Friday 13/07 (2/2)
There are a lot of traffic jams on the road.
Temperature goes up to 36°C.
We eventually arrive in Coarsegold (a bit before Yosemite NP) at 8:45pm. Before going to our RV Resort, we drive 10 miles more, until Oakhurst, to have dinner. We try ‘Jack in the Box’ fast-food. Not bad (but not good either).
We also quickly go to Von’s supermarket to buy milk and fruit for tomorrow’s breakfast and also bread, ham and cheese to prepare a picnic for tomorrow (we’ll go for a hike in Yosemite NP).
We arrive at the “resort” (camping) at 10:30pm but it takes us 30’ (with the help of the people from the resort) to find our “double tent” (with beds and fridge).
Kids go directly to their beds while Isabelle prepares the walk of tomorrow and I write the summary of yesterday and today, until midnight.
Saturday 14/07
We wake up before 8am. It’s super hot in the tent.
Shower and breakfast (we have a table and chairs in front of our tent).
It’s already 33°C (at 9am)!
We take the car to go to Yosemite NP. We are stuck for more than one hour in traffic jams (to drive the last km to the visitor center). One of the access roads is closed due to a big fire in the park.
We don’t go in the valley but up in the mountains. Temperature drops to 28°C.
We go to Glacier Point. Superb view of the Half Dome, a well-known granite dome.
After eating our picnic (sandwiches), we walk on the Four Mile Trail, from where we have a view of El Capitan, another vertical rock formation.
We take the car to go to the Tunnel View, a nice viewpoint of the Yosemite Valley. We drive to the other side of the river, from where we have a great view of El Capitan, from the bottom of it. We see people climbing it! We then cool ourselves down by swimming in the river.
On our way back, we visit also the Mariposa Grove, a short trail from where we can admire sequoia trees.
We then drive to Oakhurst, where we eat an extra large pizza at Round Table; not bad.
The kids take a frozen yogurt as desssert.
We arrive in the resort around 9pm. Showers (in the common restrooms).
We are in bed at 9:45pm.
I write the daily summary until 11pm.
Sunday 15/07
We learn that a fireman died yesterday while trying to put out the fire.
Wake up at 6:30am; difficult for the kids.
Departure before 8am.
The region is full of fruit trees.
It’s a bit boring to drive on the American “highways” (with sometimes lights…). The maximum speed is 110km/h (55 to 65 miles per hour, sometimes – very rarely – 70 mph), most of the time on one lane (with no permission to overtake…).
We first stop in Kings Canyon NP, to see sequoias. We participate in the ranger’s walk, which lasts 30’. It’s quite interesting. It leads us to the second biggest tree in the world (in volume): General Grant Tree.
Sequoia trees can be as old as 3,000 years and as high as 90 m.
We then continue our trip to the Sequoia NP, where we go and see the General Sherman Tree, the biggest tree in the world. We buy some sandwiches and wraps for lunch; we eat them in the car.
We are at 1,800m of altitude.
We spot (thanks to the help of other drivers) a mother bear with cub, from the road. We stop and try to go closer to take a picture but she’s already gone… It was so great to see them; we are very lucky!
The log tunnel is only accessible by shuttle (and not by car) so we decide not to go.
Nice road to go down but turning.
We go around Sierra Nevada by the southern end.
We continue our road towards Death Valley.
It is very hot: the temperature is still 46°C a little before 9 pm!
We are unfortunately a bit late for the sunset.
We arrive in the motel at 9pm. We go directly to eat in the restaurant. Burgers for the 3 girls, chicken wings for Jules and a salad for me.
We are in bed by 10:45pm, all very much tired. And tomorrow we wake up at 5am to see the highlights of the Death Valley with the sunrise!
We drove 700km today! Isabelle drove the second part of the day.
