Fair Winds and Following Interstates
March 26, 2024
Railtown 1897 State Historic Park is home to the Sierra Railway. With working steam engines and a roundhouse, the park pays homage to California's past. In the summer, you can board steam and diesel trains for a 45 minute scenic ride through gold country - and a few TV and movie props. Quite a number of TV shows and movies featured trains and railcars from the Sierra Railway. For us, the two most memorable were Petticoat Junction and Back to the Future Part III.
March 25 & 27, 2024
Yosemite National Park is impressive. We camped in Groveland, about 30 minutes outside the northern entrance to the park and just under an hour to Yosemite Valley itself. Tioga Pass was still closed because of snow. We drove through the park to the southern end at Wawona and looped back around through Oakhurst, Mariposa, and Coulterville. It was a full day.
We were early enough in the spring that we didn't need a timed reservation. Reservations are needed for weekends beginning in April and daily beginning in July through part of August. The plus of going early is that generally there is parking available, and the crowds are thinner. The downside is that some things are not available or open for the season, such as Tioga Pass.
We did some walking around Yosemite Village and to BridalVeil Falls. We're starting to wonder if there is any state that doesn't have a BridalVeil Falls. Other than that, it was just an enjoyable day of scenic driving.
On our second day, we ventured to the Hetch Hetchy area of the park. It's home to the O'Shaughnessy Dam and reservoir supplying water to San Francisco. We took a five mile hike to Tueeulula Falls and Wapama Falls. Plenty of runoff and water flowing made us glad we got there before more rain came.
 |
| Beautiful drive |
 |
| Bridalveil Falls |
 |
| El Capitan |
 |
| El Capitan, Half Dome, Bridal Veil Falls from TunnelView Overlook |
 |
| Hetch Hetchy Reservoir |
 |
| Wapama Falls |
March 20, 2024
We ventured back to Sequoia National Park and Generals Highway. Our objective was the Giant Forest Museum. By the time we had reached the museum area two days ago, it was too close to closing time. The museum itself was limited, but the walks through the big trees were awe inspiring - and we didn't go that far since there was a lot of slushy snow that was park bench deep. We soon made our way to the Beetle Rock to enjoy our lunch in the sunshine.
On our way back down to Visalia, we stopped for a short break at Hospital Rock. We made our way down the trail from there to the river below. We could well imagine wading in one of the secluded pool-like areas in hotter weather. You'd not want to venture into the river itself though.
Sequoia was the nation's second national park and deservedly so.
 |
| Largest tree 36.5 ft diameter |
 |
| Spring! |
 |
| Tunnel rock |
 |
| Bush lupine in bloom |
 |
| In front of Giant Forest Museum |
 |
| From cone to monarch ( up to 200 seeds per cone) |
 |
| Beetle Rock lunch |
 |
| Windy, twisty road |
 |
| Bet that would feel good in summer |
.jpg)
March 18, 2024
It was a tough decision trying to decide where to camp in order to reach Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park. Campgrounds were expensive and a fair number of them received less-than-favorable reviews. It was extremely rare to see a full-hook up campground within thirty minutes of either park. Plus, I wanted a place to park for the week and not have to pick up and move to see both parks. In the end, I stuck with a national chain and we stayed at Visalia/Sequoia KOA.
Generals Highway runs between the two parks through national forests and Giant Sequoia National Monument. However, you are not getting an RV (over 22 ft) on Hwy 198. If you tried, you'd seriously tick off drivers who would wonder if you knew how to read all the signs telling you the length restrictions. You might also be fodder for a YouTube channel of national park idiots. There were a number of hairpin turns and elevation changes. It's the kind of road where 30 miles takes a good hour to drive. Plus, the last we had heard, Generals Highway wasn't going to be open for the season until April.
The road into Kings Canyon itself was still closed an due to winter/storm damage, would likely remain so for quite some time. However, the park ranger informed us that Generals Highway had just opened two days ago and that instead of backtracking as planned, we could go through to Sequoia National Park. Yeah!
The ranger gave us a solid tip to head to Sandy Cove day use area, which is actually in Sequoia National Forest and whose road passes through privately owned Hume Lake Christian Camp. We thoroughly enjoyed sitting on the rocks by rushing waters. I think we would have stayed longer if we knew we didn't have so much else to see.
After that we headed to the General Grant Tree. Sequoias are mind-boggling huge. In fact, when one was cut down and taken to the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, people called it the "California hoax," not believing that trees grew that large. Well, those folks would have been slack jawed to see the groves of sequoias. We certainly were.
 |
| Amazing views |
 |
| Sandy Cove Day Use Area |
 |
| Hume Lake |
 |
| Nice! |
 |
| General Grant Tree |
 |
| Fire scar on General Grant Tree |
 |
| Through the trees..literally |
March 14, 2024
Our last morning in Paso Robles, we decided to head over to Estrella Warbird Museum and Woodland Auto Display, two museums with one admittance fee. We enjoyed walking around the exhibits and the outside exhibits allowed the opportunity to enjoy the fantastic spring weather.
 |
| Lots of instrument panels |
 |
| Helping out with the Stinson L-5E Sentinel |
 |
| Harold and George Marrett author of Cheating Death |
 |
| Still looks like a tractor to me - Ferguson aircraft tug |
 |
| Part of a Gibson Girl kite |
 |
| REO Speedwagon motorhome |
March 12, 2024
Have you ever heard of a talus cave? It's essentially a cave formed when large boulders and detris fill a narrow canyon area. We were glad that the Bear Gulch talus caves were open when we visited Pinnacles National Park in central CA. We quickly opted to make the caves part of our loop hike to the reservoir.
Flashlights are required for the caves, preferably one per person, and you may want an extra pair of shoes and socks! We just barely managed to avoid soaking our shoes. Harold was a trooper, his knees letting him know that crawling on a metal grate to get through a tight spot was not going to be without consequences.
Views of the pinnacles as you hiked and a reservoir at the top were your rewards. We're not sure if we saw the condors. We saw some large birds near the reservoir, but they were a bit too far away for us non-birders to make positive identification. Oh well, but if anyone asks, we saw them. ; )
 |
| How's your balance? |
 |
| Good thing it was a weekday in shoulder season |
 |
| Pretty pinnacles |
 |
| At the reservoir |
 |
| Rim trail firecracker wildflowers |
