First national park today -- Sequoia

After more than a week, we are coming upon our first (of many) National Parks. It is Sequoia National Park, and we're planning (and hoping, ha) to camp inside it tonight. We are so excited to buy our 'annual pass' to the parks!

The past few days have seen many ups and downs... I mean that both figuratively and literally. Last Friday morning, we have a little bit of a 'strugglefest' day. These happen every once in awhile. I (Jason) woke up too early, and we ended up getting started on the wrong foot (pedal?). We were a bit bummed, too, because we realized that we wouldn't get to see any of the Tour of California bike race because our routes diverged. (That is, the Tour was taking a shorter route than we were between the towns!) In any case, by the evening we had things all worked out and were happily staying at a hotel/motel. ha! Our first/only one of the trip!

Saturday saw us cruise across the valley floor and out of the desert before it got too hot. We ascended into one of the most productive areas for wind energy - and saw hundreds of wind turbines! Wow! What a sight. We saw the last of the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) for awhile, and chatted for a hiker for a few minutes. He had said he biked across the country east-west on both a northern and a southern route, and now he was doing the PCT. We joked that he should do the AT (Appilachian Trail) too, in order to box the country, and he mentioned that he already had! He seemed like one of the ones that was going to make it through the whole PCT. (We saw many that looked like they wouldn't.)

By the end of Saturday, we had made 82 miles - our longest day yet. We saw some really amazing scenery. (see photos). On Sunday we took a "rest day." It is nice to build in one about once a week to let the muscles recover a bit. Strangely, we decided to do 52 miles (many climbing) on this day, but we still had a relaxing afternoon and evening! We finished Section 5 of the route (we're doing it backwards: 5-4-3-2-1) and ended in a town called Lake Isabella. Although the name sounded promising, unfortunately for us the town itself was a dud. The best part was probably that we got to sleep in the tent with the rain fly off and look up at the stars. (The overnight low was just in the low 50s.)

Our first 'giant' redwood.

On Monday we climbed a massive mountain. (The climb was over 30 miles long.) The further up we went, the more (and bigger) trees we saw. We came across our first grove of large sequoia (redwood) trees. And wow, they are big! (If you have seen them, you might think that is an understatement.) The descent was a never-ending ~5%. It was amazing to watch the ecosystems change right before our eyes: large conifers, a small addition of deciduous, mixed, less conifers, and finally sparse shrubs and back into the hot low country. This morning we hit a low of ~500 ft -- which we haven't seen since we left San Diego! (I thought this was a route through the mountains, so I'm still surprised every time we drop low into the hot, desert-y valleys.)

Grassy desert and/or "cattle country."
Note: sometimes there are trees, too.

We have found the meaning of 'cattle country,' as one sign said it: "Watch out for cattle and enjoy the drive." We saw several large cows at the edge of the road (luckily not crossing) which we silently rode by. One pair of animals we startled, they stood up, huffed, and I was glad to be out of there quickly.

This morning (Tuesday) we hoofed it across some low-lying areas. I think Daisy got some extra bike-touring energy, or got in the groove, or something. (She was setting a fast pace!) We even did a little pacelining. It seems every other day (or so) we need to do some grocery shopping. (Part of this is because we don't want to carry extra weight, the other part is that we eat so much...) Today was no exception. After shopping we proceeded to sit at a table in the shade of a tree and eat lunch. Since we're on bikes, we are constantly looking for little places like this (picnic or other tables preferred!) to stop and eat.

Since we're travelling at a different speed than cars, we also see all sort of things along the road's edge: snakes attempting crossings (and smashed ones), tons of lizards and squirrels scurrying out of the way, and a variety of different shaped ant hills are just a few. Lovely details. ... Of course, we also see the bigger picture, too: