > > Gary > > On Aug 19, 5:17 pm, Don <donl...@bellsouth.net> wrote: > > > > I am not new to biking but I am new to touring. I've got the bike/s > > > (Sam Hillborne, Myata 610) and most of the basics. I also have a > > > handle on touring within my state (Florida). But I need some help with > > > planning some tours in other parts of the USA and overseas. I have > > > some (probably dumb) questions about how one transports their bike to > > > other distant locations and how one get a good guide for some of these > > > tours. For example, after Easter I will have a week and my wife and I > > > want to head to Northern California and do some touring that would > > > take in the wine country and surrounding area. I don't really want to > > > book a guided tour with rented bikes etc. Now maybe to start that is > > > absolutely the best way to go. But all of the ones I have seen are > > > very pricey and extremely structured to the group. Being new to this > > > group I just figured I would lay it out there and see what information > > > I might be able to gather. I am sure that there are various websites > > > or other resources I could be directed to. I am not sure if this is OK > > > but I will give you my email address so that if any want to send me > > > stuff they can. Thanks in advance for any help you might give. > > > Cheers, > > > Don > > > donl...@bellsouth.net- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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