| US West Coast Escapade 2001 |
16th May 2001 Wednesday
| Day In Brief: |  Tioga Pass |  Mono Lake |  Death Valley National Park |  Las Vegas |
The plan was to exit the park from the east via Tioga Road. This road exits Yosemite NP through Tioga Pass at 3 031m ( 9 945ft). The highest paved road in the Sierra Nevada.
Tioga PassIt was one of the few times where we made it a point to wake up early, in fact, this was our first attempt :) We left Groveland at about 6am to proceed onwards to Las Vegas via Death Valley National Park. Breakfast was bought at the convenience store right opposite our motel and eaten along the way.
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Shivering as the cold winds blew strong, high up in the Sierra Nevada. |
| A shot taken of the scenery up in Tioga Pass, as seen from the car window. |  |
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Mono Lake| Upon exiting Tioga Pass, we made a stop at Mono Lake, which is home to three hundred species of birds, including at least 80 species of water birds. Hikers, kayakers, bird watchers and photographers are drawn to the lake throughout the year. |
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 | C at her favourite activity! Climbing boulders! | � | |
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Death Valley National Park
| "The road that we took to Death Valley was really interesting. All along the road, we were sandwiched between two mountain ranges, the Sierra Nevada (which consisted of mostly snow-capped mountains) and the San Berdadino mountains (which were mostly dark red and sandy brown in colour and devoid of much vegetation). Rolling plains and meadows marked the roads that we passed through. As we advanced towards Death Valley, the temperature rose gradually and the surrounding landscape underwent a transition from green rolling meadows to sandy drylands with decreasing vegetation."
Death Valley National Park lies in the hottest and dryest place in North America with temperatures exceeding 46 C (115F).
"Made a left turn off the road that we were travelling on into the road leading to Death Valley National Park. The weather got all hot and sunny by then, quite similar to what we get in Singapore on the really hot days, minus the moisture in the air though :P Found it to be a welcoming change to shed the layers that I ( We?? this does not apply to the guyz...) had piled onto myself as a defence against the cool temperature and cold winds back in Groveland and Yosemite.
The ride to Death Valley was long, winding, exciting and never-ending. Exciting 'cos of the many curves and bends in the roads and the DIPS on the roads that always gave a really thrilling sensation when we go across them rather akin to taking a mild roller-coaster ride ;)" |
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In the middle of the road in Death Valley. "Sunlight was blinding in the desert. The surroundings were cast in a hazy fog due to the presnce of sand particles in the atmosphere." |
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| "Made a stop at Furnace Creek for lunch"
Furnace Creek is a hub of tourist activities, beautifully constructed and furnished with all kinds of creature comforts, restaurants, shops "and most importantly, Air-conditioning!! Which is a real luxury in the middle of the hot desert!! ;)
After a "cooling" lunch in air-conditioned surroundings and gorging ourselves full with cold water to quench our thirst, it was a real torture for us to return to our car which had been baked under the hot sun. The car seats were hot! The steering was even hotter! Ouch!" |
| Yosemite |
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