Three Rivers, Two National Parks and One Bear!

Monday 10-31-16


Human vs. GPS error

Our three hour drive towards Three Rivers was uneventful until we had to look for our turnoff, North Fork drive.  As we got closer, I plugged the address into the GPS on my phone but service is spotty and I've been given the job by "the driver" to be navigator.  The "driver" should have fired me because I inadvertently typed in South Fork drive instead of north.  Here we go up a narrow windy road and not even a half mile into it did I realize my mistake.  Luckily, we found an area to turn around Papi and Edna (no easy task for the total length of approx. 50 ft.)!  I stood in the middle of the road to help navigate Perry around logs, ditches and a fence.  Fortunate for us, a man was working outside watching us struggle and was kind enough to direct us to North Fork.
Three Rivers is at the foothills of the Sequoias surrounded by mountains, trees and supposedly bears!  Sequoia RV Park is in a small area called "Kaweah" and as the sign stated as we pulled in, Elevation 960 and 480 Souls!  I looked at Perry as we entered the wilderness "Are these 480 souls alive or dead"? After all....it is Halloween!  We found our spot, unhitched and went into town for our new tradition of pizza on travel day.  The next day we explored a nearby area called Slick Rock and Perry attempted to fish in the river outside our campsite without any luck.....too many rocks.  We sat outside enjoying the creek right outside our site and the beautiful fall evening and before long our neighbor who was from Washington state joined us in conversation.  He told us of he and his wife's plan to tour the U.S. in their 40 plus foot R.V.  We enjoyed talking to Craig and Lisa and hope our paths will cross again somewhere across the U.S.  Soon after, a small jeep drove up and a friendly, salty character was selling firewood for $10 a bundle.  Our fire was kicking up and soon we were joined by a younger, tall, thin man and his girlfriend who proclaimed themselves to be "gypsies".  They were a year into their relationship, decided to sell everything and travel.  YIKES......sounds like Perry and I?  They had no agenda and were living in a tent trailer but were a fun couple to be around.  I had my reservations about Chris since he took to Daisy but also felt comfortable in disciplining her when she got overly excited.  I liked Beth but it was time to cut this party short!  We had to get up early to head to the Sequoias and Kings Canyon.

Thursday 11-3-16

We couldn't wait to visit Kings Canyon since David and Taylor loved it so much.  It was a good two hours to get there and UP the mountain roads we went with not a word spoken between us.  I don't think either one of us care for heights.....the what ifs?  We know the end result will be worth it and it was!  Kings Canyon is amazing however, being that we were here in the off season a lot of hiking and picnic areas were closed.  We heard so much about Hume Lake and the General Grant tree in the Sequoias.  First stop was the Visitors' Center with verbal directions to the General Grant tree.  According to the volunteer "it is only one third mile from here".  Since you can't bring dogs on national park trails, we made the dogs comfortable in Papi and set foot to see the General Grant tree.  Oh yes......bear whistle neatly tucked away in my pocket.  The trail led us to small signs that said "General Grant" with the arrow pointing in the proper direction.  With not a soul in sight we walked for a good mile, wondering if the fallen tree in front of us was the famous tree and this continued a couple of times on the trail until we determined something didn't feel right!  There was a creepy silence in the air and I knew the bears were somewhere in the not so far off distance.  We walked until we saw a paved road and "yes"  cars....civilization!  This road led us back to the truck and as we drove further down the road,  there was a large sign that pointed to the General Grant tree.  We determined the woman volunteer in the visitors' center meant one third mile driving distance....not walking!  Good old General Grant tree was not the fallen tree on our path but the one near the parking lot with dozens of tourists taking pictures of the second largest tree in the world!  We moved on in search of  Hume Lake .  We followed the signs and noticed there weren't any cars heading in the same direction to the lake.  Did the rest of the people know something we didn't?  Apparently, because it was just US and the speeding Fed Ex truck on the single lane, steep narrow road with an amazing canyon view and the 1,000 foot unsecured drop off.  Traveling at 10 mph we made it to Hume Lake that had NO WATER?! How could that be since so many people I've talked to fairly recently, had been there ?  Upon our safe return, we  were told the dam in the lake was being repaired.  Okay everyday can't be perfect!  Up the road we went in search of recommended Cedar Grove, also in Kings Canyon.  We were at the summit and looking down the windy, stark road when Perry and I decided it was best to head back "home", but not before stopping to let the dogs do their thing.  Perry took them on a trail that took them out of my sight and I thought they were taking long.  Here I am in the middle of nowhere and after twenty minutes the dogs came running back towards me and the truck with no leashes and no Perry. ( I could NOT drive the truck down 6500 feet if my husband didn't come back).  Thankfully, ten minutes after the dogs ran back, here comes Perry!  He figured the dogs got an uneasy feeling when they came across fresh beat scat.  GLAD to get out of here figuring each day brings a different adventure.  We didn't get to see all of Kings Canyon but couldn't wait to get back to buy our $10 firewood and plan our trip to Sequoia National Park the next day.  What a day!

