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Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Parks - A Familiar Sight? (June 11-13)

The Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks were stunning in their own right, but it was pretty obvious the beauty wasn’t getting the same reaction out of us as when we were in Yosemite. Were we becoming so familiar with our surroundings that we were no longer impressed? Had the awe of what we were experiencing faded? Surely not yet! We were reminded of how being so familiar with something, anything, can eventually lead to a lack of appreciation for our experiences and the people in our lives. It was time to give ourselves a real slap and make sure that we were still truly aware of what was in front of us. We want to appreciate each experience for what it is, without comparing to any previous ones or expect to be impressed more than before. A sense of awe feels amazing, exhilarating and cn almost become addictive like a drug, before you know it you are longing for the next high. We are discovering that travel, like life is not about looking for the next high, it’s about taking every experience as it comes whether amazing, average or not so flash and getting something worthwhile out of it. Or, maybe it’s about letting go of all judgement and learning to see beauty in the unexpected places. We definitely have a lot to learn about getting the best out of our experiences. We would love it if you could engage in this conversation with us and share your thoughts. (You can comment below)

Having reflected, we enjoyed every minute of being in Sequoia and Kings Canyon, especially since this is the least visited National Park in California and fewer crowds provided a greater sense of tranquillity. Although we had already seen a number of giant Sequoia trees in Yosemite, we couldn’t miss seeing the largest tree (by volume) in the world, the General Sherman tree which sits 84m high, is 31m in circumference, has a diameter of 11.1m at the base and it’s largest branch has a diameter of 2.1m!! Again, we felt extremely small and insignificant against this enormous living thing. We saw a fallen tree called the Tunnel Log which was conveniently made into a tourist attraction by cutting a whole in the middle of it. It's now a tree trunk you can drive through which of course we did.

General Sherman Tree

Tunnel Log

We hiked the 400 steps up to the top of Moro Rock, a huge granite dome in Sequoia with 360° spectacular views. The stairway is extremely skinny (less than a metre) and hugs the rock all the way to the top. All that was in the way of a very long fall and me was a couple of steel bars which I wasn’t so keen about. I was getting no sympathy from Tim who didn’t have any problem with the walk and kept telling me ‘just do it…you’ll be fine’. And so I was! Another little experience of confronting my fear. I decided a long time ago that I wasn’t going to be held back by it, so up I went. Of course the views at the top were amazing and for the zillionth time I discovered that facing your fear is almost always worth the effort. What we saw was a sweeping view across the whole Sequoia National Park and in the opposite direction the Great Western Divide with an incredible scene of the snow capped Sierra Mountains.

The views from the top of Moro Rock

We drove to the ‘End of the Road’ through Kings Canyon on the very edge of rocky cliff faces. It was getting late and we hadn’t yet found a campsite for the night (sound familiar?). We were driving into a very remote area and hoping there was space for us because we didn’t really fancy driving out of the park again along the narrow cliff edge. Thankfully, due to fewer people around we managed to find a great site in the middle of a classic American forest. We were towered over by hundreds of pine trees and wondered if we might see any bears around. In California’s National Parks, it is illegal to have any food of any kind stored in your camping area or in your car. Unfortunately bears have been known to go to great lengths to access food, including peeling off windows and ripping roofs off of campervans. Hmmm, good sense of smell? It’s amazing how many food packets can somehow make their way all over the van….we gathered all our food together and did as we were told to avoid becoming another victim. Speaking of seeing a bear, we did get to see one in the wild despite it looking like a major tourist attraction. This bear caused a major traffic jam with all the people who stopped pretty much in the middle of the road (including us) just to get out and see what the crowd was looking at.

Driving on the Cliff Edge

End of the Road, Kings Canyon

On our final day in Kings Canyon, we had a long drive ahead of us to Las Vegas. We weren’t ready to leave the National Parks but unfortunately a hotel booking pulled us away. It felt like we had to say goodbye to a really good friend we knew we wouldn’t see for a very long time.

A Deer Called Daisy (June 9-11)

This is one story that definitely has to be told…..the rarest of experiences that is one of our biggest highlights so far….

