28 October 2019 Sequoia National Park

We returned to Sequoia NP today to spend more time exploring the park. We stopped at the visitor center at the south entrance to collect our 57th Passport Stamp, explore the limited exhibits and talk with the ranger about hiking options. There is no park movie for Sequoia, which being one of the premier parks, is very surprising. The exhibits were pretty disappointing as well. We left the visitor center and stopped at Hospital Rock to see the pictoglyphs. There was a very limited number of pictoglyphs that are fading and hard to determine what many are. We then drove up the twisty Generals Highway to just before the Forrest Museum, where we turned down a narrow road to see the key sites we had decided on. Our first stop was at Auto Log where there is a very old fallen sequoia trunk that the CCC piled dir on top of and carved the top of the log flat so cars in the 1930s could drive for a hundred feet on the log (its no longer allowed). The next stop was at Auto Tunnel, where a fallen sequoia trunk had a tunnel carved through it by the CCC and the road run through it. It was tall and wide enough for us to drive the Behemoth through it. We then went to the end of the road where we hiked out to Tharp’s Log (2.7 miles, 240 feet of elevation gain, 695 calorie burned), which is another fallen Sequoia trunk that was used by a settler in the early 1900s as a cabin. We then continued on around Crescent Meadow before making it back to the Behemoth. Along the way was hundreds of old sequoia trees with at least a hundred of them over 1000 years old. They are magnificent! We then headed down to Moro Rock where we climbed the 350 stairs to the top of Moro Rock, another CCC project with stairs chiseled into the rock. With steep drop on either side, Moro Rock protrudes out into the valley and provides magnificent views of the High Sierra Mountains to the east. The haze from the fires around Los Angles was even worse today than yesterday. You could actually smell the smoke today. 

Then it was back down the twisty Generals Highway to get back to the Wanderer. 

Entrance Sign for South Entrance

Pictoglyphs on Hospital Rock

The Behemoth going through Tunnel Log

Tharp's Log

Looking up Chimney Stump

Stairs limbing up Moro Rock

Leslie on top of Moro Rock

High Sierra Mountains

27 October 2019 Kings Canyon National Park

We decided to go for the furthest away of the three national parks today. We programmed the GPS to take us to the Kings Canyon Visitor Center in Grants Grove. The GPS took us through some back roads that were narrow but scenic until we intersected CA-180, which led us to the park. We noticed on the drive that it was very hazy due to smoke from the fires to the southwest of us ,which limited our visibility all day. The park was the third national park (Yellowstone was #1 and Sequoia was #2) created, in 1890, and was called General Grant NP. It was created to protect an old growth grove of Giant Sequoia Trees, including the General Grant Sequoia tree. It was later expanded to include Kings Canyon and some surrounding areas and renamed. David backpacked in Kings Canyon back in 1984 but he has not been back since. The actual canyon has been compared to Yosemite in beauty. The canyon is at the end of CA-180, which leaves the Grant Grove portion of the NP and winds through Sequoia National Forest before dropping down and winding along the Kings River before reentering the park. To see the really nice parts of the park requires a multi-day backpacking trip, something we did not have time for. We stopped at the Grants Grove visitor center where we collected our 56th Passport Stamp, watch the park movie, walk through the exhibits and of course buy David’s NP hat (Actually he got hats for Kings Canyon and Sequoia). After talking with the ranger, and finding out the CA-180 was open all the way to roads end (not what the website was saying), so we made our plan. We first drove to the Grants Grove and did the Grants Grove Loop (1.1 miles, 112 feet of elevation gain, 316 calories burned) where we got to see the General Grant Giant Sequoia tree, the nations Christmas Tree. The General Grant Tree is 40 feet in diameter, 268 feet tall, is approximately 1700 years old. It is the third largest tree in the world by volume. We also were able to walk through the trunk of a fallen Giant Sequoia tree that was used for shelter by loggers and settlers in the 1890s! It’s amazing how long these trees last, even after they die. After a quick picnic lunch nearby, we got back on 180 and drove to the roads end. The trees are changing colors with lots of yellows and reds which made the drive beautiful. The road barely goes into the actual Kings Canyon before it ends. You must hike from there to really see the canyon itself. We did not have time to hike since we needed to get back to Etta and it was a long twisty road back. We stopped off at Roaring River Falls trail and walked the short half-mile trail into the falls. We also stopped at the Grizzly Falls in the national forest. After exiting the park, we decided to go back via Generals Highway through Sequoia National Park. This gave us the opportunity to stop and see the General Sherman Giant Sequoia tree. The General Sherman Giant Sequoia is the world’s largest tree by volume. It’s 275 feet high, 36.5 feet in Diameter, and approximately 2200 years old. There is another Sequoia tree that is taller (311 feet) and another that is older (approximately 3300 years old) but General Sherman is the largest. The rest of the drive back to the Wanderer was only 48 mile but took almost two hours due to the windy road through the park. We will return to Sequoia NP tomorrow to go to the visitor center and do some hiking. 

