Friday–Sunday, Sep 13–15 2013
Marc writes:
Friday
Tom, Markus, and I met at the Cozy Cup in Hollister for breafast around 7:15. After breakfast we headed toward Sequoia National Park. The first gas stop was in Coalinga. There was another stop in Three Rivers to top off fuel tanks and purchase any needed supplies for Friday night and Saturday morning. The camp ground is about 13 miles from the Three Rivers stop.
Pictures from Marc and Markus
Clear roads
Tom and Markus
Entering Coalinga
Camping
After setting up camp we and enjoying a cool beer we visited the Buckeye Flat swimming hole. The water level was fine and the temperature was not too cold this year. After some time in the swimming hole we walked back to camp for more beer and eventually dinner. By 9 PM we were in our sleeping bags.
Markus took the above shots of a camp visitor.
Saturday
Markus had never been to the park. This called for a visit to the General Sherman tree as well as Roads End at the bottom of Kings Canyon. On the way back to camp we stopped at Halstead Meadow where we got photographic evidence to the unasked question: does a bear poop in the meadow next to the woods. The Saturday route map is below.
Ready to ride
General Sherman tree
Top of General Sherman tree
General Sherman, again
Tourists
Another Sequoia
Heading towards Kings Canyon
Kings Canyon Overlook
Overlook 2
Overlook 3
Kings Canyon
Kings River
End of the road
Canion view
Halstead Meadow
More Halstead Meadow
Halstead Meadow picnic area
Does a bear…
After a stop at Lodgepole to replenish our beer suply we headed back to camp. Another visit to the swimming hole was in order to cool down.
Sunday
Los Gatos Creek Park
We did not get our 6 AM wakeup call courtesy of the garbage collectors. No matter. We broke camp and headed to the Main Street Cafe in Visalia for a great breakfast before heading home. We took Los Gatos/Old Coalinga road with a rest stop at Los Gatos Creek Park—the one in Fresno County, not Santa Clara County. The creek was 100% dry.
The final stop was in Hollister for gas, then onto 101 for the ride home. We’re thinking of expanding the trip to 3 nites next year. Comments?
