My Arrival in California

Since I had completed, or should I say attempted, all of the hikes that I wanted to do on my own at Zion, I headed out early. My plan was to get to Rebecca's in Point Richmond, CA sometime on Saturday. Since it was only Friday, I had some some time to play with. I decided that I would go through Death Valley National Park on my way. I wasn't totally sure what to expect when I got there, i.e., unbearably hot temperatures, so I figured if it didn't work out that was okay. I could always push on towards Rebecca's. When I entered the park, it was only in the 80s, although when I started descending into the valley the temperature began to rise. By the time I reached the visitor's center it was in the low 90s. When I emerged from my vehicle it didn't actually feel so bad. It is a dry heat afterall. I decided to go for it, although my thoughts of possibly camping there that evening were definitely out.

I asked one of the park rangers at the visitor's center what he recommended I do if I only had a few hours and he said I should go to Badwater Basin (the lowest elevation in the Western Hemisphere), drive through Artists Drive, and then check out the vistas from Zabriskie Point and Dantes View. It seemed like a good plan to me, so I headed out.

View driving from the "Fiery Furnace" visitor's center to Badwater Basin

Badwater Basin - elevation=282 ft below sea level - the temps hit 100 down here and it was still before noon.

Badwater Pool

The salt flats

I passed a couple of other sights I thought might be interesting on my way from Badwater Basin to Artists Drive, but they required hiking at least a mile in 100 degree heat to get to them, and I just didn't have it in me. Maybe I will come back during cooler months at some point.

Views from Artists Drive

Views from Zabriskie Point

Views from Dantes View

After finishing up at Dantes View my GPS wanted me to exit the park near where I was and drive south and then back up through the Central Valley, kinda of making a J shape. I wasn't all that excited about that route so I had it configure another. The next one had me driving back through most of the park, over Panamint Range and Inyo Mountains, and then heading north on 305 which take between the Inyo and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges. This sounded much nicer.

The Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park - I would have missed them had I gone with the original route.

View from a vista in the Inyo Mountains

The Sierra Nevadas

By about 7:30 that evening I started looking for a place to saty for the night. I had already given myself permission to stay in a hotel, but by the time I decided I would start looking for one, they seemed to have disappeared. I passed several camping opportunities along 305 but it was drizzling a bit, so I passed them up in hopes of coming a cross a hotel or dryer weather at least. Before I knew it I was on the road cutting west through Yosemite National Park. I came across a campground in Lee Vinig prior to entering the park and decided I would stop there for the night. I was already at a fairly high elevation and didn't really know what I would encounter inside of the park. Plus, this campsite was only a couple of miles from a gas station, so after I set up camp and ate dinner (which included locking all of my food and toiletries ina bear box - the first one I had encountered on my trip), I went there to brush my teeth. It was pretty much pitch black by the time I got back to my campsite, so I headed straight to sleep. It did get cold that evening, but it wasn't nearly as cold as my nights in Bryce Canyon. I stuffed plastic bags and my dirty laundry into the bottom of my sleeping bag, but I didn't find it necessary to tie plastic bags around my feet.

Daylight came early but I wasn't quite ready to get out of my warm sleeping bag yet, so I let myself doze off and on for a while. I was only about 4 hours from Rebecca's, so I knew I didn't need to hurry. When I couldn't sleep any longer I got out bed and packed up camp as quickly as possible. It was quite cold outside, and for the first time since I went camping in MO there was dew on the outside of my tent. It made my finders freeze that much faster. I was so happy once everything was back in my car and I was in it with the heat cranked up.

The park entrance was still several miles away from where I camped and several thousand feet above me.

Ellery Lake - elevation 9538 ft - this lake was shortly before the entrance to Yosemite located at Tioga Pass (elevation 9945 ft - the highest elevation I would reach on my journey)

Views along my way through Yosemite National Park

Yosemite was beautiful and I definitely want to go back. I never even entered the main part of the park where Half Dome and El Capitan are located. Luckily, I will soon live only a few hours drive from the park and with my National Parks pass good through the end of June 2010, I'm sure I will be back.

I reached Rebecca's around lunch time on Saturday. The drive into the Bay Area was full of emotions, partly excitement for reaching my destination, partly sadness for my journey coming to an end. I was also excited about the new chapter of my life I was about to begin and a little bit scared of the transition I was about to go through. Luckily, I already have a few friends in teh Bay Area and it was so good to see a friendly face when I arrived at Rebecca's. I got my stuff inside, the camping stuff hung up to dry, and was soon in the shower washing away the last four days of hiking grime. It felt so nice.

I got to see so many more places than I had originally thought I would when I set out from my parents in OH, and I feel like I have mearly scratched the surface at some of them. Of all of the places I went to, I most want to return to Canyonlands. There are two other sections of the park that I want to see, and next time I want to be better prepared to go backpacking and get a bit more off the beaten path. I'd love to take my bike with me as well and soend a day down the road at Arches riding the length of that park. I'd also like to return to Zion and tackle the 14 mile hike that I didn't do this trip, and who knows, maybe I'll have the courage to get up Angel's Landing next time around. Utah is a beautiful place and there is one more National Park there that I didn't attend, so I'll definitely go back someday.

My Prius after the 5100 miles I drove between my parents in OH and Rebecca's in CA. Tens on thousands of bugs lost their lives in teh making of this journey.