Ever Changing Plans….Letting Go and Being Flexible

We stayed in San Clemente for more days than originally expected.  The bad news is John was sick enough he needed to stay in bed for about 4 days.  The good news is more time with family.  It was nice to spend so much extra time with Angela, Jake, and Nathan. The beach was a great daily reprieve from the road.  And we were able to just “be” with our family…cooking, day trips around town, talking, being present, sitting by the fire.  So wonderful.  And I even conducted a reptile introduction with Nathan’s pet snake.  Never did I ever….

Our plan leaving Ang and Jakes was to continue our journey to hit all the National Parks in California.  A couple things got in the way.  

First, high winds prevented us from getting to Channel Islands.  During this time of year, only one island is open, and they run on a limited schedule.  This is a trip we will make the next time we are out visiting Ang and Jake again.  I also want to hit up Apricot Lane Farms.  If you haven’t, watch “Biggest Little Farm” the story about a couple re-christening an 81-year-old abandon farm into a harmonious relationship with nature.

Second, some of the parks we were planning to visit are too cold, with too much snow, and too many park roads closed.  So basically, nothing to do except for “checking the box” that we made it there, which we decided wasn’t what our adventure was about.

We did get to several National Parks, and I can share some details about all of them.  A very different experience from the parks we have seen so far in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada.

So, we have decided to head intercoastal and take the PCH (Highway 1) NORTH from San Francisco up the coast into Oregon.  Several years ago, on an anniversary trip we took the PCH South from San Francisco to San Diego.  Absolutely spectacular and I would highly recommend.   We rented someone’s pesronal vehicle through Turo, a convertible BMW Z3, and drove it one way.  When we got back, so many people told us, “Oh, you must make the trip North from San Francisco, it is so beautiful.  Se we are going to give it a go!  Time to pivot and make new plans!

Those are some Big Trees

Similar some of the themes above, we arrived and Sequoia and Kings Canyon knowing there was limited area for us to travel in.  Partially because of the snow, but also because of the wildfires they experienced last October.  Little did I know this park contains Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48 states at 14,505 feet.  Something we were able to see quite easily from Death Valley.  Sequoia and Kings Canyon are connected and are run by the same National Park Service.  

We were able to climb the endless switchbacks to Giant Forest where were able to see one of the largest sequoia groves.  The world’s largest tree by volume exists in this park – General Sherman.   It is 275 feet tall, 36 feet in diameter, and estimated at 2,200 years old.  It was very different from the scenery we had experienced thus far.  The darkest greens, the deepest dark rust trunks; all against the white ice/snow below and the surrounding mountains covered in pine forests.  

From here we made our way to Kings Canyon, but because the road between the two parks was completely closed, we had to go around the park from the outside to get in, which added quite a bit of time to our journey.  It was worth it.  It was more of the same for sure, but it kind of felt like everyone else did the calculus between seeing the two parks and chose to only see Sequoia.

We headed up to General Grant Grove, to see (you guessed it) the General Grant tree…the second largest sequoia in the world.  The tree is estimated to be 1,650 years old and 265 feet tall.  We were close to the only visitors in the park.  And if you have ever been in a park by yourself, you know it is an incredible experience.  No talking, no waiting in line, no traffic.  Just you and the trees.  

Our Beast Samsara also made a friend on the trip.  At the Sequoia visitor center, we met a much bigger beast than ours, a tank of an RV.  We introduced ourselves to the owners, who were making their way across the western US down to South America over the next three months, a voyage they are making from their home base of France.  Their vehicle arrived in Baltimore, and they drove it across the US to California.  Puts our trip into perspective, and always nice to meet others more adventurous than us!

Although it would have been nice to see more of the park, we felt we saw what we came to see.  We got to touch, be with, and listen to some of the most beautiful and oldest trees in the world.  And that was perfect.

Some Arizona Vibe in California

Back to the west coast to make our way zig zagging up the coast to Pinnacle National Park in Paicines. Spires, canyons, volcanic remains all created form millions of years of erosion, faulting, and tectonic plate movement.   People come here to hike and to tour the caves.  Winter and Spring are busy times of the year due to most electrifying green grass and the cool air, along with some spectacular views, and eventually wildflowers.

We scored a stealth overnight stay in Laguna Canyon FREE campground, just parked in the overflow parking area which works great for us since we don’t need a tent.

We entered the park at 9, only to be told all the parking lots were already full in the park, and we needed to park at the visitor lot and take a shuttle or walk in.  We chose to walk in, and this is where we were able to see the most beautiful brightest green grass, like a shire as we walked into the canyon area.

The rock canyon area has dramatic elevation increases across multiple switchbacks, exposing some rugged spires.  At the peak are endless rolling green hills.  My legs felt the 1400 ft gain.

Samsara met a twin on this trip, parked right next to us in the visitor lot.  The first time we have met someone with the same van as us.  As you can see, we are hard not to miss.

We got our hiking in, and saw some beautiful views, and by the time we left the line to get into the park was 30+ vehicles long.  And you couldn’t get in until another car left.  We felt lucky to get the spot we did, but we were itching to get onto our next adventure.

Spiritual, Majestic, Worthy of Days (maybe Weeks) of Your Life

I did a lot of reading before the next leg of our journey.  I tried to make the trip to Yosemite a couple years ago, only to be cancelled due to a massive snowstorm in not only the mountains but also the valley.  

Yosemite is very hard to describe or to capture in pictures.  You just must see it yourself to really do it justice.  Again, we knew we would be limited due to snow and time of year, so spent all our time in Yosemite Valley.  This is a great time of year to make the trip.  No crowd, high temperatures in the low 60s.  Snow, greenery, and loud flowing water against the most spectacular granite backdrop you have ever seen with the bluest pristine skies.  When you are inside the valley, it is like you are living inside this snow globe of Yosemite greatest sites.  And they are there for you to see in your own way, on your own time.  Natural eye candy, every single place you look.  

The hiking is manageable in the valley, along paved paths to some epic views.  The Upper and Lower falls were flowing freely, water coming over the top hitting snow at the bottom of the upper falls, overflowing in the lower falls where the mist coming off made a rainbow uncapturable by my photos.  The rumbling, the purity, the crispness.  Serene.  Spiritual.

We made our way to mirror lake for some pictures of Half Dome, to find a lake still partially frozen.  We tiptoed along the ice trail, with pine needles and cones as traction under our feet to keep us upright.  A slow go but well worth the walk.

Tunnel view provides one of the most famous views of the valley…. granite all lined up – El Capitan, Half Dome, Sentinel Rock, Cathedral Falls, and Bridleveil Falls.  Iconic.  Strong.  Majestic.  More beautiful than one can imagine.  No wonder John Muir and Ansel Adams spent their lives exploring and never leaving.  There is always something else to see.

Of all the places we have visited so far, this for sure is at the top of my list of places to come back to.  If you haven’t been, you must.

And our friends from France could be found here as well.  

Go West, My Friend

As I mentioned, the snow, cold, and closed roads are going to keep us away from a couple of the other inland parks we had planned to see.  We will have to save them for later when snowshoes or shoe chains are not required.

We are making our way to Muir Woods, and from there our new, ever changing coastline journey begins.