Sequoia National Park
11-4-16

Somehow I knew this day would be different than yesterday.  The drive (according to our neighbor Craig) is easy and scenic!  He was right about it being scenic but NOT easy!  The entrance to the park was only a few miles from where we were staying and our first stop was Tunnel Rock.  Years ago cars would travel up the mountain under Tunnel Rock.  Next stop was Hospital Rock which had petroglyphs (prehistoric stories carved into rock) and a rock where Native American women ground acorns into flour in time creating shallow "bowls" into the rocks .  Next to this was the "bear warning" sign.  Time to head UP the mountain......focus......don't look down!  As beautiful and somewhat scary as this drive was, I managed to looked down and saw a tiny little spec which was actually a car working it's way up the mountain.  Next stop.....Moro Rock, then General Sherman (the largest tree in the world).   As we got out of the car to hike to Moro Rock, people we were putting their food in the bear proof containers....bears?!  I decided to use the restroom before heading out to the highest point and all I could think of were bears!  This narrow-minded ridiculous thinking led me into the "mens" restroom. Hopefully only Perry knew (he pointed it out) !  Gracie and Daisy didn't like being left behind and they sure let us know it by barking.  The climb up was extremely steep but the top of the rock is supposed to have the most amazing view of the Sierra Nevada's (including Mount Whitney). After two-thirds up, I decided to head back and keep the dogs company.  Off to the General Sherman tree.....guaranteed we learned our lesson after yesterdays trip to General Grant.  We began the hike down to the famous tree reading signs along the way warning hikers of the intense climb back up. People were heading back up the mountain (out of breath) and Perry made the comment "if that old man can make it, you can make it".  As they passed us, we noticed the "old man" was actually a woman in her fifties with a hat!  Thankfully he quietly made the comment where only I could hear it. The tree was definitely worth the hike......what a magnificent tree!  We stopped at a visitor's center once again, where I got a brilliant lesson on the sequoias from one of the rangers that also informed me that at this time of year, the bears are heading down to Three Rivers looking to store up on food in preparation for hibernation.   Wait.......Three Rivers is where we're staying?! Trying to forget about what I just heard, we enjoyed a nice sandwich (much better than the other day) reminding each other to clean up to avoid bear "temptation".  I need to face my phobias and see a bear.......well our treacherous non-verbal, lean to the left trip down the mountain brought us to a black bear off the side of the road.  A couple cars had stopped to take pictures and once we were able to stop the bear had crossed to the other side.  I was able to see it close up about 5 feet away and luckily I was in the truck!

We enjoyed a nice, relaxing dinner at the River View restaurant and again made friends with a lovely couple that were entertained by our dogs. Soon another couple walks up acknowledging our dogs as we ate on the patio.  After a good hike, we all needed a break....the

other couple were the two women passing us earlier on the General Grant trail.....(the woman with the hat)!  They couldn't have been nicer!   Another fun, memorable day!

Next.........our last few days in Three Rivers and......Clancy!

View of  Mount Whitney from Moro Rock

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Hospital Rock

Twin Sisters-Sequoia  National Park

General Sherman Tree

Yosemite Beauty and Tarantulas!

