Central California National Parks: A Campsite Caper

Monday, May 20th

[So this is actually the second time I’m writing this because for some reason, while working on this on my trip, my computer decided that it didn’t need to actually save what I had done despite the fact I saved what I had done…or thought I did.  So I’ll try to remember what I had to say and repeat myself.]

On Sunday morning I packed up camp and set out on the road from Hodgdon Campground one last time.  I planned to spend one last morning in Yosemite before making my way to Fresno.  The first stop of the day was something they call Tunnel View.  It is the last place you can view Yosemite Valley from before heading through the tunnel that takes you away.  Unfortunately the morning I was up there, the view wasn’t great.  It was rather hazy in the morning sunlight, so I don’t think it was as awe-inspiring as it could have been maybe an hour or two later in the day.

View from Glacier Point

From Tunnel View, I headed to Glacier Point.  Glacier Point offers a fantastic view of Yosemite Valley from up above.  You can actually hike up there from the Valley via 4 Mile Trail, but I decided that trail would have to wait for another trip.  The views from Glacier Point were stunning for sure.  You could see Vernal and Nevada Falls and Half Dome all very clearly in one direction.  Then wander over a little further to your left and get amazing views of Yosemite Falls and the meadow down below.  Up on Glacier Point, once upon a time there used to be two hotels.  However, when both burned down in a fire, they decided to not rebuild, allowing that area to return back to nature.

Yosemite Falls as seen from Glacier Point

After leaving Glacier Point I continued south through Yosemite to the visitor center on the south end of the park.  The plan had been to take the road back to Mariposa Sequoia Grove and hike the Grizzly Grove Trail, but the road was closed and shuttle buses not yet running, so the only way to get back to the grove was a 2 mile hike.  So instead, I hiked back to the grove, took the loop through Mariposa Grove and hiked back out.  On the way I decided to count the rings on a tree that was down.  I counted 89 rings (this was not a sequoia or I’d still be counting).  

First Sequoia Sightings

Just north of the visitor center you could see that fire had recently run through the forest.  A volunteer that I asked said that the fire had occurred 2 years ago, the Washburn Fire, and they were able to stop it just north of the visitor center and save it.  It was the first area I had been through that you could tell fire had passed through in the past couple of years.  There were other areas that I had been through that showed signs of fire, but probably more in the 10-30 years ago range.

The drive from Yosemite to Fresno went quick and I made it to the hotel mid-afternoon.  I had the most amazing shower and I did some laundry.  I also made a run to the nearby Target to get a couple of things I decided would be useful to have that I hadn’t packed, and ate supper.  Then to bed.

Kings River in the V-Shaped Canyon

This morning I hopped on the road early so I could get to Kings Canyon as soon as I could.  Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks are 2 parks adjacent to each other that are administered as one park, but count as 2 different parks visited (Bonus park!)  In fact, you often see them called SEKI. That is SEquoia and KIngs Canyon National Park. I made it to the park just before 9 and after talking to the park rangers, found out that the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway that goes into the heart of Kings Canyon was still closed for road repairs after being damaged by a storm.  I could make to to V shaped canyon, I was told, but not the U shaped canyon.  I learned that rivers make V shaped canyons, but glaciers make U shaped canyons.

Despite the fact the last part of the road was closed, I enjoyed the trip on the highway down into the canyon.  It was interesting because you started your drive in the pine forests, but as you descended you made your way into territory that had more desert-like plants.  Not cactus, but things like yucca, and the yucca was in bloom.

Eventually the road met up with the Kings River and boy was it a flowing!  It had as much force behind it as the Merced River in Yosemite that Vernal and Nevada Falls are on.  I pulled over a bunch of times to just appreciate the river and its rapidness.  I had lunch at Grizzly Falls which was about as far as I could go before turning around and heading back up.

On the way up, I stopped at a sign I had seen on the way down, but didn’t stop to read at the sign.  It was kind of a sad sign.  It was located in an area that had once been private land.  The owners cut down all the large sequoias and other trees leaving only the largest sequoia standing and then just a boatload of stumps.  It’s so sad that they recognized the greatness of the trees, but not enough to save them all.  I didn’t take the trail back there, but was told it is an interesting trail.

View from Panorama Point...everything the light touches is Kings Canyon, except that one spot...it's Sequoia National Forest.

I then made my way to Panorama Point.  I drove up there to check out the amazing view.  You could see much of what makes up Kings Canyon National Park from there.  And then I chose to take a hike out to a fire tower.  This trail was up over 7000 feet, which was a couple thousand feet higher than I had previously been on this trip, and boy did I feel it on this hike.  A quick glance at the trail map before heading out told me I should hit the fire tower about 2.4 miles in.  I hiked back and at around 2.5 miles still hadn’t found the fire tower so I turned back, thinking I had lost the trail and that the fire road I was on was not the right trail.  On the way back I found that I was only supposed to stay on the fire road for about a 100 feet before turning back off of it.  I did later see on the trail map that you could take the fire road to the tower, it was just about a half mile further.  Oh well, at least it was a nice hike and I got lungs working at 7000 feet as warmup for the next few days.

Krystina or tired Spongebob?

After finishing my hike I headed to my campsite at Azalea Campground where I was confused to find a tent already in my campsite.  I went over to the visitor center and told them someone was in my campsite, and they said they’d send the campground supervisor over to stop by.  A little while later just after I pulled in to find another car already there, a park ranger stopped by.  After chatting a little while with her and this other woman who was the person who had her tent up there we thought we had come to a conclusion.  I was supposed to be in campsite 109, which was where she was set up.  I asked if she was supposed to be in campsite 110 instead and if that was the case I could just set up there as long as she was only staying the one night and she said yeah.  The park ranger left, and so did the other woman, and then about 15 minutes later just after I had gotten my tent put up, someone else pulled into the campsite and said that they had reserved 110.  Hmmm…so it turns out the woman lied.  There was enough space that I just pitched my tent about 50 feet from where she was camped.  Saga to be continued….

That's okay, the view from my makeshift campsite was better.