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Heat, Snakes, Ticks, and Poison Oak, July 2020
Berryessa-Knoxville Road: A Photographic Log
30 July 2020
Last week I drove over to Winters in Yolo County to pedal through the far western edge of the Central Valley and up into the foothills of the range separating Yolo from Napa County. Today I drove to Lake Berryessa in Napa County on the opposite side of those hills.From the lake, I wanted to pedal up Berryessa-Knoxville Road toward Lake County. It's a remote, crappy, unmaintained road, but there is almost no traffic. Remote enough that my ace support crew insisted I carry our Garmin inReach for emergency communications. I think I might have seen ten cars, of which three were the same Fish and Wildlife pickup truck with a friendly warden. Saw one ranch within a couple of miles of the lake, but no other habitation and no people along the road all the way up and back.
The warden was a very friendly guy. We had a long conversation when he first saw me. I think he was partly worried about me and partly making sure I wasn't taking the bike off road. (The California Department of Fish and Wildlife, as I learned at Grizzly Island recently, doesn't want any bikes on their land.) His best line was, "This is a great place if you like heat, snakes, ticks, and poison oak." I saw him twice more. The last time he rolled down his window, apologized for the crappy road, and jokingly promised to go get a shovel and fill in the potholes.
Despite the rough road and increasing heat, outbound the ride remained pleasant until the last two or three miles when it turned steeply uphill. Returning, it was damned hot on the way back to the lake. When I got there, my cyclometer read 110°, but it always runs hot. My new altimeter (complete with barometer, date and time, and thermometer) read 99°. My car reported 100°. But it's a dry heat....
Addendum: On 17 August, a fire erupted along this route (Berryessa - Knoxville Road), sparked by dry lightning strikes. As of 18 August, the fire has burned more than 5000 acres, is zero percent contained, has resulted in mandatory evacuations in nearby areas, and has closed the road.
I parked at the public day use area at the far northern end of Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Elevation of 400 feet according to my handy-dandy new altimeter.
Already warming up, and boats will soon be on the water.
My cycling route last week from Winters through Yolo County in the Central Valley was almost due east of here, right up to the other side of those hills.
However, although not visible from here, the hills get quite a bit higher and steeper, and there's no direct road across.
No rain in the summer. Every stream bone dry. No water for irrigation. Too hot and dry for crops. Didn't see any cattle. Not even sheep or goats.
Also high fire danger. I know I sometimes felt like bursting into flame.
They ain't kidding.
They ain't kidding about this one either.
No bridges. Just culverts under concrete sections of road. During winter storms, water rushes down from the hills, overflows the streams, and floods across the road in about a dozen different places.
The Fish and Wildlife warden I met told me they've definitely had instances of cars being washed off the road into the creek.
Rough. Impassable. Narrow.
Pavement splitting and sliding away.
Most of the road extremely scabby with patches on patches on patches, and more potholes and craters than the surface of the moon.
I'm gaining elevation, but the hills on both sides of the road are growing into mountains.
Almost at the top.
With most of the climbing coming in the last two or three miles, and temperature pushing 100°, I took a break and snapped a photo looking back down the road.
Almost zero shade on the climb. At least the road was in better condition here.
I think this is the top. Not much here but the "No Trespassing" entrance to an old open pit mine, out of sight to the east. My handy-dandy new $15 altimeter from China via Amazon says 1757 feet.
No views into Napa County, Lake County, or Yolo County.
Nothing around. Nobody around. No shade. Nowhere comfortable to sit down.
I ate my sandwich, drank my tea, and started back down to Lake Berryessa.
I knew it would be plenty warm for the afternoon ride, but I figured the downhill would make it relatively easy. I didn't count on the hot wind blasting up the road from lower elevations like a blowtorch. Way harder and hotter than I expected.
When I got back to the Forester in the day use parking lot at Lake Berryessa and hopped up on a rock for a triumphant photo, I suddenly felt dizzy, started to black out, and fell right off. Fortunately I stuck the landing. The next photo from the self-timer, not shown here, reveals me back at ground level, staggering, and trying to regain my balance.
After a little air conditioning in the car, a bottle of lukewarm Gatorade, and a few quiet moments leaning back in the driver's seat, I was fine.
Heat, snakes, ticks, and poison oak. Yeah. I'm all in.
Summary
Date: 30 July 2020
Time: 10:30 - 3:00
Weather: 80-100° F, sunny and windy
Route: From the northern end of Lake Berryessa, up the road, and back
Distance: 31 miles, approx 1500 feet of climbing
Bike: Ogre
Riders: Solo
Comments? Questions? Suggestions? I'd like to hear from you.
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