This year's loaded tour is the fifth for Herb Lee, Dick Fraschetti and myself. The destination was Kings Canyon National Park, following a path along the western slope of the Sierra.

With an evolving interest in birding, the focus of our tours has been redefined to a much slower pace. Instead of speeding through the countryside as in past tours, we now stop frequently when we hear or spot birds and pull out our binos for a closer inspection. In fact, a good pair of binoculars is now an essential part of our camping and biking gear.

A buteo is not a sore butt malady that long distance cyclists endure, although we did feel the pain for much of the tour, but is a genus of broad-winged soaring hawks that prey on rodents. I named this tour Biking with the Buteos since we travelled through the heart of red-tailed and red-shouldered hawk country.

Soaring hawks were our constant companions and we heard the high, clear, squealing keeyuur, keeyurr of the red-shouldered hawk or the rasping, scraping scream cheeeeewv of the red-tails.

Starting from home in Sacramento, we plotted a course taking obscure back country roads into the Mother Lode, camping at reservoirs in the foothills, and then after reaching the Kings River, turning easterly and climbing 5,500 feet to Kings Canyon National Park at 6,500 feet elevation.

It took us eight days of hard riding to reach Kings Canyon. The route from north to south crossed nine major watersheds -- Mokelumne, Calaveras, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Merced, Chowchilla, Fresno, San Joaquin and King Rivers. So for 300+ miles, we were either ascending or descending into these watersheds.

Some climbs exceeded 15% and were 5+ miles long. No easy feat since we each carried 50+ pounds of gear and temperatures were in the high 80s to low 90s. And did I mention we do this for fun?

We camped at six major reservoirs on six of the rivers -- Pardee, Tulloch (motel), McClure, Hensley, Millerton, and Pine Flat Lakes. Some rivers had more than one dam so we gained insight into the magnitude of water projects necessary to quench the thirst of farms and cities in the state.

With the central Sierra receiving below-average snowpack the last few years, the water level in most of the reservoirs was alarmingly low, some as low as 20% of capacity. Frightening outlook for the state if next winter doesn't bring heavy rains and snow.

Over the challenging terrain, we experienced roads with very little traffic since we avoided the major highways in the Mother Lode (Hwy 49 and most of Hwy 180 into Kings Canyon). Some of the memorable roads were Rock Creek, Merced Falls, Hornitos, Ben Hur, Millerton, Tollhouse, Watts Valley, Elmwood, Dunlap and Hwy 245.

The trade-off for no traffic is no services. Stores and cafes were few and far between. Two eateries stand out as very bike friendly. At the Raymond Deli, the owner served us homemade pasta salad at the end of a hot 80-mile day even after closing hours. The deli is part of the lively Raymond Bar which is housed in a historic late 1800s building.

The eating highlight of the trip was the Hummingbird Restaurant in the tiny community of Clingans Junction on Hwy 180, 20 miles from Kings Canyon. The Hummingbird became a lifesaver and key strategic stop on our last day of big climbing.

We reached the Hummingbird mid-day after a long, hard climb in the morning. We had only 20 miles to go, but it was all uphill with 3,500+ feet of vertical still ahead before reaching the Park and the mid-day temperatures were hovering in the high 90s.

We were parched and hungry and consumed a hearty lunch. There were no campgrounds between the Hummingbird and Kings Canyon and I was not looking forward to continuing the climb in the afternoon heat.

As I visited the restroom outside the cafe, I noticed an oasis of green grass behind the cafe. I wandered back in and asked the owner, Diane, if she would be kind enough to allow three tired cyclists to camp out on the grass. Tackling the final 20 miles with fresh legs and cooler morning temperatures would be the smart thing to do.

Taking sympathy upon three old cyclists, she said "yes" and we let out a collective appreciative sigh. She even kept the bathroom open for us during the night.

We paid her back by consuming four meals during our one night campover. We wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Diane's kind heart.

After eating our last big breakfast at the Hummingbird and conferring with some locals about an alternative road to busy Hwy 180, we took the old highway, Dunlap Road and little used Hwy 245 up to Kings Canyon. This turned out to be a brilliant alternative and very scenic route through cool pine forests for the final 20 miles.

The tall trees and cool temperatures of Kings Canyon were a welcome relief after 8 days of hot, hard riding in the lower elevations.

We camped for three nights in the Grant Grove campground and toured the majestic redwood groves, home to the second largest redwood, the General Grant tree. We hiked up to Panoramic Point and hung out at the Visitor Center all the while looking for birds and other wildlife.

The last day was an 80-mile ride to the town of Hanford in the Central Valley, where we caught the San Joaquin Amtrak train back to Sacramento. The first 40 miles were an exhilarating, winding 6,000-foot descent to the valley floor followed by another 40 flat miles to Hanford. Our buteos were really hurting and overjoyed when we finally arrived in Hanford.

We spent the last night at the Comfort Inn in downtown Hanford with a celebratory dinner at the Hong Kong Cafe. A real bed never felt so good. I won the draw and got one of the queen beds to myself while Herb and Dick shared the other. I slept gooood....

An after-dinner stroll through downtown Hanford revealed a very nice historic district with a nicely maintained civic center surrounding a town plaza. Hanford as it turned out is a pleasant little central valley town.

The train ride back to Sacramento was a fitting end to another great tour. Similar to the Capitol Corridor trains, the San Joaquin allows you to roll your bike into the cars without having to box them up.

A bike tour where you avoid driving an automobile and take public transit was a key element of our planning. We were all smiles while we rolled up the central valley in the comfort of the train, all the while thinking how miserable it would have been if we had to bike back.