| Flew to Oakland and picked up a 'Supervan" from Motorus which as you can see is a small sized RV just right for two people. |
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An interior view from the front to the back. | |
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A view from the back to the front. |
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Here is how we did the trip in 1970. | |
| Drove to Monterey the first night and had dinner on the waterfront. Next day we began a drive down Highway 1 through Big Sur |
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It was a surprisingly wild and rural area and as you can see very beautiful | |
| The scenery reminded me very much of Scotland as did the weather which was cool considering it was July but onshore ocean breezes create a unique ecosystem. |
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When you break out of Big Sur there is a beach which attracts elephant seals by the hundreds. They are huge and interesting to watch. | |
| As you get down to the southern end of Big Sur, the Coastal Range drops down a bit and the land opens up. San Simeon sits on the lowered mountain overlooking the ocean which is some distance away. |
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It's hard to figure out how to relate to San Simeon. It is amazing, an obscene display of wealth, and amusing all at the same time. | |
| The indoor pool was amazing. Being indoors it was perfectly still and therefore a perfect mirror and you've never seen a mirror that big. |
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It was beautiful and enchanting | |
| We went down to a state park just below San
Simeon and played in the water for a bit and walked out on a fishing pier
that was there.
We camped in a very remote RV park near Maganta Lake. The next day we drove back roads through the desert to Fresno. Rt. 229 was actually a single track. Stopped at the Javawava in Fresno for some course work then drove to the Grant Grove area of Sequia NP. Toured to General Sherman grove that afternoon. |
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Drove to the Grant Forest area of Sequia and took a 3.8 mile hike up the canyon to Topokah Falls | |
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Topokah Falls was very pretty. |
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Drove to the Cedar Grove area of Kings Canyon. The drive into the valley was amazing. The area was very remote. | |
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Hiked around Zumwalt Meadows |
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Spectacular water falls near Zumwalt Meadow.
Left the park and drove to Fresno for another visit to the Javawava. Stayed at an RV park in Madera. Saw War of the Worlds that evening. |
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Drove to the Mareposa Grove area of Yosemite. Took the tram ride through the grove. |
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The trees are amazing. They are hard to photograph and hard to get any perspective on the scale. . | |
| This is how we saw the grove in 1970. I still have a fond place in my heart for that 1969 Chevelle Malibu with the vinyl roof. |
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Then down to Yosemite Valley. When I saw the valley in 1970 I thought it
was the most beautiful place I had ever seen. 35 years later, and much
more widely traveled, I still think it is the most beautiful place in the
world.
The only place we could get reservations was in a tent cabin in Curry Village. $75 to stay in a refugee camp. What a dump. |
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| Drove over to Yosemite Falls to see the falls in the evening light. Below you see how we toured the falls in 1970. |
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Rented bikes for a ride around the valley floor. This is a great way to tour the valley. Went to the Ahwana Hotel for lunch then for a swim in the Merced. Just like old times. | |
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Drove out to Glacier Point for spectacular overlooks of the valley and of
Vernal and Nevada Falls.
Stopped on the way back for a hike to Sentinel Dome |
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All of Yosemite Falls is captured in the sunset from across the Valley at the top of Sentinel Dome. | |
| Left the valley and drove up toward Tuolumne Meadows. Had to stop and revisit Tania Lake. We have fond memories of this lake from our first trip. |
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Took a hike up Lambert Dome | |
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Wild and windy at the top but great scenery |
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Overlooking Tuolumne Meadows from the top of Lambert Dome. | |
| Found some snow along the road near the eastern exist from the park heading towards Mono Lake. |
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In 1970 we found snow in just about the same spot and were just as fascinated at finding snow in the summer as neither of us has ever seen such a thing before. | |
| Stopped at Mono Lake on the way to South Lake Tahoe. |
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Decided to get out of the RV so we stayed at Harrahs. Great room overlooking the lake. Saw a Beatles revival show then partied with Artie till the wee hours of the morning. | |
| Drove to Virginia City for lunch and a bit of shopping then on to Reno for the night. |
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Drove to Lassen National Park. Much of the park was still covered in snow. I took a hike to the top of Lassen Peak. It was quit a haul up the mountain. | |
| Looking back on the tail. Crossing the snow fields was hard walking and in places a bit dicey. If you slipped you would not have fallen to your death just a ways down the slope that you would have to crawl back up. |
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The top of Lassen Volcano. The last part scrambling up all of this rubble was hard but necessary to actually get to the top. Another hike we wanted to take was snowed out so we headed back to Oakland. | |
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THE END |
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