Monday, 10-24-16

We hitched up the fifth wheel with a little more ease and sense of relief as we left Chico towards our stay in Coarsegold.  Before we left Chico,  Perry, Brandon and I visited the Verizon store for our phone updates and to get answers as to why we "blew" through 40 gigs of data in less than two weeks!  We had purchased a portable wifi for our trip and unfortunately used 30 gigs in a short amount of time.  Our phones were automatically put on the "slow mode" by Verizon so we wouldn't have an exorbitant bill.  Too late...slow mode, no data and desperately needing the GPS from the phone to navigate us to the foothills of Yosemite into Coarsegold.  Today we were heading towards Park of the Sierras (SKP) which has a certain amount of spaces for vacationers with the majority of the park being full time residents.  It should be a pretty direct route until we had to stop and gas up. Perry had studied the map and knew the route but wanted me to double check our directions via GPS since it had served us well up until this point.  We were ready to change highways...easy no problem! According to GPS we were to take a certain street towards Yosemite but it was a confusing intersection and we took the wrong turn.  We were rerouted through GPS which normally turns out okay but not this time, especially pulling a fifth wheel!  It took us through an open area and the roads were so narrow with no place to turn around.  Before long, there were no longer any signs of civilization except an occasional cow.  We continue to follow the GPS which has never steered (no pun intended) us wrong before, and suddenly we are literally in the middle of nowhere, mile after mile of nothing but rough, narrow, windy roads.  We felt EVERY bump along the way.  Not confident in the GPS any longer and unsure whether we'd make it before dark, we figured we'd better call the office and let them know we'd be late.  As we get a little closer to our destination there was cell service after not having it for miles.   The friendly woman on the phone informed us that we might have to "dry camp" outside the gate because they were going home soon and to "please be careful"!  We so far along our short journey have not "dry camped " and certainly didn't want to tonight after a long stressful drive. Dry Camping is camping with no hook-ups (mostly water and electricity). Thankfully, someone was willing to wait for us as long as it was by 5:00pm. We were greeted at the gate by "George" an older gentleman with a cowboy hat and southern accent.  We followed him to our site and after a thirty minute attempt, he navigated us in and under the trees we were hoping not to clip. As we were setting up, another elderly gentleman (Bob) came up to us and engaged us in conversation about his time in the Navy as a cook.  He served in WWII and the Korean war and was burned over 50% of his body on a Naval ship explosion in the kitchen.  He was such a sweet man and finding out Perry had served in the Navy there were plenty of stories from our new friend.
Park of the Sierras was so different from our last destination of Almond Tree in Chico.  Here it was so quiet with no trains running 24/7 and campers coming and going all hours of the day.  What we encountered the next day were a lot of seniors (full timers) and they all owned golf carts to get them up and down the hilly neighborhood.  The next day was kept low-key checking out the cute small town of Coarsegold and making plans for Yosemite over a cold beer and pizza .  This would happen the following day since rain was predicted for two days following.  Perry was hoping the rain would let up for Saturday for the much anticipated Coarsegold Tarantula Festival.  I don't like BIG spiders and things that crawl, but he talked about this for days.....how could I NOT go?

Wednesday 10-26-16
Yosemite

Neither Perry nor I had been to Yosemite before so we were excited to make this trip.  We  anxiously packed the necessary dog items for the hour and a half drive up.  Twenty minutes from Coarsegold and on the way to Yosemite is the town of Oak Hurst, a much larger town of  about 10,000 people. After passing through the town and starting the ascent up towards Yosemite, we noticed thousands of diseased and dead pine trees. We read there were over thousands of acres of bark beetle ridden trees in Yosemite and because of this a lot of trees along the road were being chopped down which slowed traffic nearing the entrance to the park. However, the higher we climbed, the trees were bigger and much greener.  Our first stop.....Glacier Point!
There are NO words to describe the majestic beauty of the rock formations and several waterfalls that you see from Glacier Point and today being clear, the views are exceptional!  Our oldest son had hiked from this point several years ago for 37 miles and told us of half dome.  It is an enormous sheered off rock smoothed by a glacier millions of years ago. We could have stayed here for hours admiring its beauty but there is so much to see......time to move on! Today we were supposed to board the dogs so we could get some serious hiking in, but after checking their vaccination records the day before we found Gracie needed the bortadella vaccine.  Too late to find a vet so our little canine companions joined us on our Yosemite adventure.  It was a blessing in disguise since we couldn't hike as much, but in driving we saw a lot more of Yosemite. The crazy, windy drive down took us to Tuolumne meadow. The fall colors were amazing and we had a great vantage point of Bridal Falls and El Capitan. It makes me realize how much beauty is in California . This indescribable beauty moved me emotionally and spiritually!
We had lunch at the visitors center and ate turkey sandwiches that tasted three days old!   In an odd way as fearful as I am of bears, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of one.  Just the same I made sure my whistle was secured in my pocket and all leftover food thrown away in the bear proofed trash cans. Beginning our way out of the park, we passed by Curry Village a camping spot of about 100 makeshift tents.  Kaylyn and her friends stayed here for a week for their senior trip.  I wondered how I was so brave as to let my 18 year old daughter go to a place on a scary mountain drive, no service and bears!  As we headed back to Coarsegold up and down the windy road, I again leaned to the left near Perry and chose not to look over the edge.  It was definitely worth the nerve wracking drive!

