Surprised By Sequoia

 

With a much nicer back roads drive through citrus groves on Friday, we arrived at Sequoia RV Ranch in Three Rivers, CA by early afternoon, giving us plenty of time to spend the rest of the day in Sequoia National Park. Our original plan was to stay at the nearby COE Horse Creek Campground on Lake Kaweaha with no hook-ups, but with unusual highs in the mid-90s, air conditioning was a necessity.

 

I have always loved visiting our national parks, even with their rules and crowds, probably because of my fond memories of our family vacations. One summer we visited the Great Smoky Mountains NP, arriving late in the day when the only campsites left in the park were miles away. I’m sure my parents were having second thoughts about the whole trip at that time, but we finally got to the campground, set up camp, and my mother started preparing dinner. To this day I can still picture her banging pans together trying to chase away the huge black bear ambling down the hill towards our site.

Another summer we took a camping trip from Pennsylvania to Florida, all the way down to Everglades National Park. When we got to the campground it was empty, not surprising since who would even consider camping in the Everglades in July, but my dad got out to set up our pop-up camper and came back few minutes later covered in mosquito bites. He said there was no way we could camp there and headed to the office for some advice. He came back with a key to a room in the lodge, the first time my brother and I ever stayed in a motel room. It was great fun, and I’ll always remember watching my brother and dad swim in the pool along with hundreds of little frogs.

So maybe that’s why I love our national parks and why we make it a point to go out of our way to visit them. And to visit Sequoia National Park you definitely have to go out of your way. The RV park in Three Rivers was eight miles from the park entrance, but most of the places we wanted to see were another 20-25 miles up the steep, winding, motion sickness inducing road, which took well over an hour to drive. I got wise and took a Dramamine the second day. What surprised me about Sequoia was the diversity and that it wasn’t all just about the trees.

The drive starts in the Sierra Nevada foothills and climbs beside the Kaweah River.   

 

There are frequent pull-offs and short trails to admire the canyon views. We found the name intriguing and stopped to check out Hospital Rock, where we saw rock art but no explanation of the name. Jim wondered if many people get hurt in this area, although it didn’t appear to be a dangerous place, so I looked it up and found this short Wikipedia article.

Finally we entered the Giant Grove and hiked a few miles of the numerous trails. We saw some other people but not as many as we expected.

General Sherman tree. We don’t know these girls but they just kept posing for more photos and we got tired of waiting.

General Lee got his own tree, too.

The giant sequoias are very impressive, and the forest seemed much more open than the redwood groves we saw last summer near the coast. Even Jim, who tires of trees long before I do, seemed to enjoy our walk in the woods, especially the interesting burned trunks.

            

 

Playing tourist. We just had to do it since we were there.

But the best part of our Evelyn Wood speed visit (Jim’s words, of course) to Sequoia was the two high elevation hikes we did, one to Little Baldy and the other to Moro Rock. I just don’t have the words to describe the feeling of the Sierra Nevada’s Great Western Divide staring us in the face so I won’t even try.

From the top of Little Baldy at 8,044’

  

 

 

 

Two marmot sightings on the way up.

 

 

Our favorite hike was up the steep quarter mile up the 300 stairs to the summit of Moro Rock.

 

 

 

 

Next up Kings Canyon.

Tahquitz Peak Hike and Time to Move On

 

We had a busy last few days at Jojoba Hills, with one more hike, happy hour, shopping, laundry, washing both vehicles and trip planning.  

Our last hike was one I would highly recommend if you’re in the area. We did have to drive about 40 miles to get to the trail but we wanted to check out the cute little mountain town of Idyllwild anyway, and the drive from Jojoba Hills to there turned out to be very scenic.

We started at Humber Park just north of Idyllwild, where hiking requires a free permit which can be picked up at the ranger station in town. It’s also $5 to park if you don’t have a national parks pass. Our plan was to hike up the Devil’s Slide trail for 2.5 miles to the saddle which intersects with the Pacific Crest Trail. Suzanne had never been on any portion of the PCT so we were going to hike along it and turn back whenever we got tired.

Starting out at 6500’ and climbing 1700’ to the saddle was quite a slow go for those of us who have been hanging around at sea level for the past few months, but we finally made it and had a chance to talk with several PCT through-hikers. Seeing a sign for the Tahquitz Peak trail, Suzanne and I had an urge to go that direction but she really wanted to walk on the PCT. After a rather boring quarter mile on the PCT we decided to go back and see what the peak trail looked like. A guy we met said it was “only” about a mile and a half, and after eating and resting we were ready to tackle another 700’ of climbing. Jim considered turning back at that point but ended up plodding on with us.

We were rewarded with fantastic views, hiking through a little snow, and a historic fire tower at the nearly 9000’ peak.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sadly our little group of friends have all moved on for now, although we’re looking forward to another meet-up later this summer in Colorado. Yesterday we drove a stressful 200 miles to Tehachapi, where we spent the night at Mountain Valley RV Park. 

Sites are rather unlevel but it’s quiet here, although the airport is adjacent. It appears to be a popular place for glider flights but it was so windy when we arrived we didn’t get to see any. We walked around downtown Tehachapi and stopped at Honey Wagon Brewing Co, the only one in town. The owner/brewer used to be in the septic business, hence the name. It was just okay but we are jaded by the excellent San Diego beers we’ve been enjoying.

