Friday, April 09, 2021

Moores Go West: Day 22 (Sequioa National Park in California)

We got up this morning with the intention of driving up to Sequoia National Park to see General Sherman — the largest tree by volume in the world. Per the GPS, it should have taken us 1hr15min. We failed to account for the large elevation gain and the fact that we were towing our trailer up. About ten miles shy of the park entrance we had to stop because our transmission was overheating. We let it cool off, consulted some maps and decided to press on. The drive took more like two hours. In the end it was worth because there was snow for the boys to play in and we got to see the Giant Sequoias. While these giant trees are awe-inspiring, we all agreed we liked Stout Grove in the Redwoods better because we got to experience the trees to a greater extent. Also, the kids didn’t get to snag their Jr Ranger badges. We will have to mail in for those. The extra drive time has put us behind. We were planning to hit up Joshua Tree next but are adjusting our plan. Hopefully we will be at a cool spot to boondock for the weekend. Probably won’t have internet or cell service though.

The hike to the giant sequoias was our 30th hike of 2021 (30/52). We walked a total of 2.5 miles. This brings us to 91 miles hiked this year.  

I haven’t driven a whole lot in California — we’ve been on a lot of narrow mountain roads with big drop offs. I’m taking a turn today, headed into Bakersfield. We are going to hit 5,000 miles on the road soon. 

Day 22 of our trip we made it up to see General Sherman at Sequoia National Park (see previous post) before heading to tonight’s campsite. Our actual site was about 15 miles due east but Mount Whitney (the tallest mountain in the continental US) was in the way. So instead we had to make a huge loop that took 4+ hours. We crossed 5,000 miles of driving today and made it to camp on BLM land right at dusk. Camping in the desert is our favorite. The stars are amazing. And to top it off we all saw the biggest shooting star that any of us have ever seen. It exploded in green and yellow at the end. It was a good end to a long day. 

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