1969 Dart GT convertible cross country road trip 2012: Untitled

I'll have to back track a bit. I'm writing this from the comfort of my home, dry and warm, unlike northern CA earlier this week.

We drove out of Boulder Creek with full bellies of some great grub, our destination to be Yosemite. The trip to Yosemite was just the three of us in the Dart, and Clint in his Ram 2500. The others had obligations that prevented that part of the trip. As i said before the skies were soggy, it was foggy and mostly cool, not what i had expected since the forecast called for cool and no rain. We tried our best to get a forecast for Yosemite while driving but had conflicting information. I let Clint lead the way, he had the newer vehicle with gps etc we stopped a few times along the way, for gas, information, and to stretch. The drive was mostly boring highway, in the rain and fog. Not until we got close to the Sierra Nevadas did the scenery open up, the landscape change, and things started to look up. The clouds started to break up, and the rain stopped. When we got to the visitors center for Yosemite, we still could not get clear information for what the weather was like in Yosemite Village. The nice woman at the desk "promised" us it would be ok. Let me interject here that despite the fact the Dart had a few miles on it across the country, and had been in the rain and proven itself relitively waterproof i was not willing to chance it getting stuck in Yosemite in the snow, and or torrential downpour that we could experience. After all i did just spend 5 years building the car, detailing every inch of the car and returning it to much much better then new condition. I wasn't willing to throw it off a cliff, especially with my family inside.

The drive on route 120 into Yosemite was spectacular. The scenery was amazing. The road was just like i would have wanted it, twisty, turney, full of switchbacks, with elevation changes, wildlife, sheer drop offs and lite traffic. Once into the park there is a ranger station, you pay your vehicle entry and continue along. At the station i asked the ranger what the weather was like (it was still raining at this point). His answer was raining in the Village, and snow at 5,000 feet. I asked, "how far does the road climb in elevation? He said "about 5,000 feet". He also said there was slush in the road about 8 miles ahead but only for about 10 minutes of the drive. It was then that i started to contemplate continuing on. Visibility was already diminished because of the rain and fog. And now slush? I paid my park fee, shifted to first and motored along. Clint who was following at this point, had a Cummins 2500 4wd and i had already confirmed he had a tow rope. Aside from the pack... herd...group....clan....aside from the whatever you call a collection of deer darting out in the fog right in front of the car, the trip into the Village was without incident. The ranger was correct that at the highest point, there was snow on the ground and slush in the road. I drove the rotisserie fresh Dart through The highest point of Yosemite, in the slush, with snow on the ground. And i would do it again. Because John would.

Enjoy the pics, and i'll update more later. Since i have consolidated some of the pics i'll get you caught up.

More tomorrow.