Crossing Hades

After leaving Mariposa, which was dry and hot, but at least it was shaded, we headed across the state via Rt. 41 all the way to Morrow Bay, about a five hour drive. In heat. In heat like, well, hinges. Hinges of Hell. It was the kind of heat which burns your lungs when you take in a big breath. And, with heavy duty bike jackets on, the kind with protective shell inserts we most closely resembled oysters on a grill. We began to bubble and pop. Much Gatorade (tm) was consumed. Eventually, we decided to hole up in a dive diner and eat until the sun began to go down, effectively reducing the temperature from 115 degrees to about 90. Ahhh...

Here are some images from the ride. I know they are not much to look at artistically speaking, but they remind me of all the colors, and the whizzing of the air, and the rising moon...at one point after the moon rose we passed a ranch that went on and on and on and on...and on a post of the fence was an owl the size of a Buick. It took off just before we passed it. I thought it would knock us over. Needless to say, I did not get an image of it. Too bad. That thing would have looked just about right for one of those Sequoias we saw earlier in the day.