The second morning of our trip we had a continental breakfast in the hotel and then hit the road. After a quick stop to top off the fuel in both bikes we proceeded toward Lone Pine where we would stop for the night at the gateway to Death Valley. The day would prove out to be a relatively short one. Carole's hand will still feeling awkwardly numb and I didn't want to push us to hard. We took a brief ride down Hwy 99 and then headed toward Lake Isabella on road J24 through an agricultural area toward Old Stage Road. The traffic was extremely light at 7:30 in the morning. Right away I noticed that Carole had gained a heightened confidence level as she tucked in over my right hip while riding through the orange groves.
We cut south on Old Stage road and found some of the most beautiful roads on our whole trip. We cut through rolling pastures with California Oaks dotting the scenery along with free-range cattle and horses. The road followed the terrain like a roller coaster, some sections were technical and but most sections sweeping curves with whoop-de-do's along the way. We stopped along side of the road to take some pictures. No other vehicles seemed to be on the road until we got close to Whitewater River Road where some cruisers were out enjoying the mid-morning sun.
We caught Hwy 55 and began our ascent to the Sequoia National Forest over Black Mountain. The road turned into a beautiful tight mountain pass two lane adventure with the most technical roads we were going to experience on our trip. So much for my "easy-road" planning. Carole took it like an old pro as we both danced with our throttles through twists and curves that would make any adventurist sing praises to the skies. Once again the scenery was inspiring and this time we did manage to stop and take a few pictures. Several Harley's were encountered going the opposite direction but no traffic was encountered going our direction. The drop into Wofford Heights at Lake Isabella was awe inspiring.
We stopped at a little market on Lake Isabella to grab a couple of energy drinks. Carole became a big fan of Arizona Raspberry Tea during this trip. We sipped our drinks while watching the rapids of the Kern River dump into Lake Isabella. The white water was intense with the runoff from the Sierra snow. I was surprised to learn that they were allowing rafters and kayakers in the water although I didn't see any. These were definitely some Class 5 rapids.
After about an hour pause to take in the beauty we mounted back up and made our way down Sierra Way to Hwy 178, cutting west to catch Hwy 395 into Lone Pine. Originally I had wanted to follow the Kern River up to Mt Whitney and come back down through 9 Mile Canyon but the passes were closed in this area due to snow. I've learned that if you want to really explore the Sierra passes you need to plan on mid to late summer riding. As it was, the run down Hwy 178 was scenic desert with little traffic. We pulled into Lone Pine around 2 PM and called it a day, wanting to cross Death Valley during the cooler hours of the morning.
We stayed at the Portal Motel in Lone Pine, a quaint little dive motel (exceptionally clean with a wonderful shower) in the shadows of the snow covered southern Sierras. Mount Whitney gave us a wonderful view of the tallest point in the 48 states. It was hard to believe that the lowest point on the planet lay just a couple of hours away. We ate dinner at a quaint little Mexican restaurant and downed a beer at the local saloon.
While we were taking in the afternoon sun at the motel Carole saw a Suzuki FJR1300 pull into the parking lot across the street. The rider sat on the pavement in front of his bike and began removing his gear. We walked over to chat with him about his bike and discovered that he was a rider from King City, CA that was doing the trial timing run for an Iron Butt Rally that was to take place next weekend. He was in the middle of his 1000+ mile ride in 24 hours. His feet were blistered from the wires that run under his sole for his heated socks. He applied some salve and bandages and commented that he would rather have the blisters than cold feet. Apparently the heated clothing paid off as he had come across Sonora Pass just north of Yosemite. He was continuing on down the same route we had just taken in the opposite direction, taking Hwy 155 over to the coast and on down to Pismo Beach before heading back up Hwy 1. I was surprised to hear that he was certain he would need the heated clothes for his night time run through the Sequoias. Our run through that same area in mid-morning had me shedding clothes. We wished him safe journey and I walked away dreaming of our first serious ride for distance.
Across from our motel was a larger motel that was having a HOG Rally. The lot was filled with about a hundred Harley's and all the riders were whooping it up in their parking lot, playing the typical "catch the beer tossed from the balcony" games while riding circles through their lot. We were serenaded to sleep by a band they had hired that was playing outdoors. Old rock and new country music filled our ears as we drifted off into dreams of the ride to come.