Jun 30 2014

Yosemite National Park

The drive here was not as breath-taking as past drives. It was still beautiful, in patches. I thought the mountains were hilarious, because they look exactly like the mountainous landscape on a map. I would describe it as a green carpet draped over a mountain range.

We past acres upon acres of farmland. It was cool to see varieties that we can’t grow back home like olives, almonds, pomegranates, and walnuts. We stopped at a very nice gift shop/food stop/hangout on the way. This place was AWESOME, I wish I had pictures of the inside but I left the camera in the truck. The gift shop was huge with tons of local products. But the real gem was the courtyard. It had a 4-story treehouse that was so amazing. I’m so jealous I didn’t have this thing growing up! It was so cool that I took a video as I wandered though it.

We bought the National Parks Season Pass before we left for this trip which was so smart because it has payed for itself already. We also purchased this GoodSam Atlas, on our last long trip, and it has really come in handy. There has been a number of occasions where GPS lost signal and we didn’t have cell service either. It’s reassuring to have a back-up plan.

So far in every park the first thing we do is always go to the visitors center. It is always chock-full of useful information and wonderful park rangers to help plan the best things to see. When you have such a small period of time to enjoy the parks, like we do, it is great to be able to have the advice from a person who is there everyday. We didn’t get to the park until 5pm on our first day, so we didn’t have time for much. We decided to see a live theater presentation about the Buffalo Boys presented by Park Ranger, Shelton Johnson. We really wanted to do a night star gaze with a ranger but the time conflicted with the theater. We didn’t have time to go on a hike before the show so we grabbed a bite to eat. It was Sunday so the only available restaurant was the cafeteria. I’m not a fan of that, but it was that or nothing so I had a hotdog, and it was good. On the walk to the cafeteria, there was a bear, really a BEAR, and it was extremely close to humans! It was 20 feet away from people walking on a path, it was crazy. There was a Ranger with a tranquilizer gun holding back the crowd of people gawking, but the bear was right there! Like at the zoo, but without a moat and fence to keep you from getting mauled! Actually, the bear looked really nice and probably has no aggression because it lives in such a beautiful place and, unlike a zoo, can go where ever the hell it pleases.

After the quick meal we power-walked back to the theater, getting there just in time for the show. But first, walking up to the theater, there is a display of a replica Native American town, complete with teepees, huts, and animals. Well at least I thought the animals were fake. There was a deer just posing in the town, standing straight up posing. I could have sworn he was fake, because he was just perfectly placed and flawless. Then he moved and started walking toward us. It was like some Disney animatronics as he slowly approached us. I was, almost, waiting for him to start talking. These animals are too friendly for there own good, first a bear and now a deer. And the squirrels are OBESE, waddling up to people for more food.
Don’t feed the animals!

The theater presentation was a film about the Buffalo Boys, which were Black men who served in the military that were stationed in Yosemite to protect it. Not a bad deal, if you ask me. Before the showing, the ranger who wrote and stars in the film came out to tell us about himself and why he is so passionate about this “forgotten story.” Well hearing him speak, you are made to believe that this is a story about oppression and sadness and will discuss their role in doing great things for the park. However the film doesn’t actually go into any detail about what they accomplished to better the park. The films soul focus is on the main character and what he remembers of his childhood in the south. Blacks were treated poorly in the south at time and he was made to think that he would not amount to anything due to comments and actions of White people in his town. Then he joined the army and fought for our country among the White man and had equal pay. All Blacks were assigned to later protect the park because they were the first available, close to 500 men. These men were extremely lucky to be given this assignment, it was an easy assignment…away from the war with equal pay.
After the film I honestly didn’t understand it’s purpose. I wish it had talked more about the other things they did for the park, like make the first trails or discover new things. It will air on PBS soon and you can judge for yourself, maybe I need to see it again to get a better appreciation.

On the 2nd day we drove to Toulumne Meadows which is about a 2 hour drive from our campground. It was a beautiful drive through high pine forests, there were steep cliffs, and amazing views of the Yosemite Valley below. We stopped at Tenaya Lake for a photo shoot and Jacob vowed to come back for an after-hike swim.

Upon arrival we stopped at the Visitor Center for some Ranger advice. She suggested a short, but pretty steep, trail up to Lembert Dome and continue to Dog Lake. We took her advice, but the first stretch of the trail we were suck’n wind hard. It was steep, stair-master style, and the low oxygen level wasn’t helping. We hiked straight to Dog Lake first, because once we got to the fork to either continue up or begin a more level path our body’s made that decision for us. Please keep in mind that we have been hiking/walking our butts off everyday up to this point and we were just dog tired. On a normal trip this probably isn’t even a hard hike. The stretch of trail to Dog Lake was a blessing with a gorgeous view of a lake with a mountain backdrop. After taking what seemed to be 100 photos and basking in the beauty we headed back toward the Lembert Dome Trail. Our thighs were thankful that we broke up the trail in this fashion, by the time we reached the steep inclines they were rejuvenated and ready for action. In the end, reaching the summit was totally worth it, it was spectacular!

