Spring 2003 Death Valley Ride [Page 2]
I'm ready for the road a pit stop and a cup of coffee later. The next stretch will be south on Ca 33 and then east on Ca 46. The roads are straight and boring, but I've outrun the rain so the roads are dry. There's zero traffic, I make good time.
I stop at the Mobile station the east side of Ca 99 for another pit stop and cup of coffee before heading off to Lake Isabella. The route is the Famoso road to Granite road to Ca 155 near Glennville. These are great roads with wonderful scenery and little to no traffic. The roads were dry until Ca 155 when I run into showers again.
Ca 155 climbs to about 6000 feet before heading down into Wofford Heights. At about 3500 feet I notice snow flurries in the air. Cute. At 4000 feet it's snowing. At 4500 feet I notice patches of snow along the sides of the road. The fog I ran into last year is looking better and better. At 5000 feet the snow is beginning to accumulate on my windshield. The road is still wet, not icy. I've not lost traction, yet.
As the road goes higher snow starts to cover the roadway. How far is it to the summit? Where's a snow plow that I can follow? If I have to backtrack how the hell am I going to turn around without dropping the bike a second time this trip? The snow in the roadway is a about 1/4 inch deep and I'm looking for places to turn around when I hit Greenhorn Summit (at 6100 feet). Just as I cross the summit the snow plow passes me going the other direction. I can see far enough ahead that I pull into the freshly plowed lane for about 1/8 mile. Another 1/4 mile and the snow is gone. Two miles from the summit and the road is dry. Phew!
Ca 155 brings me to Ca 178 and Lake Isabella where I stop for gas, a snack, and a turn signal bulb. Seems I broke the bulb when I dropped the bike in Coalinga (even thought the bulb looked fine). The new bulb solves the problem and I'm ready for the next leg.
These are pictures of Trona. I took 178 from Lake Isabella through Onyx,
Inyokern, Ridgecrest, and stopped at the rest stop in Trona partially
because it was the half way point between lake Isabella and Stovepipe Wells
and partially because I'd never stopped there before. The rain had caught
up with me as I left Lake Isabella and I ran into snow flurries, again, at
Walker pass on 178. The only weather in Trona was wind. Lots of it. I
kept the rest break short.
