California (Part 1)
California should be cooler, right?
WRONG!
After a looooooong drive the last thing we needed was for California to be 47°c, but it was anyway and there was laundry to be done. In the search for relief from the heat we headed towards California Hot Springs where gaining elevation rewarded us with a drop in temperature to a tolerable 24°c. We fell asleep to the lullaby of frogs and crickets and the next morning hid from the heat in a rather magnificent stream.
As we were already up in the hills we took the back road towards Sequoia national park, through Sequoia national monument and the Trail of 100 Giants. Giant sequoias are REALLY big and awe-inspiring, we had great fun marvelling at the sheer size of these giants, some over 2000 years old and even Snapper got in on the action!
After a stop at Dome Rock to take in the panoramic views we headed towards the town of Three Rivers where we hoped it would be high enough altitude to allow for a full night's sleep.
We had to get Amy's credit card unblocked (the bank apparently very suspicious of a purchase at "Food and Gas Inc.", for food, and gas) before we headed up into Sequoia national park.
With the elevation did not come any cooler air and our hearts sank as the temperature rose again and finally reached 53°c(!!!!) at the visitor centre.
Not to be put off that easily we continued into the park, avoiding roadwork delays by sheer luck (it wouldn't be a national park without roadworks!). We meandered along General's highway to Tunnel Log where we were happily surprised to find that the van fit underneath.
Next was a climb up Moro Rock for a grand view of the valley, unfortunately the smoke from nearby Yosemite fires was blocking the panoramas.
We stopped at the 'Auto Log' for supper, a fallen tree which in days gone by could be driven along. Afterwards we moved on to General Sherman which is the biggest tree by weight and volume in the world (Redwoods grow taller) before seeking out a place to camp just outside of the National Park where the temperature fell to a blissful 14°C!
In the morning we wound our way along yet more wiggly road towards neighbouring Kings Canyon State Park where we walked to Panoramic Point, unfortunately smoke yet again shrouded the view.
Further into the park we paid a visit to the General Grant tree which is the widest and third biggest tree in the world. In this grove there was a fallen Sequoia which had hollowed out and previously been lived in, we couldn't resist walking through.
As we headed out of the park and made towards Fresno we lost all of the gained elevation and rejoined the land of baking heat, it was here that we learnt that the main entrance into Yosemite National Park was closed due to a wildfire and that we would have to seek an alternative route, fortunately for us it wasn't much of a detour. We made the drive to Yosemite that night, we had initially planned to camp on the border of the park but due to the proximity of the fire we chose to camp inside the park in an official campground instead. Whilst safer from the fire the campground was not completely free of hazards as there had been very recent sightings of Cougars and Bears within the actual campground itself.
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