What were we thinking?

Currently In:  Groveland, CA outside of Yosemite
Heading to Lake Tahoe, Redding and Crescent City, CA on our way to Oregon and Washington

Here is the first waterfall we saw at Yosemite!  Cascade Creek - you can pull over the the side of the road to check it out - no hiking required.

There are lots and lots and lots of waterfalls and since it is Spring they are all full and flowing.  The sound is unbelievable!

So our biggest mistake on our first visit to this Park was coming on a sunny Saturday in the Spring. What were we thinking!  We drove around for an hour looking for a parking space, and there were lots of people at the big attractions in the Valley.

Still got a nice photo of the Lower Falls.

We went to the Visitor's Center, hiked around a bit and left early since it was a madhouse.
The next day we went on a fabulous hike in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir area.

It started at the O'Shaughnessy Dam.  This dam was built in the 1920's to provide water to San Francisco.

First, we walked through a tunnel.

Then up some rocks, through the forest, and across several streams.

We admired the view and saw the wildflowers along the way.

We saw the smaller Tueeulala Falls.

And then made it to Wapama Falls!

We both tried to cross the bridge without getting too wet.

One last look at the Falls from a distance.

Great hike!

Hike to a Cave

Currently In:  Hollister, CA
Heading to Yosemite
Next Up:  Redding, CA and then to Redwood National Park, Crater Lake National Park, Portland and Seattle


We are making good use of our National Park Annual Pass!  I don't have an actual count of all the Parks, Monuments and Forts we have been to, but it's quite a few.

Add Pinnacles National Park to the list.

First, we took a look at the actual pinnacles themselves, which were formed by the San Andreas Fault, volcanos and heat, frost, water and wind wearing away at the rock.   We did not hike to the top where the condors hang out, so we missed seeing them.  It was a hot day and that hike was 7 miles.

We chose instead the Bear Gulch Cave Trail - just a couple miles.   Still has some great views along this trail.

Once we got to the caves, we were crawling around in the dark!  The spring created water falls in the cave, so we had to be careful where we stepped.  

A piece of ice in the cave!

We made it to the Bear Gulch Reservoir!  The water looked really clear, and it was not too cold.

We took the Rim Trail back to the car.  And saw lots of great wildflowers.

Sticky monkeyflower

Larkspur

Johnny really liked this building.  It's the Nature Center now, but it used to be the Visitor Center.  I couldn't figure out how old it is, but I'm saying somewhere in the 1930s.

Couple of other things to mention in this post:  this area of California is so beautiful - the rolling hills, trees, and little farms we saw along the way.

There are also many fruit stands along several of the roadsides.  Our RV park, Casa de Fruta,  started as a fruit stand in 1908.   Later they added a restaurant, bakery, winery and deli.  There are also kiddie rides in the retail area.   Eventually they added an RV park (more like a parking lot) in the back.  Very different from the other places we have stayed in the last several months.

17 mile (plus) Drive

Currently in:  Hollister, CA
Heading to Yosemite tomorrow! Yea!
Working our way north through California, Oregon and Washington


We took a long, long drive along the California coast.  We started in Monterey took a look at Cannery Row.   Lots of shops and restaurants.
We then stopped at Lover's Point, of course!  There are nice views of Monterey.

Around the curve is the Point Pinos Lighthouse.  It is the oldest lighthouse on the West Coast.  Unfortunately, it was closed when we were there.  But I got some photos!

We then entered the 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach.  Here are a couple of highlights of that drive.

Bird Rock (also has seals, sea lions and sea otters)

Lone Cyprus - 250 years old!

Ghost Tree - trunk bleached from wind

closest Johnny will ever get to Pebble Beach golf course!

We continued our drive along the coast into Carmel-by-the-Sea.   We stopped at the beach for a quick walk.

The houses along the beach were really interesting.  Each one had unique architecture.  The roof on this one looks like it's from a story book!

We drove around Mission Ranch, a property owned by Clint Eastwood.  While being a ranch, it is also a hotel and restaurant.  It's cute and very peaceful.

We continued our drive down Highway 1 toward Big Sur.  Lovely scenery.

There were several concrete bridges along the way that looked similar to this one at Bixby Creek.  They were built in the 30's connecting the Big Sur area in winter because other roads were regularly impassable.

It was a long day, but we covered a lot of ground!