Entrance Sign

General Grant Sequoia

Entrance to hollowed out sequoia

This hollowed out sequoia truck was used as a shelter in the 1800s

Another section

Looking into the canyons

CA-180 into the  canyon

CA-180 into the canyon

Looking into Kings Canyon

The trees changing color

Roaring River Falls

Grizzly Falls

Entrance Sign

General Sherman Sequoia

26 October 2019 Oakhurst to Lemon Grove, CA

We got on the road early. Heading back to CA-99, there was an 8% grade hill climbing up from Oakhurst and we wanted to hit it while the temperatureswere lower, it was 43 degrees.. The Behemoth pulled us up with no issues and the temperature of the transmission remained low as well. It was only a 108-mile drive to Lemon Grove. We decided to kill some time in a truck stop so we would not arrive too early for check in. We are staying at the Lemon Cove Village RV Park ($54.00 per night with GSC). It puts us with in an hour and a half drive of Kings Canyon NP, Sequoia NP and Giant Sequoia NM. All three have closures in preparation for the winter, but there is still plenty to see in the parts that are still open. 

25 October 2019 Lewis Creek

Having grown tired of fighting the crowds in Yosemite, we decided to hike a nearby trail in the Sierra National Forest. Leslie found a trail that ended in a set of falls. We hiked the Lewis Creek Falls Trail to Red Rocks Falls (4.3 miles, 404 feet of elevation change, 1131 calories burned) along Lewis Creek. The trail paralleled Lewis Creek so we could hear the creek gurgling the whole way. The trees were past their peak color but were still nice. There were several log “bridges” we had to cross to get over the creek and various feeders. Red Rocks falls was beautiful and a pleasant break from the crowds in Yosemite. After the hike, we went to the local brewery for a beer.

Red Rock Falls

Lewis Creek above the falls

Lewis Creek along the trail

23 October 2019 Tuolumne Meadows

We decided to visit the Tuolumne Meadows area of Yosemite today. David had gone backpacking in the area back in the 80s. We drove CA41 to the valley, then CA120 out of the valley to Tioga Road. We drove the Tioga road to Tioga Pass at the eastern end of the park before we turned around and headed back. The drive to Tioga Pass took four hours from when left the Wanderer. The Tuolumne Meadows area is beautiful with patches of forest (with the leaves changing color) and expansive meadows with tall granite mountains all around. The granite that forms the Sierra Mountains is over 800 miles long and over 80 miles wide. Near Tioga Pass we were at 9000 feet of elevation and there was still snow in the peaks around us. It was a beautiful day.  As we stopped to admire Lake Tenaya, another couple had also stopped. They had a mixed breed pit bull with tons of energy.  She was very energetic.  The woman picked up a stick and threw it a short way into the lake.  The dog considered it for a minute and then ran toward the water, jumped in and retrieved that stick.  The woman threw it another couple of times.  By the 3^rdor 4^thtime, the poor dog was freezing as the water was beautifully cold and clear.  It was a kick seeing that the dog wanted to get that stick but wasn’t risking the cold water any longer!  On the way back, we came around a sharp curve and there was a car stopped partway on the road and partway into a pull out. David braked hard to slow down since we could not see if there was oncoming traffic and we saw why they had stopped. There was a very large black bear just off the edge of the pull out eating. We pulled around the stopped car to get off the road and got out of the truck to get a better camera angle. But stayed well back. It was the largest black bear we had ever seen and it was busy munching away on plants. Other cars began to pull over and soon there was a traffic jam starting to build up. People started running up to get pictures of the bear. People were not staying back and the bear started to act nervous, so we decided it was time to leave and let the other folks be the bear bait. 

