High Octane

It was just the other day I flew the all night line and woke up in San Francisco. I haven’t been outside Alaska in the summer months for several years. Mostly because I like to get outside in the winter just so I can miss most of it. And Alaskans summers are something not to be missed especially if you can get out and enjoy the nice day. This year we actually had several nice days in a row with temperatures into the 80’s.

 

We Are Hiking On The Nice Day...Good Thing I Didn't Want To Ski

 

Of course the warm weather makes the bogs and swamps dryer, that makes the bugs meaner, and then there are the idiots with fireworks that set most of the state on fire a few days ago.

Smoke from the Willow fire blew into Anchorage and made our air look almost as bad as the air around The City…

Never having owned a bike for as long as I have had the California bike I had no idea how long a battery might last, especially a battery that sits on a tender for most of the year,

Big Water For A Tender To Big To Take Us To Stanley

But now I know. 7 years, and I also know now, that there is a strap that is under the battery, and if you can find the end of it you can just lift the battery out of the center of the bike. This is way easier that the other method of removing the battery that involves flipping the bike over and shaking it until the battery pops out.

A big plus to northern summer riding is you never have to use premium or high octane fuel. It is just too cold for the extra octane.

That is not the case here. The past two days have seen 80, and today it is supposed to be almost 100 in Yosemite. Since that is where I am heading I fill up the high dollar gas and head out east towards Tracy.

The big highways outbound this morning are not too bad, but west bound the road is 7 lanes of parking lot.

The new Zumo actually knows 580 and gets me to the junction of 120 without any recalculations.

A stop or two later we are climbing up the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. The last time I was here there was a fire burning. The Yosemite rim fire that took the life of a fire fighter. A sign names the road in her memory.

The high octane is much needed as the thermometer on the bike is already up by 100. , and its only 11:00 am

We have to do some California bike maneuvers to get by the line of traffic that is following a slow moving cement mixer, I guess watching that big drum turning is mesmerizing to these drivers?

My senior park pass gets me a map and a smile from the ranger at the gate.

Sequoia Redwoods

I am surprised how much of the park was burned in the last fire, but still the beauty of Yosemite is overwhelming.

Heading east through the park I run into some construction, so I ride the ½ mile or so to the head of the line and join some other riders who have been waiting a while. The flagger says 20 minutes but these fellows have camp chairs out and seem to be enjoying the delay as much a possible.

When we get going again I notice that my check engine light is on. Shit! I think it must be the heat but after another stop it is still on Shit Shit!

At my next stop I wiggle the wire on the 5000 degree exhaust sensor and that seemed to do the trick…Ah little human touch…

Half Dome