Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 07:32:55 -0700
Reply-To: mark drillock <mdrillock@COX.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: mark drillock <mdrillock@COX.NET>
Subject: trip report, Sequoia NP
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A couple weeks ago we celebrated our 25th anniversary by taking off on a
9 day camping trip. We had spent part of our honeymoon in Sequoia NP and
decided to head there again for several days and then into Kings Canyon
too. We knew it was a little early in the year for those places but we
didn't quite grasp how early it would later seem.
After a Thur night at a rest area half way we arrived on a Fri morning
and were disappointed to learn that our desired foothills campground
Buckeye Flat was not open yet for this season. We pulled into nearby
Potwisha instead, resigned to make the best of it for 2 nights after
which we would head up to the the big trees when the weekend crowds were
gone. It was surprisingly hot even at 2500 feet and the campground
filled both nights, about half with Europeans most of whom appeared to
be German. Late Fri afternoon an odd looking car with a loud exhaust
pulled in near us. I recognized the plate as from Argentina so I went
over. It was a young couple who had started out 2 years ago for Alaska.
Not the same couple from Argentina I wrote about here recently, this new
couple was in a Renault car and the earlier couple at least had a Westy
weekender. Both couples are on the same quest by coincidence. I spoke to
them briefly and they knew the first couple, having crossed paths with
them earlier in their trip while still in South America but already many
thousands of miles after they had left home. The first couple had been
at my house a week earlier. Small world, or something.
Sun morn we got up early and headed up the mountain to the giant
Sequoias. It was a spectacular drive and we stopped at various points of
interest to walk among the big trees. The only high country campground
open was LodgePole so we picked a spot and got settled. Our nearest
neighbor was a young couple from Holland in a tiny rental RV. Next to
them was a solo bicyclist, with a lot of gear on his bike but no tent.
As night came it started to rain so he tied a cord between his table and
a tree and folded a tarp over it, staking out the corners. Then he threw
a sleeping bag on the bare ground under it. His feet stuck out from
under the tarp so he threw his jacket over them. It must have been a
long night.
On Mon another Westy cruised into the campground and took a space far
from us. The plate was from Vermont and they had a couple of kayaks on
the roof. This was the first Vanagon we had seen since the Los Angeles
area. Get out there people! I went for a hike to a nearby falls and on
my return leg it lightly hailed on me for a good half hour. Sitting in
the van enjoying a hot cup of tea the hail really let loose. It built up
a couple inches deep in spots and stayed on the ground into the next
day. In the morning it was snowing, adding a layer to the remaining
hail. We packed up to head for Kings Canyon and it was really dumping so
we were glad to go. This was the actual date of our wedding, a planned
outdoor wedding that had to be moved inside when it snowed all night.
Here is a photo of our 87 Syncro, May 7th 2013, Sequoia NP.
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1064580.jpg
Mark and Anne
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