After the hike we headed back to the lake for a swim. It was too cold for me so I just watched. Even staying on the beach was cold, it was so windy! He didn’t stay in long, just long enough to cool off. Then it was time to drive back to the campground.

Jacob had to cook something this trip! Our neighboring campers, from Quebec, said the smell reminded him of something he ate while in New Orleans….you don’t say, hmm, fancy that!

On the 3rd day we went back into the Valley to see some of the waterfalls and main attractions. This park is ridiculously crowd, by the way, parking and riding the shuttle is the best option. I didn’t really care for being in the Valley because of the crowds, it was just too much. We were thankful that someone told us to go to the Meadows, and we listened, it was peaceful. We decided to see the stuff that you can drive to, opposed to taking the shuttle. The first stop was Glacier Point, with a easy walk to the point. Great spot for killer pictures! Then we drove to Bridalveil Fall, with another easy walk from the parking area. Then we drove to Sentinel Beach and it was bitterly cold. By then the park was pretty full, we had enough of the traffic, and decided to head home. Beautiful Park but man-oh-man it sure is popular!

That’s all folks!

Jun 25 2014

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park and National Forest

Driving from Zion to a 1 night stop in Mojave, CA. >

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This park is AWESOME, loved it so so so much! Driving through the forest full of giant trees was so breathtaking, and strange. There was a lot of “Good Lord that thing is HUGE!” and “Kee Yaw, that’s a biggun!”

Sequoia National Park is America’s 2nd oldest National Park, created in 1890. Sequoias are the largest trees on Earth by volume of wood. Sequoias grow naturally only on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, usually between 5,000 and 7,000 ft of elevation.

On our first day we drove to tunnel log which is a fallen sequoia that was tunneled through and is the only tree you can drive through in these parks. We didn’t think the truck would fit by looking at the opening, but it fit just fine with plenty of room to spare.

Then we walked to Crescent Meadow which is comparable to wetlands, but unlike wetlands back home these are surrounded by gigantic sequoias and it wasn’t very wet either. Walking through this park is like being on a different planet. Trees just shouldn’t grow this big, it’s unreal!

Then we walked to Tharp’s log, a house made out of a fallen sequoia, and Chimney Tree, a burned sequoia that was massive. We also drove to Auto Log to take pictures on top. This is a fallen sequoia they used to park on, back in the day.

Then we drove to Moro Rock to walk up to the top. It is a granite dome with a steep 1/4 mile staircase to the top. It is a 300 ft. elevation and a whole lotta stairs! The panoramic views from the top were spectacular!

Our second day was basically a day of driving, we drove about 7 hours total. We drove up to Kings Canyon National Park which was about 2 hours from our campground. First we stopped at the Visitors Center to get some information on the best things to see in one day. Grant Tree Trail was the 1st stop. This is a paved 1/3 mile trail to one of the world’s three largest trees and the Nation’s Christmas Tree since 1926, I had no clue there was an official Christmas Tree.

Then we drove to Panoramic Point Road which is a narrow road up to a Sierran vista. Then we drove to Grizzly Falls and Zumwalt Meadow. This is a 1.5 mile loop that passes high granite walls, lush meadows, and the Kings River.

Next stop was Roaring River Falls which is a very short, shaded walk from the parking lot to a powerful waterfall rushing through a granite chute.

Next stops where Canyon View and Knapp’s Cabin. Canyon View is a “U” shaped canyon that gets its shape from a glacier moving through creating a wide “U” shaped valley. Knapp’s Cabin is a very small storage cabin built by a rich California businessman in the 20’s to store his fishing gear. Not much to see inside, just some old cans, but the river below was worth the short hike down.

The final stop of the day was Hume Lake. This lake was formed by a rare, historic dam. The lake supplied water to a flume that floated lumber 67 miles to Sanger. An easy 2.5 mile trail circles it, but we chose to walk down to the beach. The beach was so cool there was a big log floating in the water that people were getting on top and floating. Also the sand was gold! There is an abundance of pyrite, fools gold, in the area so the beach is glittered in gold. It was so beautiful!
We really want to come back to this park and camp close to the lake.

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On the third day we went back to Sequoia to visit the Giant Forest Museum and General Sherman Tree and take a tour of the Crystal Cave. The Cave was first thing in the morning and I was so happy we had the option to go on the Adult only tour. I like to enjoy the inside of a cave without people yelling and talking the whole time, that drives me crazy! The tour was great, this is a living cave with active formations, and our guide was very knowledgable which always makes the experience better.

In the museum, I was expecting to see a movie at the museum, but there wasn’t one. There was a nice display of the sequoia’s life cycle and how fire is necessary for the ecosystem here. For a hundred years the parks have tried to stop and suppress fires thinking that they would damage the giant sequoias. After much research and observation they have found that with fire the trees can reproduce and grow more healthy due to less plants competing for nutrients as well as burning off the dead material covering the ground and blocking their roots.