 

 

Today we’re heading to Three Rivers, near the entrance to Sequoia National Park.

Peaceful Jojoba Hills

 

 

It’s been a relaxing week here with no children, no traffic, and no noise. What a pleasant change from our month in San Diego. After our first couple days of pool weather a front came through bringing clouds, wind, intermittent drizzle, and highs only in the 50s.

Before the weather changed we took a hike on the Dripping Springs trail, just a few miles down the road towards Temecula. We hiked this trail once before in 2009 but forgot how nice it is, with a gradual climb and good views. And we only saw two other people the entire 6.5 miles.

Suzanne and Jim doing what they do best.

 

Vail Lake.

 

 

 

Leave it to Suzanne to do a search for Karl Strauss Brewery, finding one in Temecula that still had some of her favorite beer. And funny how we finished our hike at happy hour time so we could partake in another $4 flight.

We also had to check out a newer brewery in Temecula, Garage Brewing Co, where we just got a couple tastings to see how their beer compared. The Marshmallow Stout and Belgian style Tow Truck were pretty good but the Old Strangler Imperial Russian Stout was superb! We were pleasantly surprised, and had a nice chat with Lou, the owner. It really used to be an auto repair garage, but is now a squeaky clean brewery and pizza joint. We had eaten at Karl Strauss so didn’t try the pizza but it looked good and we may have to go back before we leave.

One evening we attended a vegetarian dinner here in the park. They have them once a month, and everyone is asked to bring something healthy and vegetarian or vegan. I made this Layered Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole, which is really good by the way. There were lots of interesting loafs, salads, and quinoa dishes. We had the chance to taste something I’ve seen recipes for but have never tried, vegan brownies made with black beans. Let’s just say that even though I love black beans, brownies are not the place for them!

About 4 years ago at an RV park in Silver City, NM we met a nice couple, George and Tina, who happen to live in Hemet, about 25 miles from here. We hooked up with them again in Silver City the following year, and again near Mammoth Lakes when we did our 395 trip in the summer of 2013. They love to hike, and their beautiful house is located within walking distance of Simpson Park, so they invited us to come by for a hike, along with LuAnn and Suzanne.

The canyon setting for their house is a park in itself.

 

 

We hiked a loop of about seven miles up and down the hills. There are miles of trails that are also used for mountain biking, but we would be doing more pushing our bikes up the steep climbs than riding. In fact we saw several guys along the way doing just that.

Tina pointing out the sights.

 

Their sweet dog Jessie didn’t like it when we stopped to talk or take photos. Here she is telling George to get moving.

 

Tina said it was a good spring for wildflowers but we were a couple weeks too late. There were still a few stragglers.

 

The green fields in the valley are citrus groves.

Diamond Valley Lake in the distance.

 

Interesting rocks with Hemet in the background.

 

After the hike George and Tina invited us in for some walnut-raisin bread with almond and peanut butter, along with fresh pineapple and dates. We also got a tour of their lovely house filled with artifacts from their overseas travels. It was a very enjoyable day.

We are paid here until Wednesday but still have a hike or two we’d like to do, and since they allow you to wash your vehicles at the sites we intend to wash both the car and Lazy Daze, so we may have to extend a few days to get everything done. We’ve decided to head to Sequoia and King’s Canyon when we leave here but haven’t figured out for sure where we will stay in those areas. If anyone has taken an RV into either of those national parks we’d be interested to hear your experience.

Jojoba Hills SKP Resort, Aguanga, CA

 

We were hooked up and pulling out of San Diego at 9:05 Sunday, much earlier than our usual departure time, but we hoped the traffic on Sunday morning would be light. We were right, and it was an easy drive north on I-15 to Temecula, where we stopped for gas and a few things at Walmart before the last 15 mile winding climb east to Jojoba Hills. We were last here in January 2011, and it was as nice as we remembered. The office is closed on Sundays but you can stay in the boondock area, which we did.

There were only a few other RVs there, and it felt like paradise after our month in San Diego.

 

Suzanne arrived on Saturday, and Debbie has been here for a week, so after working out in the fitness room I joined them in the beautiful pool. No photos of any of us in bathing suits!

That evening we had a little get-together at Suzanne’s site, since she managed to score one of the nicest in the park. It was another mini blogger fest, with Suzanne (Take To The Highway), Judy (Travels With Emma), and Terry and Luann (Paint Your Landscape), whom we met for the first time. The beer, conversation, and laughs flowed freely.

Yesterday we moved up the hill to a very nice full hook-up site. I forgot to take photos so I planned to do so this morning. What a surprise when I got up and it was raining, which was not in the forecast that I looked at yesterday.

 

We took a hike on the adjacent BLM land yesterday afternoon, where there are miles of roads and trails. We were hoping we could ride our mountain bikes here but there is too much deep sand for our liking.

 

  

 

It was a pretty warm afternoon, so it was nice to be able to go for a swim when we got back from the hike. While soaking in the hot tub, we saw someone wave, and it turned out to be Pete and Frederika, Lazy Daze owners we met in Quartzsite, and who have since purchased a lot here. This is a very nice park and we understand why so many people use it as a home base. We aren’t quite ready for that, but we’ll just enjoy the peace and quiet (and the amenities) while we’re here.