Glacier Point Road is not ploughed in the winter, it closes for the season due to snow. Come spring the snow ploughs clear the road, and open it back up again. Many years, after the road has been ploughed, but the facilities staff are still readying the facilities, Yosemite opens up the road for cyclists a few days ahead of the general opening to other vehicles. This year the road was opened for cyclists on Friday, May 10th, and will open for cars on Tuesday, May 14th.
The road opening was only announced the day before, which didn’t leave much time for planning. Doubly so, because during May weekend entry to the park requires a permit during peak hours, which run from 5am to 4pm. The permits are released the week before and go quickly, so there were no permits available for the weekend. The only way to get into the park is to find accomodation within the park, go outside of the “peak” hours, or go on Monday when permits are not required.
I opted to get into the park early on Saturday morning, off peak, so after work on Friday I packed up my car; threw the bike in the back, a stove to cook some oatmeal and coffee for breakfast, and took along a sleeping bag. Friday night I set off and drove to the park entrance, arriving around 1am, and slept in my car for 3 and half hours just outside the park. I set my alarm for 4:30am, and got up to drive the last 50 minutes to the parking lot at the bottom of Glacier Point Road, and then climbed back into my sleeping bag for another few hours of sleep.
As couple of other people started to arrive around me, I got up and made the oatmeal and coffee while I got my bike out and assembled, and got sorted ready to go. Around 8:30 I was ready to go.
The weather was perfect, the air was cool and made for pleasant climbing. The Glacier Point Road grade is fairly gentle, first ascending through a burn area, the trees then turn green after a mile or two. The spring snowmelt was in full swing and creeks and meadows were full of crystal clear water, the sound of running water accompanied most of the ride as small streams trickled down the side of the road, occasionally crossing over and spraying off my tires.
The top arrived sooner than I expected, Glacier Point is actually a short descent down some tight hairpins. As I rolled into the empty parking lot, and through to the visitor overlooks which on a normal day are teaming with people, today I shared it with one other cyclist and a pair of hikers who had hiked up from the valley floor.
The views were breathtaking as ever, with Yosemite’s vast waterfalls discharging at full flow, the lower falls of Yosemite Falls was diffracting the sunlight with all the colors of the rainbow sparkling in the spray. Nevada and Vernal falls were also flowing with all their might, the snow covered mountains draining their snowmelt into Yosemite valley below.
I brought along my stove to make another cup of coffee to enjoy with an early lunch, soaking in the mountains that I will spend less time in this year. Other cyclists started to arrive and take in the views. I had a long drive ahead of me to get back to the bay, after hanging around for about an hour I gathered my things to get ready for the descent.
Of course the descent starts with a climb back up the hairpin turns to the high point. On the way up I was one of the first, seeing only 4 cyclists coming down, but by the time I was descending I passed many groups making the trip up. The descent was glorious, the air had warmed up and sun was warming. In all it was only about 3 hours of cycling, but it was worth the trip to ride the road car free, and to remind myself how stunning Yosemite valley is in springtime.