We didn’t want to leave Yosemite after experiencing its magnificence but time was pushing us forward and so we decided to find a local campsite and leave the area first thing in the morning. It was a spontaneous decision to stop at a local sushi bar in the main street of a small town called Oakhurst just outside of the National Park. This one was nothing to rave about, but as it turned out the food for once, was not the centre of attention and I (Sal) didn’t even get to eat the sushi!We were sitting against the window inside this tiny sushi restaurant on the main street of Oakhurst and in the moment our meal was served we could not believe what we saw….a baby deer scattered frantically past the window, running as if it was injured. Tim with his big heart immediately went outside to see where it had gone and I followed soon after, to discover Tim was holding the deer. He had managed to pick it up from where it was hiding in shock behind one of the car wheels. The poor thing didn’t even struggle.

The big question….where was its Mum? The other question….what do we do with it now? I figured there must be some form of animal shelter or rescue program around, especially with being so close to the National Park. All I could come up with after searching the phone book was a number for animal control and after calling them was told the Sherriff was on his way. Okay! We all knew at that point what was going to happen to the deer! For those of you who know me well, know that you pretty much can’t get a bigger animal lover than me (and that has also rubbed off on Tim big time) so I was beside myself. I couldn’t imagine anything else the Sherriff would do at 9pm at night other than take it away and shoot it.

Now was the time to get the help of a local….there weren’t a whole lot of people around and everyone I asked were visiting. We were all out of ideas. I just wanted to protect this poor little fragile creature who had obviously lost its Mum and was potentially injured, possibly internally. Was this my maternal instincts kicking in? hehe.

While we were at a loss of what to do, a car pulled up directly in front of us with the headlights shining straight into the deer’s eyes. The lady got out of the car, very intrigued as to what was going on. We said we had found a deer and immediately she showed significant interest in its welfare. We were pretty shocked when she told us that she was a licensed animal carer and had experience in rehabilitating various animals. What are the chances!? It’s time’s like this that divine intervention seems fairly obvious.

She (Kandy) quickly determined that the deer was uninjured…sweet! Kandy asked me what we wanted to name her and the first word that sprung to mind was ‘Daisy’. Ok, so it’s not the most original name and probably slightly corny, but it stuck.

That night, the campsite idea was canned and we ended up parking on the Stanfield family property where we slept for 2 nights while helping to care for the new family addition. They were kind enough to take it in and thankfully the Sherriff was a good guy and agreed to allow it.

What an incredibly unique experience to be able to help care for this adorable creature that we discovered was not more than a few days old with the umbilical cord crust still evident. It became familiar with us extremely quickly and we grew attached in a short time. Thankfully the family had access to formula and we took turns in feeding her which proved to be a fun challenge. A man-made plastic teat was not quite the same as what she was used to and she would often prefer to try her luck on us for food…..sucking on our chin, neck, fingers and several times venturing beyond the ladies’ t-shirts. It was a good laugh!

A video of Daisy

When we all had to go out, Daisy was not happy about being left in the cage on her own and her cries, which sounded like a squeaky toy, were loud and clear. In the cage next door, were some orphaned kittens the family was also caring for and the obvious solution for Daisy’s lonliness was to put the kittens in with her. We tested the waters for a while to see how they would react to each other and while they were all a little unsure at first, it seemed they all became snuggle buddies! It was the most adorable thing to see a baby deer curled up with two kittens, all sleeping soundly. At 4am when Tim and I got up to feed Daisy, we found one of the kittens spr­­awled out on it’s back while Daisy rested her head on its belly!! All Tim and I could do was look at each other and laugh!! After all, wasn’t this the type of picture you only get sent to you in emails?

Unfortunately we didn’t get to spend time with most of the Stanfield family as they had a pre-planned trip away, but we did hang out with Chelsea, the 17yo daughter for majority of the time we were there. A genuine, fun chick who obviously had a natural gift in caring for animals. She offered to take us horse riding and despite our reluctance to leave Daisy we couldn’t pass up this chance. It was the first time both of us have ridden on our own and was an exhilarating feeling. I was a little nervous but still managed a trot while Tim naturally had to get his horse into a gallop. It was great getting onto a horse again for the first time in about 13 years….the last experience being a fall from one. Thankfully, this time left us both unscathed.