After soaking up all the information in the museum we headed to the General Sherman Trail. This is 1/2 mile trail down to the tree it is a gradual elevation change that you will feel much on the way back up. The General Sherman is the world’s largest living tree. It is the Nation’s Christmas Tree and is a national shrine.

These parks have so much variety of ecosystems. They encompass a wide variety of elevation changes, from 1,500 to 14,500. There is so much to do and see that we didn’t even come close to getting everything in.

We’re having horrible luck with WiFi at all of our campgrounds, even though they claim to have great WiFi on their websites. It’s all good though, this is camping after all. Anyway, so far we’ve had to go to Starbucks to use their WiFi, it seems the most reliable thus far, knock on wood. So that’s where we are now, in a Starbucks in San Fransico. It takes a long time upload pictures, so I’m a few stops behind. And I desperately miss the wilderness after 1day here! If some of the media does not appear on here correctly, I can’t fix until I get home. WordPress and iPad doesn’t work well together.

Jun 21 2014

Zion Canyon Campground and Zion National Park in Springdale, UT

The drive was, of course, AMAZING! To get to Springdale, UT we had to drive through Zion National Park. It’s a very windy road with a lot of switchbacks and 2 tunnels. The pavement, which was just black-top driving up to the park, was red inside the park, which we thought was cool. What we thought was not cool was the addition charge for our vehicle to pass through the tunnel. We missed the cutoff by 4 inches, Com’on man! The charge was for a “Ranger escort through the tunnel” however they only allow one side of traffic at a time, regardless of size, so what was the point of the charge? No clue…because we didn’t get a “Ranger escort.”

The first thing we did after we setup the camper was go to the IMAX movie about Zion for $5. The movie was filmed in the 90’s and could really use an update. The colors were horrible and the picture was fuzzy. I expect more from an IMAX movie, like at the IMAX in the Aquarium…everything I have seen there has been spectacular. On a positive note, the movie gave insight about the history of the area’s discovery by humans many moons ago. Basically just the stories Native Americans have been telling for years and how not to disrespect the land because it is haunted.

After the movie we hopped on the shuttle to get in a hike before dark. We hiked upper and lower pool and the Grotto. There is no parking lots in the park, you take a shuttle in from town, then you take a park shuttle to everywhere you need to go. It’s pretty awesome! The shuttles run constantly, we never had to wait more than 5 minutes. Because of traffic issues a propane-powered shuttle bus service was added in 2000.

Zion is considered the Disney World of the National Parks and it is absolutely freaking gorgeous! It is a wonderful park for kids with a lot of paved trails, shuttle service so you can’t get lost, and a river to splash around.

Zion, first established in 1919, gets its name from Mormon pioneers who considered it a sanctuary where travelers could experience feelings of awe, immensity, and eternity. Zion is a Hebrew word that means ‘a place of peace and relaxation.

Jurassic-age Navajo Sandstone was deposited in an ancient sandy desert, like the Sahara of today. The desert winds blew the sand into dunes 2,000 feet deep, you see the direction of the winds on the canyon walls. Here you can see some of the largest fossilized sand dunes in the world!

Humans have been living in the park for at least 8,000 years. There are abandoned cliff houses and rock art left behind by the Anasazi people 800 to 1,500 years ago.

There is an underground spring in the park. The water takes 1,000 years to make its way through the rock surfaces. We took pictures of it percolating through the rock.

In 1909, it was named a National Monument by President Taft to protect the canyon and became a National Park in 1919.

Back to hiking around the park….
Lower Emerald Pool Trail is an easy trail of 1.2 miles. It is a paved trail with minor drop-offs that connects to the Upper Emerald Pool Trail.

The Upper Emerald Pool Trail is rated moderate and it is 1.0 mile. The trail changes from rocky to very sandy with some steep inclines. It’s not fun walking up-slope in soft sand, but it was beautiful and I can’t wait to go back! The lower pool was barely a pool with a sprinkle of a waterfall above. The upper pool was much larger but looked in need of a good hard rain.

We then walked the Grotto Trail which is an easy trail of 1.0 mile back to a shuttle stop. This trail connects Zion Lodge to the Grotto and combines the Pool trails and Kayenta to form a 2.5 mile loop.

The next day we headed to the Zion Human History Museum which had a lovely movie about the history of the park, it was better than the IMAX and it was FREE! The Riverside Walk was 2.2 miles of paved trails the follow the Virgin River along the bottom of the canyon

Then we drove to Kolob Canyon and reservoir. It was a beautiful drive with a landscape different from Zion yet only an hour away.

To finish our day we had dinner in Springdale at Oscar’s Cafe. It was very good but the view was spectacular! Springdale is an adorable town we didn’t really have time to wander around but I would have liked to. There are a variety of restaurants and shops all within walking distance from the entrance of the park.

Next stop Sequoia And Kings Canyon National Parks.

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Tag Archives: RVing

Yosemite National Park

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park and National Forest

Zion Canyon Campground and Zion National Park in Springdale, UT