Hawkrod 'RoadKill' Cross Country Trip 2022

[HawkRod]

Today we checked out the Hoover Dam in the morning. It is a very cool engineering feat from the 1930s.

I had read that the lake level was low, but wow! When I was here about 22 years ago there was water flowing over this spillway.
Nite the color of the rock to show how low it is.

 

[dart4forte]

You guys break down? Been awfull quiet

 

[HawkRod]

You guys break down? Been awfull quiet

Nope, just in a place with no cell coverage.
We stayed at Big Pines Creek Campground and did a cool hike in the high Sierras.

We made pork chops with ramen noodles and veggies. We stuck a cast iron frying pan right in the fire! Turned out quite good!

Today we are off to Yosemite.

 

[moparedtn]

Folks: As an aside. When Barry and I took our 2015 trip in my restored 1970 Road Runner, we ended up using this picture as the cover for a book we made with pictures of our trip.
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We are now working on trying to get a cool shot of the 1973 Road Runner for our cover for the next book we make. Here are a few potential contenders (there will be more).
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More examples in the next post...

2nd one gets my vote! Outstanding photographic eye on all of these!

 

[HawkRod]

We are in Yosemite yesterday and today. Very poor cell coverage so not sure I can upload many pictures.

Here is one as an initial taste of Yosemite:

More later when get better signal...

 

[SteveSS]

Has this cold front hit you in the mountains? Snow here last night, 30's and 40's today. I always tell visitors to the mountains to bring coats in the summer but they don't believe me.

 

[Fran Blacker]

Went over Toga pass on July 6 10.000ft + snow on the ground, campers in parkas!

 

[Nxcoupe]

That doesn't sound like my idea of 'fun'. Hope they are ok and prepped for it.

 

[CoronetDarter]

The Sierra weather will be perfect this week for cruising and hiking. Still a little chilly at night though.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

They are fine, left Yosemite this morning, probably be in the Bay Area later today...

 

[HawkRod]

Has this cold front hit you in the mountains? Snow here last night, 30's and 40's today. I always tell visitors to the mountains to bring coats in the summer but they don't believe me.

We haven't felt a particular cold front. It has been cool at night but the coldest was Bryce Canyon when it went down to 28 degrees at night. That is about the limit of what we can comfortably do camping.

Went over Toga pass on July 6 10.000ft + snow on the ground, campers in parkas!

No major snow when we went through it a couple of days ago, but you can still see traces of snow here and there.

That doesn't sound like my idea of 'fun'. Hope they are ok and prepped for it.

We are prepped for about freezing weather. Anything colder than that and we are in a hotel!

The Sierra weather will be perfect this week for cruising and hiking. Still a little chilly at night though.

Agree. We have had some great hikes!

So I have a lot to catch up on - we have been in areas with no or poor cell coverage. Tonight we are in a hotel so my next posts will try to get you all some pictures!

 

[HawkRod]

To add a bit to the Big Pines Creek Campground and hike we did:
This was a beautiful area on the Eastern High Sierras. Awesome views in only a fairly short walk, although it was touch because we went up more than a 1000 feet in a short distance.
Here was the water rushing right near our camp/

We hiked until the trail was blocked by snow. Cool to see it still in the mountains!

This is a the view down into the valley. Our camp was around the corner where the trees disappear in the middle of the valley.

Here is a picture of the blocked trail - it was under the snow, so we decided to stop there and go no further.

 

[HawkRod]

Then on May 30th we drove into Yosemite Valley. We camped two nights there and did some hiking. There are so many cool pictures of the valley, but here are a few to help you get the idea:

First we hiked up Yosemite Falls. this was a late afternoon hike and we hiked a total of about 14 miles (round trip).

Here is a view on the way up.

A view from up top

In the center of image is where the water goes over the cliff.

Yours truly with Half Dome behind me

Here is a nice view of Yosemite Valley

Overall, a great hike. Only down side was that some cartilage or something in my left knee decided to give me trouble. I have overall never had trouble with my knees. Is this the start of some? Who knows, but I still managed to limp my way back to camp.

 

[HawkRod]

Yosemite, day 2.

We went and hiked the Vernal and Nevada falls. Well, I hiked Vernal, and then turned to not beat on my knee. Barry hiked on and shot a few pictures of the Nevada falls.
Here is the Vernal falls.

Here are a few of the steps you need to take to get to the top of the falls.

The top of the falls

Getting to the Vernal falls is a bit wet in some spots from spray!

Here is the Nevada falls...

...and a calm spot in between the falls

After a tough day of hiking, I needed a rest!

 

[64fury74charger]

Sounds like you have had a great time so far. So much to see and the pictures are always welcome. Thank you for letting everyone follow along on your journey.

 

[HawkRod]

That brings us to today. Today was a car maintenance day. @1 Wild R/T was kind enough to let us come to his shop.

We did a quick oil change. After that, Randy was kind enough to charge up our A/C. Boy, was it nice to drive with cold air blowing!
A huge thank you to 1 Wild R/T for offering us his place, his tools, and his expertise - much appreciated!

So we drove on (quite coolly, I might add!) to Half Moon Bay.

Here, I stuck my foot in the water - we have come half way!!!

Now we just have to try and make it back...

Thanks for following along!

 

[kiwigtx]

And still the great photos are coming in...thanks.

WTG @1 Wild R/T for helping out.....that's what makes this site and the members so great.

 

[HawkRod]

Here is a final post for tonight. Just for fun, a few more potential "Book Cover" pictures!

 

[joe smith]

Randy is one of the good guys......

 

[67SniperHockey]

This thread is awesome. So fun watching these adventures and living vicariously through your trip!

Pretty awesome to have members such as @1 Wild R/T and others who have helped. Makes the journey much more enjoyable knowing you have the support of lots of people along the way!

Enjoy and keep the updates coming when you guys are able!