Adventures up north

by: Doug

July 14, 2010

My birthday was June 29th. Emily wanted to surprise me with something. She had the week off so we decided to make a week of it. The fun began June 26th.

After packing the back of her Santa Fe with all the camping gear we could need (and some we didn’t) we began the drive north to King’s Canyon and Sequoia National Park. These two parks are just a bit south of Yosemite, neither of us had been there. Weekends at Yosemite are notoriously crowded and we decided to avoid the crowds and explore some place new.

We arrived around early afternoon and began looking for a camp site. After driving through the 4 available in Cedar Grove we finally found a nice quite spot in the back. This proved to make our stay even more interesting.

Apparently there are bears in the area. Not just any bears. Talented bears. Bears that know how to open locked dumpsters. You see, if you push them over, the heavy lid will fling open and that has enough force to snap the chain keeping it closed. Not to show off these bears do this around 2 or 4 am. How do I know? I heard them. The first night I wasn’t sure what it was. My suspicions were confirmed in the morning when I saw the overturned dumpster and bear droppings (or ‘skat’ as I believe they call it). Apparently a mother bear and her two cubs make the campsite dumpsters part of the routine each night. The second night was more fun. I woke up and heard something walking past the tent. Then something else on the other side of the tent. Then something else. Yup, our campsite was one they passed through on the way to dinner. Check out the photos in the gallery to see some from the morning after.

After 3 days touring King’s Canyon and Sequia we headed up to Yosemite. Even though it was a Wednesday it was still super croweded. We drove through the valley, saw the sites, then headed north to Tuolume Meadow. Wow, what a place. Words can’t describe it. But I’ll try. Huge open meadows, creeks everywhere you look, and huge snow capped peaks all around. Truly an amazing place.

OK, so then what? What about the birthday surprise? Well that was next. Emily and our parents had conspired to go white water rafting on the American River. We started on the Middle fork, a class 3 and 4 river. The first major rapid was the biggest, Tunney Shoot. I’ve put photos in the photo gallery, worth looking at. It was a huge rush and so much fun. Our guide, Chris, was from Australia and made the trip so much more fun. He was a taleneted rafter (thats a word I made up for people who guide rafts), a funny guy, and a good cook. Did I mention they cooked breakfast and dinner at the campground? Definitely the best birthday present I’ve had. Thank you everyone!

Well thats about it for our trip. Go look at the photos. But first, I’ll leave you with this short video sample form the first few days of our trip. (If it does not play smoothly, click the button that says “HD is on”.)