One of the long held traditions of the Oil Leaks is that someone will have car problems on the way to the start. This year was no exception, and the victim was Phil's beautiful Mark X. Charging problems had resulted in a flat battery and despite the efforts of a mechanic in Oakhurst, the car had to be towed to the Pines Resort on Saturday. The suspicion was that the voltage regulator was to blame, and Michael came to the rescue with a new spare part. So, at the crack of dawn on Sunday, Michael and Phil could be found in the parking lot working on the repair.
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| Michael's E-Type and Phil's Mark X - early morning surgery |
The Oakhurst "mechanic" had left his mark on the car when he unsuccessfully tried to fit a Chrysler regulator which made it much more dificult to determine how the replacement should be wired, but after some thought we believed we had it correct. The initial results were not too encouraging, as the voltage at the battery remained low, but slowly it began to charge. The car still needed to be jump started, but Phil decided to give it a try on the first day's drive and as the day progressed the car was able to start under it's own power and all seems to be well.
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| The replacement voltage regulator expertly "installed" on the inner fender |
After a welcome breakfast, all the cars lined up at the resort for our first day's drive. It was to be to Yosemite National Park, returning to the resort at the end of the day, so no need to repack today.
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| Lots of Jaguars (E-Types, Mark X, F-Type) and an Aston Martin prepare to leave |
The drive to Yosemite was on delightful well maintained windy roads under clear blue skies, so a great start to the Oil Leak.
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| The view on CA-41 heading to Yosemite from the back of the pack... |
As we approached Yosemite it became clear that we were far from alone in deciding that today was a great day to visit the park. The lines at the entrance kiosks to the park were long and a sign of what was to come later. Our first stop inside the park was to be at Glacier Point - the classic viewpoint over the whole of the valley. Glen, who was leading the drive, smartly decided to pull over into a viewing point before we reached Glacier Point itself, as there was ample parking space for our group there, and spectacular views.
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| Viewing point close to Glacier Point |
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| View of the Vernal and Nevada Falls as they drop into Yosemite Valley |
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| Enjoying the view - a profile of Half Dome on the left |
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| The precipitous faces of Half Dome stand out in this profile view |
At this point the more savvy members of the group decided to move on next to the valley itself. Others, myself included, chose to drive the remaining couple of miles to Glacier Point. This turned out not to be so smart. The parking lot was full, and a line of cars crept oh so slowly towards it as everyone had to wait in line for someone to leave. There was a one way system which resulted in a lot of inefficiency which increased the frustration...
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| View of Half Dome behind Phil's Mark X captured in my wing mirror waiting to park.. |
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| Finally parked, a view from Glacier Point. |
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| I couldn't resist including this photo - the color scheme on the Mark X is so spectacular! |
After Glacier Point we drove down into Yosemite Valley itself, along with a large number of other vistors... It was on this drive that two of our group experienced a very unfortunate accident. Lloyd was following Vikram in his Aston Martin as they headed into the valley. A pedestrain stepped out into the road right in front of Vikram. He slammed on the brakes and fortunately just avoided hitting the pedestrian, but the brakes on a modern Aston are better than on an E-Type. Lloyd also slammed on his brakes, but didn't stop quite as fast, and ran into the back of Vikram's Aston, and grazed a stone wall by the side of the road. Lloyd's bonnet fared considerably worse than Vikram's bumper, but both were damaged. The front of Lloyd's E had to be pulled clear of the tire before he could proceed. Fortunately, no one was injured, but some serious surgery will be required on the cars after the trip.
I didn't take any more photos inside Yosemite Vally itself. I have so many already from previous visits. However, here's one provided by another member of the group - many thanks for that.
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| View down Yosemite Valley towards Half Dome |
A number of us drove to the Ahwahnee Hotel at the head of the valley and enjoyed a light lunch, before returning to the Pine Resort. There we all met up for a group dinner in the restaurant overlooking the lake.
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A group dinner at the end of a great day!
Tomorrow, we leave Bass Lake and head for Murphys. |
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