Monday, September 8 greeted us with a few periods of morning drizzle but by the time we rolled out of the tent, it was dry everywhere, only a little damp on the wood park picnic table. The two fellows next to us were up early and had gone fishing and we packed and headed up into Mammoth Lakes to take the scenic route back to US 395 north. We needed to get back to Lee Vining and the road through the Sierras, CA 120. What a beautiful road! The only drawback we had was that the fire that was burning in Yosemite filled the air with smoke. Not enough to cause real damage but you could small it and it hazed out all the views. By the time we got to Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center, it started to rain. Just beyond the visitor center, we had a really close call when a minivan pulled out from the left just as we got to them! He almost hit us broadside! I don’t know what people are thinking sometimes. It wasn’t raining hard, only a drizzle and I had all the front lights on. I guess we are truly invisible! After that, it was just driving along because you couldn’t really see anything. After some spots where it was a one lane road and we had to wait our turn, it really poured intermittently till almost Yosemite Valley. Once we were there, the sun magically came out and it was glorious! We took the ride up into the valley but traffic was really bad. We opted to leave, hoping the southern area of the park was without rain so we could get a camp site. You have to stop at the Tunnel View overlook along CA 41 just south of the valley. It is the view most everyone has seen of Yosemite Valley. It was gorgeous! From there, and for about 50 miles it rained along CA 41. It convinced us that once we got to Fresno, CA, we would hit a hotel. Just about 30 miles from Fresno and just as we exited the mountains, the temps went from 65-70 straight up to 95. It was a scorcher! Under those circumstances, you just can’t get the rain gear off fast enough! We got a little turned around going out CA 180 from Fresno but found a hotel good enough to put us up for the night. It was a tough day between the rain, SLOW drivers, so many turns I couldn’t count that high and then to be blasted with heat just did us in.
Even though it rained on us and made our visit to Yosemite National park a brief one, there is no doubt that California needs rain. The Yosemite Falls and Bridal Vail Falls were both dry. It was odd to see that. There is another sure thing- Yosemite is a must visit park. As John Muir said, “It is by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter”. How true. The Sierras and specifically Yosemite are just awe inspiring. Words can not describe the feelings we would get as we passed over Tioga Pass at 9,945 feet and know we were beginning the trek across the heart of the park. Seeing the granite outcroppings almost everywhere you look helps define the majesty of what is Yosemite. We will definitely go back!
Tuesday, September 9 greeted us as a fine day. Almost all the clouds and the rained moved out of the central valley. We had a big day going out to Kings Canyon and looping down through Sequoia too. The drive out CA 180 was pretty easy and it heads straight for the park! We made our way from the entrance station to our first visit within the park, the General Grant tree and the Grant Grove of Giant Sequoias. These trees are nothing short of awe inspiring. Though not the biggest Sequoia, the Grant tree and grove are a wonderful place to visit and walk through. It is unbelievable. Giant Sequoias are the world’s largest tree, though one lives longer, one has a greater diameter and three grow taller but none is larger. The largest Sequoia, the General Sherman, grow enough new wood each year to produce a 60 foot tree of usual size! One year. This tree is estimated to be 2,200 years old and its largest branch is 7 feet in diameter. Just unbelievable! You have to see them, it is truly an amazing experience. Once out of King Canyon National Park, we headed to Sequoia on CA 198. A beautiful road with (at the time we were there) some road construction. In Sequoia is where you find the General Sherman tree. It is also home to the Tunnel Log. Though not recommended for any trailers and vehicles over 22 feet may be prohibited, CA 198 is a motorcyclists dream! Turn after turn awaits and MANY are hairpin, turning back on themselves! We tried to do our best with the trailer attached but there was no peg dragging on our part! We ended our day at a low elevation campground called Potwisha just before the southern exit from the park. I was beat after all those turns!
