The Great Outdoors

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Why would you ever return to the city after spending time in America's National Parks? You can really lose yourself in them, and why not? Guidebooks use words like "magnificent", "awe-inspiring" and "food for the soul" and they're not exaggerating at all; the four days we spent in the parks of northern California were - in one word - magical. We drove from San Francisco down through the Sierra Nevada hills, to Yosemite National Park, where we stayed at a ranch in the middle of nowhere. We were sleeping in a tent cabin, which kept the bugs out, but not the freezing cold. In the evenings, we stayed in the lodge playing board games, enjoying the fire, but then at night we survived the cold by sleeping in every single piece of clothing we have brought with us. But hiking through Yosemite was well worth the low temperatures, and it became gloriously sunny during the day anyway! It really is difficult to describe the majesty of the Yosemite Valley. Imagine the most amazing place you have seen in Scotland or the Lake District, and times it by ten. The mountains are grander, the forests are greener, the waterfalls are fiercer, and the rivers are clearer. We hiked halfway up to Glacier Point (the second half was closed due to rockslides) and then we explored the valley floor before walking up to Mirror Lake, where the surrounding mountains are reflected in the waters so perfectly you could be looking at a postcard. I was very very very sad to leave.

The following day we drove to King's Canyon, going higher and higher until there was snow on the ground. It borders Sequioa National Park, and that night we stayed in a quaint little town called Three Rivers. Our motel consisted of pretty bungalow cottages, next to a lake and with a farm behind; if we hadn't been pushed for time, I would have been happy to stay there all week. We walked through the forests of Sequioa, and saw the world's largest tree, the General Sherman Tree (it was pretty huge!). If we'd thought that the trees at Muir Woods were large, we were mistaken; the Sequioa redwoods are inconceivably gigantic. It didn't feel anything like California at all, with the snow and the deer running through the trees. We got off the beaten track a bit and went to see the President Tree, which is almost as large as the General Sherman, which stands a few feet away from The Senate, a group of huge redwoods closely clustered together. As the day drew on, the heavens opened, making the wind colder and the greens greener. We hiked up to Beetle Rock, hoping for good views, but the fog had descended and we literally couldn't see a thing. With the signs warning us of being struck by lightning, and with the rain soaking us to the bone, we quickly hiked back down again, but it was definitely worth it just to feel the electricity in the air. Wet, but happy, we returned to our little bungalow in Three Rivers, and dried off by the fire.

We left the beautiful Californian National Parks behind us and headed out into the desert again, to meet mum and Simon at Las Vegas - but that blog entry is being saved for when I have a little more time!

PS. Mum and Simon say hi to everyone!

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Comments

[Deborah]

you drove through a tree!
:-) Looks amazing :-)

[Uncle Dinx]

PS. Mum and Simon say 'Hi'...
...Do they realise that there's an anguished Poodle over here worrying his fur off about his Mother and the Bald Bloke... and all he gets is a 'Hi' in a Post Script!!! Tell them Sarah's fine, a bit concerned that they've done a runner as are we! No phone calls, no E-Mail, just an orphaned ball of fluff and a potential new daughter!