The rain came the next day as predicted but just after we took the dogs to the dog run.  We planned on going into town to get diesel and get Gracie her bortadella vaccine but no sooner did we get into the truck, the rain started coming down.  I love this place and its' sweet seniors that live here.  They all smile and wave as we head into town. We get to the small vet hospital where Gracie and I waited for an hour but not before meeting an older man with long hair and a beard.  His 16 year old cat was not eating and had lost a lot of weight.  The vet met him in the lobby and said his cat needed to go on medication.  The kindness and warmth of this hospital was unbelievable because they knew the owner was on a fixed income, had his own health issues and told him they wouldn't charge him for the tests.  The rain was really coming down hard now and Gracie was loved by all the vet techs.  We were enjoying the beautiful and much needed rain!

Saturday, October 29, 2016

This was the day!  The day of the Annual Tarantula Festival in Coarsegold.  It was smaller than we expected but Perry found his tarantulas to hold.  They had a kids screaming contest, hairy leg contest and tricycle race.  It was a fun small town Halloween event where we met nice people, bought locally made honey and our dogs got a lot of attention.
The next day we checked out the church in Oak Hurst.  It's a beautiful church with large open windows that give you a view of all the pine trees behind it.  We risked leaving the dogs behind in the fifth wheel for an hour and a half and to our surprise they did great.  We didn't want to risk leaving them again so we took them with us while we got a bite of lunch.  They made sure they had us in view too as they watched us from the front seat.

We had such an amazing stay but it was time to head towards Kings Canyon and the Sequoia National Park!
                                                                    

Our small spot in Coarsegold!

                                                             

Many of Yosemite's diseased trees

                                        

Half Dome

Tuolumne Meadows                                

That smile tells it all!

El Capitan

Look of fear!

Patiently Waiting!

October 20, 2016


Perry had in mind that I was to throw a line in the water to catch fish!  We had gotten the fishing pole and all the necessary accessories at a sporting goods store, all at the expense of Perry throwing his back out.  Thank God for a quick recovery because my thoughts were "If he is ill or gets injured, I couldn't drive that truck AND pull a fifth wheel". We woke up early this morning (after he spent the entire day yesterday fishing for salmon.....determined but unsuccessful, while I went to lunch with my son) ready to fish at Bucks Lake!  I can cast a fishing line the way I can throw a ball or a roll of toilet paper upstairs to my kids, never successful at any of these.  I never could call myself an athlete! As we drive out of Chico, we approach Butte County with hundreds of buttes everywhere! Okay, I do remember learning about buttes in my college days as I recall they are caused by erosion and are flat on top.  The scenery changed very quickly as we once again started to climb and the pine trees grew more dense.  OK, after Mount Lassen I thought we were DONE with sheer drop offs....boy was I wrong!  Suddenly, our conversation became non-existent because Perry was concentrating on driving and I was leaning towards the driver side as if to prevent us from falling over the 1,000 ft. drop while  trying not to look down.   I quietly prayed that we would be safe! My thoughts were "there's no one around us on the road and if anything should happen, our kids would never find us"!  Seriously Carol. have more faith!  I started to relax and admire the amazing scenery of the rushing Feather River, the cut out tunnels and trellises along the way.  The dogs needed us to stop and we found a spot that happened to be part of the Pacific Crest Trail.  I was excited about this because I had read the book "Wild", the adventures of the author along her 2,600 mile journey.

