Posts from the ‘States’ Category

Oct 14

Day 3: Arriving to Yosemite National Park

Our campground check-in time was 12-noon and we were only about 40 minutes away so we took our time getting moving today. That said, we were anxious to make our way into the park, so before too long we were hitched and once again rolling.

Yosemite park entrance

I’ve seen and read a lot about this place, but nothing compared to actually seeing the park up-close. It really is majestic. The scale of the park is nothing I’ve ever seen before; it really is beautiful.

Arriving a bit too early to check into our site, Kelly and I killed some time exploring the area known as Yosemite Village. Essentially, this is ground zero – the place where gift shops, restaurants, grocery stores, and campgrounds all collide. A place that is both convenient and horrific at the same time. Some of the Rangers tell me that the park is quite empty this time of year, particularly on weekdays.

River running through our campground

How far down is the drop …

One of many sheer rock faces in the valley

Interestingly enough, the campgrounds are all quite full. The real crowds are those visiting the park for day visits. I’m quite surprised at the amount of parking throughout the broader Village. Incredibly, during summer months, what looks like ample parking today is often woefully inadequate.

Anyway, our day was mainly about getting settled, reading up on day hikes and reminding ourselves how lucky we are to be in this majestic setting.

Tomorrow Kelly’s brother Chris arrives with his dog Katie. Neither of us has seen Chris in a while and we are really looking forward to spending some time with him this week.

Oct 13

Day 2: Los Banos to El Portal, CA

No offense to Los Banos, but the selection of retail grocery stores sucks. I do not consider Walmart to be fit for purpose. What about Target you ask? I tried that as well. I suspected that things were not looking good when the customer service person answering the phone replies “will have to ask” when asked if this Target store carried any organic or locally grown produce.

In case you’re wondering, they do not.

Given this cruel reality, we punted on groceries in Los Banos and headed over to the town of Merced and found a decent substitute. While we were in Merced, we grabbed some lunch and did a quick load of laundry, then made our way to El Portal, our designated overnight location.

El Portal seems to be one of those towns that really isn’t a town. In fact, El Portal simply appears to be nothing more than a hodgepodge of motels, bars, and restaurants – a collection of crap on HW 140 just prior to arriving to someplace that is actually far more interesting … which in this case is Yosemite National Park.

Given that we could not check into our Yosemite camping spot until Sunday, we decided to park Mabel and overnight at Indian Flat RV park.

Welcome to Indian Flat RV Park

Indian Flat RV park is pretty much a dump. The sites are incredibly tight, the electric is on the “wrong” side of the sites, and worst of all, at night this place is lit-up bright as a Christmas tree. In fairness, the guy helping us check-in (I think the owner) was nice and let us park our truck in the neighboring (unused) RV spot for the night.

Since we’d be dry camping in the park, we needed a place to fully drain our holding tanks and top-off our fresh water. So despite certain setbacks, this place does the trick.

You can see from the two pictures below how tightly everyone is packed into this place.

Mabel and another RV – too close for comfort

Our truck is actually in the neighboring RV spot

Like the rest of El Portal, I recommend you pass on through … the Yosemite entrance gate is only another eight miles up the road. Fortunately, we are merely biding our time for the night.

Sep 23

No Dogs Allowed

Kelly and I have become increasingly frustrated with all the NO DOGS restrictions here in Northern California (NorCal as the hipsters call it). Coming from Washington state, we were accustomed to bringing our dogs along to hiking trails pretty much wherever we desire. I guess we were spoiled in that sense. Too bad the same cannot be said around here.

Our dog Lilly loves to join us on the trails and we are happy to have her join us. Unfortunately, here in NorCal we’ve had to pass-up some really neat spots which would have otherwise been so cool to visit. Damn this state.

Today, Kelly and I went to visit Windy Hill Preserve, one of the few open spaces in the area which allows dogs … on leashes. Actually, we always walk Lilly on lease, so such restrictions are moot for us. Anyway, the preserves is pretty nice. Situated midway atop the Peninsula ridge-line, Windy Hill offers a nice mix of tree cover and open grasslands woven into a mostly up and down single track hike. Outside of the tree cover, temperatures were a bit hot for my preference, but overall a nice hike.

Kelly and I like this place, but as it’s located about 20-25 minutes away, the location is not overly convenient.

Lilly seems to have a super-sense whenever we are headed to a hike and today was no exception. There is no doubt that she is a big fan of Windy Hill.

A few snapshots from the hike are pasted below.

Love the bark pattern on this tree

Some interesting art in the midst of the forrest

Lilly, impatiently waiting for Dave and Kelly.

Looking up through the tree cover

Lilly’s post hike routine

Sep 22

Saturday Bike Ride

As mixed as I am with living in California, I must admit Northern California (NorCal as the locals call it) is pretty great. Good weather and lots of opportunity to play outdoors make life here tolerable.

If only the cost of living wasn’t so expensive …

This morning I decided to take advantage of life here in NorCal by way of a 45 mile bike ride. Conditions were perfect and my route took me through all sorts of topography which included lots of climbing – the kind that can break your spirit. The ride started nicely enough, southbound along the famous HW-1. The sun was shining and the normally pushy winds were elsewhere … perhaps enjoying brunch. About 9 miles into the ride, I turned off HW-1 and headed inland towards the looming hills I would need to conquer in order to compete my planned loop.

Initially, the hills weren’t that bad. But it wasn’t long before I found myself dragging my ass up a steady grinding hill nearly 20 miles in length. Like good medicine, I try to convince myself these painful efforts are somehow good for me and only make me stronger. We’ll see about that hypothesis.

Fortunately, what goes up must also come down. For me, this meant that 90 minutes of uphill suffering would be rewarded with a glorious decent through ever-winding Redwood forest roads. As a cyclist, there is nothing better than car-free roads, smooth backstop, and speed. Lots of speed. I was fortunate enough to have all three.

Soon enough I was through the forest and again found myself traveling the undulating rural backroads which would lead me back to Half Moon Bay.

I’ve always loved riding bikes and a few hours of bliss this morning reinforced those feelings. I did stop to snap a few pictures which I’ve included below.