I got up at dawn, again, to get an early start. This "detour" means a lot more miles and an extra day, at least. The climb up from the reservoir wasn't too bad, but the traffic really picked up by 7:00. It was kinda unnerving dealing with so much traffic when I had planned to have been in the wilderness. From Jamestown to Sonora it was just, plain awful. Oh, well.

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I headed straight for the bike shop in town, but it was closed. Turns out that the owner works whenever - which I can't really blame him for doing, seeing as I am out riding for three months. The other bike shop was four or five miles out from town, but they didn't have any cassettes with more than 28 teeth. I did have a broken spoke from climbing without low enough gearing, so I asked them to change out the spoke and retrue the wheel. Then I went and pigged out at the Burger King next door. Don't tell anybody.

Don't tell anybody that I took the bus up to Sierra Village, either. I figure there are no hard and fast rules anyway. I'm on an extended detour, the traffic is miserable, and a few extra thousand feet sound awfully good at this point. From Sierra Village the road was much nicer. The traffic had thinned out considerably and the scenery - while not spectacular - was pleasant. I took a long break at Pinecrest Lake. Milk, chocolate-covered graham crackers, and a long snooze on a picnic table.

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From Pinecrest there was a short descent, then the highway climbed steadily to an overlook with views of the Stanislaus River and the Dardanelles. From there it was a fast downhill to the river. No switchbacks, no brakes, and no fear. At the Dardanelles Cafe, the owners were setting up, but hadn't opened, yet, for the season. They must have noticed my lean and hungry look because they offered me pizza that they had made for the employees. And wouldn't take any money, either. Wow! I chatted with two Mexican guys on the porch. Afterwards, I headed up the road a few miles and found a remote campsite right on the edge of the river. Of course, the river was high - swirling with snowmelt - but the rushing water only put me into a deep, deep sleep.