El Capitain in the fall colors

Fall colors along the Merced River

High Sierras 

David in front of Tenaya Lake

Tanya Lake

The Bear!

Tuolumne Meadows

21 October 2019 Yosemite Valley

After seeing Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point, we were anxious to get down into the valley. Expecting crowds, we tried to get out early but still only managed to get to Yosemite village around 11am. Coming in on CA-41, our first view of the valley was as we came out of the tunnel. There is a overlook which we stopped at and gawked at the Gorgeous views of the morning sun on the valley below us. El Capitain was glowing in the morning sun to the left, Bridal Falls was sparkling in the sun on our right and in the distance down the center was Half Dome. 

After the tunnel overlook, we made our way to the parking lot at the valley village. Being rather centrally located, it was a good place to park the Behemoth and walk to the rest of the sites. Our first stop was the Valley Visitor Center. We explored the exhibits on the geology of Yosemite, saw the two Yosemite movies, bought David’s NP hat and another NP cup. Then we made our way over to the Ahwahnee Hotel, the oldest hotel in the park, and had lunch in the bar. The food was good, if a bit over priced. From there we headed out on our hike. We decided to hike to mirror lake from the hotel. Its not an official loop, but we went up to Mirror Lake and then back to the Behemoth (6.1 miles, 299 feet of elevation gain, 1,271 calories burned). It’s a nice trail through the trees with occasional glimpses of the huge granite walls. When we got to the lake, it was dried up, but there was a wonderful view of the face wall of Half Dome. We headed back by walking in the dried lake bottom before climbing back onto the trail. We got back to the Behemoth about 5pm and headed back to the Wanderer. We stopped at the Bridal Veil Falls overlook trail and climbed up to the overlook. Seeing the beautiful flowing falls in this time of year was a treasure since many of the falls are dry this time of year. Then we drove back up to the Tunnel View overlook and took in the valley once again, only this time it was bathed in the light from the setting sun. We arrived back at the Wanderer around 6:30Pm, which was probably right at Etta’s bladder limit. Critter Sighting; We saw a group of Deer laying down near the visitor center.

Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View Overlook in the Morning sun

Meadow view in the morning sun

Southern Valley in the Morning Sun

Looking up the valley along the Merced River

Deer laying in the grass

Northern Valley from the lake bed of Mirror Lake

Bridal Veil Falls

The valley in the setting sun from Tunnel View Overlook

20 October 2019 Happy Anniversary to Us!

It’s hard to believe it has been seven years since our wedding day in Lajitas, TX! They have gone so fast! It feels like it was just a year ago. 

We decided we needed to get our Sunday Mexican fix for lunch and headed over to Bass Lake to explore the area. Unfortunately, the Mexican restaurant we selected by Bass Lake was not that good. We worked our way already around the lake, but found most of the public spaces were already closed for the season. So there was not really a whole lot to see. After returning to the Wanderer, we made ourselves a wonderful steak dinner and opened some of the wonderful wine we have picked up over the last four weeks. 

19 October 2019 Yosemite National Park

Today was our first foray into Yosemite. Being a weekend, we expected big crowds, even though we are well past peak season. We were not disappointed. It was busy but not horribly so. Our first stop was the Mariposa Grove, which is one of the three stands of Giant Sequoia Trees in the park. The road to the grove was closed last year to cars, and we had to park at the base and take the free shuttle bus up to the start of the trails. We stopped in the store/Ranger Station at the bus depot and collected our 55th Passport Stamp. Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove were set aside in 1864 by President Lincoln in the Yosemite Land Grant. The Grant was turned over to the state of California to run and protect. After Yellowstone was made the first national park, the push was on to set aside more land around the Yosemite Grant. In 1890, a thousand square miles of land around the Yosemite Grant was made into the countries second National Park. It was not until 1906 that the Yosemite Grant was transferred back to the federal government and incorporated into the National Park. 

