6/4/24 - We stayed in our RV park, relaxing and walking around the nearby wilderness. Did some laundry and Pat fished (with no luck) in the nearby lake.
6/5/24 - Explored Kings Canyon National Park (just north of Sequoia NP). We walked around the Big Stump area (a sad reminder of how the massive 2000+ yr old sequoias were cut down before the NP protected them) and the General Grant (3rd largest tree in the world by volume).
We drove up to Panoramic Point and got wonderful views of the nearby mountains, valley, and Hume Lake far below.
We drove west along the canyon (deeper than the Grand Canyon), stopping for pictures of Junction View (where the Middle & South forks of the Kings River join), until the road was blocked. A landslide further in caused the NPS to close the rest of the park and prevent our journey to the end of the road. We walked ~1 mile in, I dipped my foot in another stream (while Pat watched for bear), and back on the deserted road. We decided to tour Boyden Cave which was so-so except for the opportunity to walk through the steady stream of water creating it! We walked about 6 miles total on this day.
6/6/24 - Packed up and started our journey toward Yosemite National Park. Our trip took us through Fresno so we stopped for some stock-up shopping. We arrived at Don Pedro Recreational Area which we learned is a massive reservoir with several campgrounds (we were staying at Fleming Meadows Campground). It (and everything in our RV) was >100F. 30Amp hook-up allowed only one A/C unit so it took a LONG time to cool down.
6/7/24 - We drove and walked (>10 miles & 2500' up/down) in the splendor of Yosemite National Park. From Yosemite Valley (there are many areas inside the park) we saw El Capitan (7569') and Half Dome (8836'), hiked a short trail below Yosemite Falls (N. America's tallest waterfall) , and hiked up (and down) 1500' to the top of Vernal Falls. A challenging but rewarding climb! A quick bite to eat before starting the 70 mile / 2 hour very curvy drive back to the closest RV park that handles the size of our rig...Yosemite is surrounded by steep foothills.
Beautiful 🤩 love seeing your adventures!
I love those NP’s! I’m sorry some of the roads were closed. It is a tough but beautiful drive in and out of Yosemite in a car so I can only imagine how hard it is with your rig! I am glad CA had lots of rain this spring so the waterfalls were flowing for you in Yosemite! It’s my favorite park and I am looking forward to returning again. Hope you don’t have many more 100+ days since you’re heading north! Happy trails!