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Hello from California. Our first day out was a long one driving from Boulder City to Lee Vining, CA which is a small town by Mono Lake and just east of Yosemite National Park. Arrived late to very cool mountain weather.
Since we were right by Mono Lake on Tuesday we thought we would kayak on the lake before entering the park. Got information and were told that best to kayak in the mornings and be off the lake by noon since high winds can come up quickly on most days and need to get off the lake ASAP if they do. We got to the lake around 10:30, unloaded the kayaks, got on the water and about 10 minutes later the high winds started. They were definitely strong so we worked our way back to shore and got out. Had a total of about 30 minutes on the water. Mono Lake is beautiful with interesting "tufa" formations along the shorline. It is also salt water so our clothes, sunglasses and gear were all salt encrusted when they dried.
Ate lunch by the lake and decided to head for Yosemite. East entrance was about 15 miles from Mono Lake. We were already at a significant elevation,but drove steadily upward at were at about 9950 ft elevation when we entered the park. Beautiful scenery with some snow still on the ground and one lake with some ice still on it. No campgrounds were open on this route across the park since too early in the season. It was a beautiful drive across the park, however. Went to west side of the park and south to the valley area where there are many waterfalls and hiking trails. All campgrounds (that were open) in the park were full so we went to a campground about 10 miles west of the park for the night.
This ended up being a great move since we were right next to the Merced river and there was a white water rafting outfit located next to the campground. Decided to try that so reserved the 1/2 day trip. After they dress you in the wet suits (all the water is snow melt) and talk about it being high water season, give you your helmuts and life jackets, they give you a brief lesson on white water rafting. This is like the "everything that can go wrong" talk before surgery. By the time you have learned how to avoid having your teeth knocked out from a paddle, being tossed overboard or the raft going over you want to ask for your money back. It was a great trip. Had quite a few class 3 rapids and one class 4. See the attached picture. After this we went back to camp and rested; then went into Yosemite and did a 3.5 mile hike to Vernal Falls. The falls are amazing and numerous. We are now in Sacramento for a day to visit friends and family before heading north.
Tidbits for the day: The highest we have paid for gas at this point is $4.84. It was as high as $5.29 just outside of Yosemite. Thank heaven we have the camper we have. Although we are only getting 13 miles per gallon that is 50% better than we got with our old rig.
We almost feel like we are in Europe. Numerous rental RV's and they all seem to be with Europeans. In the bathrooms you feel like you are in Europe because most of the talk is in a foreign language. There were 9 of us on the white water rafting (divided betweeen 2 rafts). Of the 9 2 were from BC, 2 from Atlanta and 5 from Europe (3 young guys from Belgium and a German couple).
David & Barb
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