As we continue to drive past the enormous pine trees and the Feather river, once again the dogs needed to be walked. We stopped at a beautiful park with many trails and could smell fresh cut lumber.  We are now in the Sierra Nevada's and found ourselves in an amazing little logging town of Quincy, California at an elevation of 3,300 feet.  It is a quintessential small town with white steeple churches just below the evergreen trees. Friendly townspeople are walking their dogs, everyone waves to us as we walk downtown.  Small towns like this actually exist!  We stopped to have lunch at a great little place called Morning Thunder.  The staff was so friendly and catered to the dogs and informed us that Bucks Lake was 17 miles "up the road".  It was a chilly, beautiful, clear day and seventeen miles didn't seem that long but as we drove towards the lake we noticed  there were no cars in front or behind us only a sign that indicated there was a 15% incline.  We've seen 6% or 7% but never 15%!  Good thing we were in a powerful diesel truck and NOT pulling Edna! We found Bucks Lake but couldn't find an access because everything was closed up for the season.  "I may not be able to cast that line after all" but my husband's determination to watch me fish found us on the other side of the lake and low and behold, a dock!  He was SO excited he grabbed the fishing pole and tackle box while I grabbed the dogs and bear whistle. ( I know it's silly but I'm afraid of bears and this was bear territory. ) What a beautiful, quiet place, just us and the dogs.  He showed me how to cast a line as he stood on the dock for no more than 5 minutes. It didn't take long before he determined there were no fish!  I cast the line as well and gave it a good 5 minutes also.   So there you have it, my first attempt after many years.  Credits......Church-3, Fishing-1.  We drove to another part of the lake to let the dogs run free and the lake was so beautiful casting reflections of the trees and as we stood there (just us), the silence was broken by the sound of three C130's  which swooped down at about tree top level.  All we could surmise was they were training for the fire season dropping fire retardant. Weird for being where we were but interesting nonetheless!
 All in all, it was a great day with "no bears and no fish"!

Friday, 10-21-16 through Monday, 10-24-16

Perry wanted to try out the popular taco truck down the street and as we sat outside eating our lunch, a man drives up pulling his trailer, "Did you save any for me?".  Our new neighbor Don is quite the character.  Don pulls up next to us with his little dog "Pax" and Perry helps him as he struggles with one of his trailer connections.  He told us his granddaughter is getting married the next day and needs to get ready for the rehearsal dinner but doesn't know what to wear.  The red collared shirt wins as he asked Perry for his approval.  We love our new neighbor!

There's the Honey Run Covered Bridge in Chico that's historical and that afternoon we though we'd check it out.  The bridge was built in the 1800's and had to be rebuilt at least once for someone driving into it.  As we drive up a man in his 40's is working near the bridge keeping the surrounding park clean.  He strikes up a conversation with us and was full of history knowledge of the bridge.  He points to the nearby trailer and said he gets cheap rent in exchange for keeping up the surrounding area.  After walking the bridge, we decided to hike down to the running creek and according to our storyteller friend, has gold in it!  Hmmmm, it was beautiful and cold and the dogs loved running through it, but we spotted no gold. We drove to a nearby town called Centerville and were awestruck at the terrain.  It looked like the Butte creek and canyon were all cut right through the surrounding hills all as a result of water cutting through ever hundreds of thousands of years.   Amazing!  After getting back to the fifth-wheel and touching base with Brandon, a movie was in order for the next day!

During our stay in Chico,  we would put Daisy and Gracie in a dog pen with their blankets and toys so we could go out for an hour or two and today was no different.  The three of us wanted to go to a movie.  We were back by 7:00 pm and were greeted by the neighbor on "the other side".  Somewhat friendly but complained about our "hound dog"  howling" and shortly after the landlady drove over in her golf cart to inform us people were complaining about our dogs.  I love our 77 year old, chiseled mustached neighbor Don who the next day told us what we should tell them?  It's okay, we have to come up with a solution or Daisy and Gracie will be going where we go.  I"m sure they'd love that! The next day, we visited a different church in Chico and as I'm starting to lose count I believe we're at Church-3 fishing-1.  Already enjoying conversations with Don, today he wore a "Portugal" tee shirt.  I asked him if he had been there and replied "no" but is Portuguese.  Since I am half Portuguese myself, we had so much to talk about.  There were similar interests in Portuguese food and fiestas.

 Household chores and packing are in order for the rest of the day and dinner with Brandon.  He decides to join us for an early breakfast the next morning before we move on to Coarsegold, Ca. just outside Yosemite.  I'm going to miss him!
                                                           
                             

The Pacific Crest Trail

My first fishing credit!

Daisy and Gracie enjoying their freedom

On our way to Quincy

 

The Honey Run Covered Bridge in Chico, Ca.

Beautiful Bucks Lake

       

The small town of Quincy