Leaving Oakhurst and Daisy was tough, but we knew that the longer we left it the more attached we would become. We needed to appreciate this experience for what it was, but not drag it out any longer because ultimately we were not able to put Daisy in our backpack and take her back to Oz! So we said our very sad goodbyes to Chelsea and Daisy and headed off….next stop Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Park.

Yosemite National Park (June 7-9)

After leaving Lake Tahoe, we drove into complete barrenness…..at last, I could go to sleep without having to worry about missing any views! The drive was about 5-6 hours to get to Yosemite and we knew that we weren’t going to make it into the park having left Tahoe in the afternoon. We had no idea that the east side of the park which we chose to enter from was extremely remote and services/campsites were few and far between. ‘Where were we driving….into the abyss??’ We ended up in this dingy, tiny town called Lee Vining where our van became the main attraction. We were a tiny bit conspicuous driving around trying to find somewhere to park for the night – we saw the locals (mostly Mexicans) just standing on the side of the road staring at us as we drove past. We decided to grab some food and after parking, happened to run into the Pastor of the local Church. He happily allowed us to park our van next to the Church for the night and even offered us a shower in the morning! (We didn’t get a shower in the end because the Pastor must have forgotten and we couldn’t find him in the morning to have him open the building…ah well). The overnight stay wasn’t so flash, especially after eating rich barbeque food and not having any access to a toilet!! I will spare you the details! ;-) But at least we had a place to park!

The next day it took us 2 hours to drive into the heart of Yosemite Valley but an amazing one at that! We entered the park via Tioga Pass and couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw 2 foot of snow in some places and a lake that was completely frozen over! We didn’t expect that at all, especially when we had encountered temperatures into the high 30’s on the drive from Tahoe! The snow and ice just made the mountains, trees etc even more beautiful and it was a sunny day which meant that everything glistened. We were surrounded by rocky mountains and valleys that towered above us as we drove into the centre of Yosemite. We stopped at a few look out points on the way and were just in awe (again) of what we were seeing.

We arrived at the lowest point of the park which is called Yosemite Valley…the temperatures had risen and we were no longer surrounded by snow and ice however it was no less beautiful. The only downside was how over-crowded it was! This was obviously a very popular place! We did actually know that already after having searched online for campsites and finding out that the hundreds of Yosemite campsites are booked out as soon as they are made available about 7 months before!! But honestly, why wouldn’t you want to come here!? Simply stunning! For us, yes it was beautiful, but the amount of people made it a bit difficult to appreciate it in its entirety. Getting out of the centre of the park at 5:30pm was like driving in peak hour traffic!! Bumper to bumper! Ahh! It felt so wrong!

Although most of the hikes in Yosemite were extremely long and strenuous (which counted us out), there were 2 spots we visited which involved a bit of a walk. One was Bridalveil Falls…which due to the snow melting on top of the mountains, was rushing so hard and fast that we couldn’t get very close to it without feeling like someone was tipping a bucket of water on our head. We walked along the path toward the falls and didn’t manage to get to the end of it because with water up to the middle of our shins and water pouring on our heads, we really didn’t fancy getting swept away! Lol. Didn’t get any good photos of this experience for obvious reasons!

The other site we visited which is definitely worth mentioning was Mariposa Grove which is an area where the famous giant Sequoia Trees have grown. Otherwise known as the handsome beasts, some of these trees are hundreds or even thousands of years old. One in particular called the Grizzly Giant is approximately 2,700 years old, 64 metres high and 30 metres in circumference at the base. It is something else to see a tree this big!! Standing next to one made us feel and look (in our photos) as small as ants! It reminded me of the trees in Lord of The Rings and it almost felt like at any moment they were going to come alive! The unplanned hike we did ended up being about a 10km round trip and 1000ft in elevation. I say unplanned because we arrived at 3pm in the afternoon to check out a few trees and what we thought was going to be a short walk, ended up being quite a hike. The big mistake on Tim’s part was wearing his thongs (NOT g-string just to clarify for all of our English & American friends)! I kept telling him to change his shoes as we started the hike and all he said was: ‘Nah I’ll be alright, we’re not walking far!’ LOL. Needless to say he had a very injured and sore foot for about a week after that! I have to give him credit though because he hardly complained and he continued to tough out some more walking in the days ahead.

