Day 14: Mariposa to Merced

May 24, 2021

Up at 7:30, breakfast with fast service at a cafe a block away, but I still didn't get on the road until 9:30.

The day started with backtracking 5.5 miles north on CA 49 with 640 feet of ascent. The Old Toll road turnoff is a little past the summit.

Today's ride is a much longer distance than previous days but it should be easy because it's mostly downhill from the 2486 foot summit to Merced at 170 feet elevation. But also mostly a gentle headwind.

I have seen the Chaparral landscape several times in the last few days but haven't figured out the pattern of where it occurs. Here I saw it for only 2 miles, high in the foothills above 2000 feet elevation. Higher and lower elevations are mostly oak savanna.

Chaparral only above 2000 feet elevation.

Old Toll road has miles of extremely rough pavement. It looks like it was paved in 1950 and has been patched for 70 years. It's almost all gentle downhill, so the rough pavement wasn't really a problem.

I enjoyed the views, watching the landscape get steadily more arid as the road descends. I saw only 1 car during the hour I was on Old Toll road.

Old Toll road has awful pavement but no traffic and great views.

First view of the central valley in the hazy distance.

During the descent I often saw dramatically different views depending on the direction I was looking. Green looking east towards the foothills, much browner (or golden) when looking west towards the valley.

Looking back at the Sierra Nevada foothills.

I stopped to wander around the village of Hornitos. It was founded as a gold mining town. Now it's a small bedroom community. About half the buildings in the village are ruins. Lots of interesting stuff to see.

Hornitos has a cafe and a gift shop that both appear to be open.

Historic Stage Stop gift shop in Hornitos.

After Hornitos is the final descent to the central valley. Trees become rare. The landscape is mostly golden grass. I pedaled by a ranch where the livestock were being moved to a new pasture. I was going uphill at the time and the cows walked about the same pace that I was pedaling.

Fortunately the cows were in the pasture behind a fence. On previous bike tours I have had to wait while cattle were on the road.

Pedaling uphill at about the same pace as the cattle. The cows make a visible dust cloud.

The drivers were 2 men on horses, 1 man on an ATV, and 2 dogs that did most of the work.

The gradual descent takes me north to the Merced river once again. Here the river is a staircase of small reservoirs.

After crossing the river I followed the river downstream 10 miles to the little town of Snelling. Traffic is moderate now. Way more than 1 car per hour.

The entire distance along the river I saw big piles of gravel which are mine tailings from 19th century hydraulic mining. In 2010 I saw similar gravel piles for many miles along the American river east of Sacramento.

Along the Merced river I passed miles of gravel piles that are tailings from 19th century hydraulic mining.

The Merced river in this area is mostly a staircase of small reservoirs. It was nice to see the Merced river flowing freely in a few places. I passed several public fishing access parks.

In Snelling I stopped to take a picture of a large brick masonic lodge. I didn't notice many historic buildings in Snelling. Wikipedia says the Snelling Ranch post office opened in 1853. It was a ranch town, not a mining town.

Snelling was the Merced county seat from 1857 to 1872. The large brick building was originally the county courthouse.

The Masonic lodge in Snelling was once the Merced county courthouse.

In the little town of Snelling I turned left onto Snelling road and crossed the Merced river for the last time. I followed Snelling road south to Merced.

Final crossing of the Merced river. In the valley at 250 feet elevation.

I saw trees along the Merced river but trees become extremely rare once I leave the river behind. Annual rainfall is 12.5 inches (31 cm). Farms rely on irrigation.

I saw several irrigated orchards. I'm not good at identifying trees. The most common orchards grow almonds, pistachios, and cherries.

I passed several orchards. It's nice to see a sign that identifies the crop.

Traffic increases as I approach Merced. Once again I came into town during the afternoon rush hour. I have to pedal all the way across the city today but navigation is easy. I just go straight as Snelling road turns into G Street, a 6-lane artery with bike lanes. About every half mile I had to stop for 2 minutes at a traffic light. Getting across the city was a slow process.

In downtown Merced I stopped to look at the county courthouse. Then I detoured north a few block to see the entire length of downtown.

Downtown Merced is not exactly thriving, especially on the north side near the Tioga hotel. It appears that the pandemic dealt a crushing blow to revitalization efforts. Many improvements to the streets and landscaping are in progress. Hopefully it can come back to life soon. The city of Merced seems to be prosperous and growing, but not downtown.

Downtown Merced is 10 miles south of the Merced river. That's odd. It's a big regional farm town with a state university, UC Merced.

All of Merced's motels are clustered just south of downtown. Tonight's home is Quality Inn. The large $92 room has a microwave and fridge. Dinner was a burrito from a nearby food truck.

As expected, today was the warmest day of the tour. High of 87F (30C). Still below normal, though.

Today turned out to be more scenic than expected. California's central valley is not an appealing destination for bike tours, but the cities are convenient access points for tours of the Sierra Nevada. I ended a tour at the Fresno airport in 2000 and started a tour at the Sacramento train station in 2010. Now I'm ending a 2021 tour at a Merced car rental office.

Distance: 51.8 miles (83 km)
Ascent/Descent: +1573/-3212 feet (+480/-979 m)
Average Speed: 10.3 mph (16.5 km/h)

Today's ride: 52 miles (84 km)
Total: 456 miles (734 km)

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