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Published: September 21st 2013
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The plan was to spend a week together at Yosemite National Park with Kayla's cousin and his wife, plans having been made several months ago, in time for us to make the reservations online. Us and the rest of the world, or so it seemed when we made the reservations at exactly the right day and time, down to the minute, that the reservations became available. However, the day had finally come, and we left Lake Tahoe knowing already that things would not be as planned. The Rim Fire near and into Yosemite National Park was continuing to burn fiercely with only a small percentage contained by the time we left. Smoke was everywhere.
The plan was to spend three days in Tuolumne Meadows on the Eastern side of the park, and four days in Yosemite Valley on the western side. From Lake Tahoe, the closest Yosemite Park entry gate is from the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It was an amazing hill climb from Mono Lake (at 2000 metres) up to Tioga Pass (at 3000 metres) in 18 kilometres. The RV engine and transmission were up to the job, thankfully.
Then we drove a further 8
miles west to Tuolumne Meadows and our adjacent RV camping spots. We would be "dry camping" for these days in the park. Which means totally self-contained, no water except what was in our holding tank, no electricity except by using the generator, and no sewer hookups. That would normally be no problem in a small truck camper, but it's a big challenge in a large RV that sucks power at every turn, for things we didn't realize until we ran out of power on the third night. Maybe it was the heater, which we did turn on for a few minutes in the cool (well, cold!) mornings. In any case, we learned the hard way not to leave the vehicle sitting without running for three days, which is one reason we ran out of battery power. Not even enough juice to run the water pump. Yikes! Anyway, we learned our lesson.
What a magic place is Tuolumne Meadows. Lovely clear river flowing west over water falls, granite peaks all around, grassy meadows, deer in the meadows, stately pines, lots of easy hiking, camp fires at night with park rangers playing guitars and singing and telling mountain stories. And clear
air with no smoke while we were there. Yeah!
One day we drove back down the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada to visit Mono Lake. This large and ancient lake is very salty from evaporation but hosts many birds (Grebes and Gulls) feeding on shrimp that thrive in the brine. Los Angeles (300 miles away) bought water rights in 1941 and the lake has been slowly drying up ever since. Recently the State forced Los Angeles to relinquish some of these water rights and the lake is slowly recovering.
We hiked to peaks, lakes and beaver ponds. Richard enjoyed his birthday with blueberry pancakes, a hike up Lembert Dome, B-day cards, beer, camp fire and no domestic duties.
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