After spending 2 glorious days surrounded by the beauty of Yosemite, we decided to stay at a campsite in a small town just outside of the park called Oakhurst. Before looking for a place to camp we grabbed some dinner at a Sushi Bar in the main street and this is where one of our most special experiences began…..

Lake Tahoe – the view that knocked the wind right out of us (June 7-8)

The drive from Napa Valley to Lake Tahoe was beautiful. The terrain changed from vines and open plains to dense pine forests and mountains. We climbed several thousand feet and descended a few more which meant we both had to pop our ears every 20 seconds or so……and surprisingly there were pops coming from elsewhere too!! Never knew altitude changes could have that affect! Or was it the food from the night before? Lol We started to see ice capped mountains in the distance and evidence that it had snowed not too many days before getting there. It was strange to see large chunks of ice on the side of the road even though it was about 25 degrees (Celsius)!

We had reached 10,000 feet and on the other side of a corner was a view that left us breathless and brought me (sal) to tears. It was literally like I’d been hit in the face, but instead of a tonne of bricks it was picturesque, awe-inspiring beauty! How do you even describe it!? A panoramic view of mountains sweeping down into a valley and there was the lake that sits around 6000 feet above sea level. Being as high as what we were looking over the view was what made it so spectacular. The only feeling I have ever had that is similar is when I jumped out of a plane. Along with hundreds of others we signed our name on the guardrail to mark our moment.

Driving into the town, we noticed every few miles there was a ski resort…there was no snow at the lower altitude, but it was obviously a big part of the culture here. We arrived around dinner time and managed to find the best cheap eat since we’ve been on the road – authentic Mexican food at Los Mexicanos! For under 25 bucks we got the biggest shrimp burrito we’ve ever seen and chicken enchiladas with rice, beans, salsa, guacamole and corn chips on the side. Sooooo good! We even managed to get a massive tub of guacamole & corn chips to take away for US$1.49. We cannot believe how good the Mexican food is in this country…..so authentic, fresh, healthy and tasty!! We’ve always excluded the Mexican restaurants in Oz as good places to eat, but now we are thinking we should really try them! They definitely have a lot to live up to!

We hung out and watched the beautiful sunset over the lake and following that decided to find our parking spot for the night. The area is heavily Policed and ‘no overnight parking’ signs were everywhere, so it was just as well we had organised to park in the driveway of someone’s holiday house. The guy on reception in a Napa Valley hotel (restaurant where we ate) who we happened to get chatting to told us about it…..the odd thing was he couldn’t give us a specific address for the property. He just told us it was on the corner of 2 joining streets and that it was vacant. We really had no idea what property it was, but we found one that looked like the only vacant house on the corner and decided to park in the driveway. We quickly got off to sleep and next thing we knew there was a knock on the window (at 7am)…our first one since being on the road. Ahhh! “Tim, Tim wake up there’s someone knocking on the window”. There was an older guy standing at the side of the van asking if he could get to his garage (in other words, can we move)! OH!! It dawned on us…we had definitely got the wrong house!! We had just slept overnight at the front of some random dude’s home! Ooops! We apologised profusely and although we could tell the guy was annoyed, he didn’t yell or abuse us with obscene language, which we were thankful for. So….what was definitely an interesting way of waking up, now makes for a funny story. As we drove away, we definitely had a bit of a chuckle to ourselves.

After we’d spent some time having breakfast at the lakeside, we drove to check out some of the views over Lake Tahoe. One of the most popular areas to visit is called Emerald Bay, a small cove of water that joins to the larger lake. This was where we did our first hike albeit small, but we did get to see some beautiful mountainous scenery, a waterfall and some solid ice on a 28 degree beautiful day! We returned to the town to have some food at a café called ‘Sprouts’ which had been recommended to us by locals in Napa Valley. WOW!! Really good, fresh organic food…mostly vegetarian with minimal dishes containing meat. You wouldn’t know it though! These guys definitely know how to prepare beans and make them taste soooo good! Yes, raving about food…..AGAIN!! Obsessesed much?? Uhuh!

That day, we were headed for Yosemite National Park….