To America We Go

We set of north in the morning with the Sierra Nevada mountains begining to take shape on our right. We passed though miles of olive and orange orchards and then turned east.

We started to climb into the foothills and reached the park's entrance (fee $20).


From there we wound our way up, riding tight, twisty roads. We eventually got to rub those knobbly bits off the sides of the new tires.


When the posted sign says 10mph you know there is a 320° first-gear corner ahead.


After about an hour's riding, but only about 20 miles covered, we were quite high and the air was cooler.


A while later we entered Giant Forest, and the trees were an incredible sight.


We stopped at the Giant Forest Museum and learned a bit more about these fantastic trees.


The Sequoia National Park is America's oldest park. The sequoia tree is a conifer and the average height is 311 feet. Some are more than 3,200 years old. These trees do not die of old age and are resistant to fire or insect damage but rather die by falling over. Mature trees yearly produce 2,000 egg-sized cones bearing 400,000 seeds. The cones hang on trees, green and closed up to 20 years until they are opened by fire. The trees stopped reproducing for decades as fires were extinguished in the parks until their reproductive cycles were understood. Now controlled fires are lit to maintain their cycles.

From there the road was windy and brilliant motorcycle country. The roads are perfectly smooth and predictable, certainly the best riding conditions we've experienced. My only gripe is that because the roads are all single lane, when you catch up to a car you can sit for miles behind it before getting a chance to overtake. This really spoils the ride as you have to give at least 50% of your attention to the back of the car.



We stopped for the night near Fresno. On to Yosemite Park tomorrow.