Clara and Kathleen riding up Glacier Pass
GLACIER PASS and WAUKOBA PASS: DAY 6 and 7 OF THE CLIMBING EXTRAVAGANZA
I’ve ridden Glacier Pass maybe three times in my life. This was in a period of about a month, and I would tag on another mountain pass after descending. The steep road is a killer of a climb and a joy of a descent as it follows the length and grade of the lateral moraine from the Sierra down into the Owen’s Valley below. From just less than 4000ft to about 8,500 feet in only about 7 or 8 miles, it’s quite a ride. Today, after ascending for three hours into the Inyo Mountains on the East side of the Owen’s Valley yesterday, one climb was enough. This was the second day of feeling crippled after lifting weights for the first time in about 2-1/2 months a few days ago. Riding is not that painful; it’s walking that is killing me! It amazes me how different modes of exercise can paralyse a person.
At the top of Glacier in the howling wind!
Anyway, what I remembered most of Glacier Pass was the wind. The last time I crawled up the steep, steep road the gusts of wind blasted me with sand off the massive moraine to the right. What was more frightening was the descent- I would ride the brakes so as not to be launched off the pavement and try not to get caught in a gust of a crosswind and blown to the side. All three of us, Kathleen, Peter and me, recalled the same experience with Glacier. So when we started out from the county park down in Big Pine, the warm sun and ever so slight cooking breeze let our guards down. Dagger-like pain filled every muscle in my legs, but still I enjoyed the climb. I even let out a hoot of joy when the wind picked up and blew from behind, allowing the grind of turning the peddles over up such an extreme climb into the more sweet feeling of soft-pedalling. This lasted for a few minutes, when the wind shifted and fought our efforts to gain altitude. A lone Jeffrey Pine tree swayed in the wind, the force of nature moving even its thick trunk, warning us of the sand that was about to be blasting our exposed skin. From there, the grade remained the same cruel pitch and the wind unleashed its fury down from the Glaciers above, as if to tell us we were not wanted up high.
All I could think was, this is the Glacier Pass that I know! Without this raging wind, we all agreed that after the past few days, it actually would have been too easy. The hour and a half climb took only fifteen or so minutes to descend, and again, I was riding the brakes in fear of launching. It felt like a rest day save for the pain in my legs.
Kathleen and Peter at the top of Glacier Pass
The best part of the day was soaking in the local hot springs. For a moment I forgot of my aching muscles and felt some relief, thinking perhaps I could venture back into the weight room tomorrow. Train the pain, at least that’s what I’m told- and if anything, these few weeks of massive elevation gain will help me take on just about anything skating in circles on the wonderful flat surface of ice may offer!
WAUKOBA PASS (MAY 4th)
The mellow grade of Wuakoba Pass felt even easier with a tailwind. After sleeping out under the beautiful stars on our friend Brian Cashore’s deck up in Swall Meadows last night, and waking up to the cool melt of snow flakes on my exposed face, it felt good to ride with the cool northerly wind at our backs. I spent much of the ride looking for wildflowers on the roadside and listening for identifications from Kathleen Nelson, who is a botanist with the US Forest Service. It’s always a treat to do anything outdoors with Kathleen because she can pick out the smallest little flowers and give you the common and latin names of everything growing in the desert and mountains. It’s always a learning experience and I come away amazed at the life in the desert. When people say ‘there’s nothing out there’ I beg to differ- even in this year, considered somewhat of a draught year, there was an abundance of flowers to be seen. I took picutures of the nicest ones and want to prove to those skeptical of life in the desert that there is magic even in the most barren of places.
In order on the climb:
Prince’s Plume
Indigo Bush
Apricot Mallow
Primrose
Britlebush
Desert Dandilion
Phlox
Paintbrush
On top of Waukoba Pass
Road Kill!!