Wednesday, September 10 greeted us with another fine day and the morning was warm. Unfortunately, we had a bad night because of all the campground noise and it was unusually warm. We got away about 8:30 and continued on CA 198 down out of the mountains and across the central valley where it was pretty hot, even in the early morning. After running on the straight CA 198 for about 75 miles or more passing field after field of fruits and vegetables growing, we passed Coalinga and took CA 25 north towards Hollister. California 25 is a really nice road, no traffic, winds up the San Benito Valley and enough straights for making time and plenty of curves to keep it interesting. We were headed to our next visit at Pinnacles National Park. Once we arrived at the park, we decided to stay since the day had gotten so hot and we really didn’t want to get on CA 1 so late in the day. It was a good choice. No one was in the campground and we had the place seemingly to ourselves! Pinnacles National Park is our newest national park being designated so in 2013. It was however a national monument prior to the national park status. Pinnacles is one of the homes to the California Condor, a bird weighing only 20 pounds but with a wingspan of over 9 feet! We didn’t get to see any but they do soar overhead and are sometimes seen there. Flying at 55 mph and at altitudes of 15,000 feet, it can be hard to spot! In addition to hiking to the pinnacles themselves, there are trails to caves and gulches that afford plenty of scenic views not to mention the exercise you get! Pinnacles is a volcanic area that was ripped in two by the San Andreas Fault. The other 2/3 of the ‘park’ lies 195 miles south in the Neenach Formation just east of Los Angeles. Another interesting fact about the park is that it is home to over 400 species of bees. But don’t worry, we only saw the yellow jacket variety. However, makes Pinnacles the protector of the largest diversity of bees in a single place in North America. Aren’t our parks just great!?
We had a good night at Pinnacles National Park and woke early, as usual, but took our time getting ready to go. Thursday, September 11 found us turning north again on CA 25 and at Hollister, went west on CA 156 towards Monterey. Lovely country up there. The homes built right on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean are tremendous! We turned down the famous CA 1 and it really is everything folks have said about it. It is an absolutely wonderful drive on a motorcycle that we are sure to do again. At one point as we were seeing whales off the shore, we thought about Newfoundland- fog, cool temps, ocean side road, rocky coastline and whales off in the water all reminded us of home. We were planning to camp at one of the National Forest campgrounds but seeing that Bakersfield (our intended last stop) was fairly close, we kept going. Just north of Santa Maria we took CA 160 east straight into Bakersfield. California 166 is a pretty nice road from the coast up into the mountains but get straight and flat as soon as you pass the Carrizo Plain National Monument. Not only that, it got HOT! Once again as we enter the central valley the temps went right up to 102. By the time we got to our hotel in Bakersfield, we were spent. After 350 miles and the last 100 or so at scorching temps, we were worn out. We agreed that our last leg into Las Vegas would be in the EARLY morning to beat the heat. Riding California 1 was a wonderful way to end our summer-long trip.
Friday, September 12 marked our last day on the road. We will be travelling some more before the year is out but this pretty much did it. Off on CA 58 east early was the beginning of our last day. Even though the heat was n the valleys, on the mountaintops, it was cold! We just set the cruise control and were back in Las Vegas by noon. Since we’re still homeless, our neighbors offered to put us up for as long as we needed. Its great to have friends like that and staying with them is always pleasant.
That wrapped up September and our trip so by the numbers the totals looked like this: We traveled 33,986 miles since January 1 when we started our National Parks Tour. However, since we left Las Vegas April 4, we travelled a total of 27,622. That’s averaging 172 miles a day. We visited a total of 243 sites in our quest and 42 states (including the District of Columbia and 5 Canadian Provinces).
Our gas mileage was pretty impressive. Even with pulling the trailer 99% of the time, we averaged 42 mpg for the whole trip according to the onboard computer. If any reader would like to know more about some of the details, please contact us at nl7501@hotmail.com.
Well, that’s the end of our summer odyssey. We hope you enjoyed reading of our adventure and that it in some way sparked a fire in you to get out and explore the wonderful parks that are in our United States. You never know what cool thing you might find in them and in some cases, what you might find inside yourself. Till next year! Greg & Cynthia