We are currently parked at a quaint little campground in Klamath, CA which is about as far north you can go in CA before crossing into Oregon. It is a great location right on the Klamath River and the sun is really trying to stay out! This is one of the salmon run rivers although we have not seen anyone actually catch anything!
The RV Park is tucked in the middle of all the trees.
They have a saying about the California weather “ May Gray -& June Gloom”. For the most part, that is what we have been experiencing, at least when we are near the coast. If we go inland a little, even just a few miles, it usually gets a little warmer and we find some sun! Our next trip to California will definitely be later in the summer or maybe early fall.
Since our last update we have visited 4 National Parks: Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite and Redwood. We took hundreds of photos of the huge sequoia and redwood trees, canyons and waterfalls, but it impossible to capture their beauty with a mere two dimensional photo! We also enjoyed family visits with Kathy’s sister Patty and her husband Roman (another Minnesota guy!) in Santa Rosa and our oldest granddaughter, Ana, who lives in Arcata, CA.
After we left Monterey we drove to to Visalia, CA and stayed at another Elks Lodge. From here it was only 30 miles to our first stop, Sequoia National Park, the oldest national park in California. (established in 1890) .
These giant sequoias are not the oldest or the tallest trees, but in total volume they are the largest living things in nature. Starting from a small 2 inch seed, these giants need three things to survive, water, sunlight and bare soil.
Can't get the whole tree in one photo!
Before the locals understood that sequoias depend on fires to survive, they used to fight all the natural fires, believing they were destructive. This allowed brush and other trees to grow and spread out which ended up blocking the sun and draining the moisture from the ground. This caused a huge reduction in the sequoia population. In the 1960‘s they figured it out and now have prescribed burns to control the undergrowth and now the sequoia population is making a great rebound. Many of the trails were still snow covered and impassible without snowshoes but we visited the Museum and took a few short strolls through the sequoia groves. We did get to see the General Sherman Tree, the largest living tree in the world! It is 102 feet around and taller than a 27 story building! (275 feet)
The next day we headed for Kings Canyon National Park. Again, many of the hiking trails were still under several feet of snow but we were able to follow the short path to see the General Grant Tree, also very impressive at 267 feet high!
Then we took a 30 mile long drive deep into the canyon following the South Fork Kings River. The river carved the canyon to a depth of 8,000 feet, 3,000 feet deeper than the Grand Canyon!
At some points the river was raging and then a few miles later it would look so calm you thought you could wade across. We stopped for a picnic lunch near one of the calmer areas and I stuck my toes in....VERY COLD!
Just as we reached the end of the road we saw other visitors beginning to set out their picnic lunch. Not even two minutes later a huge bear arrived and headed straight towards their picnic table! They quickly packed up the food and headed back to the car while everyone else grabbed their cameras to capture a photo!
The elevation range in both of these parks offers visitors a wide range of temperatures. If you are too hot, go uphill and the temperature may drop 10-15 degrees! Too cold, head downhill to the valleys!
From Visalia it was a short drive to our second Escapees Park for this trip, Park of the Sierra, in Coarsegold, CA . It was a great park with huge sites and very friendly people!
Our "Home" at the Escapees Park, Park Sierra near Yosemite
This was the closest place we could find for our visit to our next park,Yosemite.
It took us almost an hour to drive to the entrance and another hour to get to the Yosemite Valley. We spent 3 days in Yosemite and covered only a small part of the 748,000 acres (roughly the size of Rhode Island). Our timing was excellent to see the waterfalls. As a result of the near record amounts of snowfall this winter, all the falls were really roaring.
The only down side was that due to the snow, some of the mountain trails and roads were still closed. We’ll have to come back another time to go to Glacier Point and drive through Tioga Pass, the highest automobile pass in California.