It was only a 10-minute Bus ride to the trailhead.. We reviewed our trail options and decided to take the Grizzly Giant Loop Trail (2.4 Miles, 433 feet of elevation gain, 604 calories burned). The trail took us away from some of the crowds, and back to the massive Grizzly Giant Tree, which is estimated to be one of the oldest living things on the planet. It is huge (25^thlargest tree in the world)! The base has to be at least 40 feet in diameter, and even though the crown has broken off, it is still hundreds of feet tall. Some estimate it to be between 1900 to 2400 years old! Continuing down the trail brings you to the California Tunnel Tree. This is actually the second California Tunnel tree, the first being at higher altitudes near Wawona, which fell over in 1969. This one was carved in1895. It is believed to have been carved to handle winter visitors since it was at a lower altitude. After the tunnel tree, we headed back to the shuttle bus and back to the Behemoth. 

We then drove to the Wawona area and had a late lunch in the historic Wawona Hotel. The Wawona visitor center was unfortunately closed for the season. We will have to go to the Yosemite Valley visitor center in a couple of days. Following lunch, we drove to Glacier Point, which overlooks the entire Yosemite Valley. The views from the point are Gorgeous!!! We could see Half Dome across the valley from us. Yosemite Falls was dry but we could see Nevada Falls and Vernal falls were still flowing. It’s a great view and well worth the drive. We spent close to an hour moving from one viewing point to the next. We could not get enough of the view. But we needed to head back to the Wanderer to take care of Etta. So we pulled ourselves away and headed back to Oakhurst. 

Entrance Sign

Part of Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia

Grizzly Giant

California Tunnel Tree

Winona Hotel

Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point

Half Doom from Glacier Point

18 October 2019 Marina to Oakhurst, CA

This morning we left the Monterey peninsula behind and headed for the Sierra Mountains. There are three national parks and on national monument along the Sierra mountain range. Our first stop is in Oakhurst CA, just outside the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. The drive over took us back the way we had come from I-5 to get to Marina 10 days ago. There is one big climb along that route before we hit I-5. After I-5 we had two additional big climbs to get to Oakhurst. The truck pulled us up just fine, but the transmission temperatures did climb up to 135 degrees, which was to be expected considering the outside temperatures were in the high 70s. We are staying at the High Sierra RV and Mobile Park ($34 per night with Escapees Discount). We’re only 16 miles from the entrance to Yosemite but 45 miles from the Yosemite Valley. The hook ups at our site (44) are good. We have one very tall shade tree that is dropping acorns once in a while which sound like we are being hit by bullets. Otherwise, it seems to be a comfortable place to stay for 8 nights. 

16 October 2019 Pebble Beach

We drove over to Gil and Aprille’s around noon today. They had their two seat sports cars (Ferrari 465 and Aston Martin) pulled out of the garage with tops down! So the boys poured into the Ferrari and the girls in the Aston and they took us to the Pebble Beach Club for a wonderful lunch looking out across Monterey Bay. The food, views and friendship were amazing. Following lunch, we went down to the famous 18^thhole of the Pebble Beach Gold Coarse and walked through the lodge. They then took us for a driving tour of Carmel by the Sea. The Ferrari is an amazing head turner. Leslie said the Ashton was equally amazing to ride in. We reluctantly said good bye to Gil and Aprille and headed back to the Wanderer. 

Lunch at the Pebble Beach Club with Monterey Bay behind us

The four of us in from of the Pebble Beach Lone Cypress

Leslie and I in from of the Pebble Beach Lone Cypress

Leslie wanting to drive away in Gil's Ferrari

The Infamous 18th hole at Pebble Beach