Woke up this morning in the Eldorado National Forest, where the temperature had dropped to 28 degrees. Over the week of travels the temperature has had more than a 90 degree change with the high of 121 in Death Valley.

Drove to South Lake Tahoe and hit up the TJ Max for some sweat pants for biking as I was not expecting such low temperatures in June.

Visited Emerald Bay and hiked the mile down to the Vikingholm house.

While at Emerald Bay it started to snow.

Camped at a campground in South Lake Tahoe due to the low temperatures and shower facilities as I hadn’t had a proper shower for 6-days. I had been using pre-moistened body wipes daily, but it was time for a good hair washing.

Just finished dinner (veggie hotdogs over and open fire) when the clouds blew in and started snowing more heavily than earlier in the day.

There are worse things than waking up in. Walmart parking lot.

Driving out of town I came across a house with their own amusement park and various animal statues in the front yard. Rather eclectic tastes I would say and definitely worthy of a picture.

Drove to Silver Lake to relive some childhood memories of camping here with my family. I hadn’t been back here since 1975, so I wasn’t sure what to expect and how well my memory would allow me to find the campsite.

Back in the day we would arrive at the lake access point, put our canoe in the water and boat-in to the campsite. There were no roads and few formal structures. The access point didn’t look at all like I remembered it. The little general store was gone – wiped clean from the ground. I did remember there was a trail that looped around the lake. I followed the trail with a general idea of where the campsite was and what the rocks looked like.

I found the campsite 45-minutes into the trail. Today there are cabins rimming the lake, which I was surprised to see. There still aren’t any roads into this area, so am assuming people are still accessing their cabins via boat.

As I remember it there was a central kitchen made from a rock foundation and logs. It had some kind of roof and plastic sheeting, that could be rolled up, for the windows. There was an old cook stove and a picnic table inside.

Around the kitchen there were level tent platforms with plywood decking for setting up canvas tents.

I hiked up the rocks from the campsite to a cliff area where we used to roll rocks – after calling out to make sure no one was below. Looking back, that probably wasn’t the safest thing to be doing, but hey, this was the early 1970’s and we didn’t have seatbelts either – at least not in the backseat of our 1966 Toyota Land Cruiser.

Back at the lake entry point, I hiked down the creek from the lake to see the rushing water – or at least that’s how I remembered it. I was not disappointed.

Camped for the night in the Eldorado National Forrest.

Began the morning with a hike through the Giant Sequoias. There were few people in the park and the silence was amazing.

Driving in Kings Canyon National Park was even more breathtaking than Sequoia National Park. The road was more curvy and the drop-offs even sharper. The views were amazing.

The Bears are Hungry

In speaking to the Ranger about the local bears breaking into cars for food, I thought maybe this wouldn’t be a great place to park overnight. The ranger said when the bears hit the jackpot with food they like inside a car, they really tear it up – literally. Apparently the bears aren’t potty trained either and can make quite the mess. “You won’t want to go back in there” said the Ranger.

Bedding Down for the Night

There is only one road in and out Kings Canyon. To continue traveling north, you have to drop back down to the California Central Valley. The Valley is hot – 106 degrees. The mountains are cool – 72 degrees. I have learned that if you are going to sleep in your car – cooler is better. Ended up in the Sierra foothills in a Walmart parking lot in Jackson, California.

Began the day with a morning hike to Fossil Falls, a dry waterfall formed from lava rock.

From Fossil Falls, entered the Chimney Peak Recreation area and took the Sherman Pass Road crossing the California Sierra Mountains in route to the Sequoia National Monument. The road from the valley floor is quite steep, narrow and has few guardrails. It’s a nice drive if you have the time. With many campgrounds still closed, I haven’t seen many people at all.

Along the Way (and other oddities)

Sequoia National Monument and National Park (them trees is big!)

It’s hard to comprehend the size of a Sequoia using pictures and words. It’s something to be experienced. There is something humbling standing next to a living organism that is two-thousand years old.

The drive through Sequoia National Park is beautiful. The journey is just as much fun as the destination. The narrow two lane road has sharp drop-offs and hairpin turns with 10 MPH speed limits.

Began the day with a 10-mile bike ride along an abandoned railroad bed that was built to supply the construction of Hoover Dam. Due to COVID—19 the Dam is closed to visitors, and you can’t even view it from a distance.

It was 106 at at Lake Mead and it only got hotter with the drive across Death Valley where at one point it was 122 degrees. For a national Park that sees more than a million visitors a year it was rather eerie to see the place literally deserted.

Camped for the night at Fossil Falls BLM Campground

The neighbors at the campground hiked the Narrows today and said you just have to do it! Got to the local outfitter just before they closed, renting water boots and neoprene socks, and a heavy-duty walking stick to help keep you upright in the current and rocks. I hear it’s helpful to be able to feel your feet while hiking.

The Narrows is the narrowest section of Zion Canyon. This gorge, with walls a thousand feet tall and the Virgin River sometimes just twenty to thirty feet wide. There is no trail. You hike the river – looking for the most shallow places or least current.

Got in line for the road to the Narrows to open. Vanna was the 5th car in line. The rangers only let in as many cars as there are parking places. Then as one car comes out, another is let in.

---

Heading out of Zion

It was sad to leave Zion, especially after such an epic hike. It was time to continue to head west. A final drive through the tunnel was a must do.

THE NATURAL BEAUTY OF ZION National  Park is undeniable but for those with an interest in civil engineering, this 1.1-mile road tunnel is an impressive structure to admire while driving into or out of the park.

The Zion–Mount Carmel Tunnel is equipped with six galleries, or openings that provide light, fresh air, and glimpses of the fantastic scenery just outside the tunnel. When viewed from the exterior, the galleries give testament to the imaginative design of the structure. During construction, the galleries were used as a means of disposing tunneling soil into the valley below.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/zion-mount-carmel-tunnel

---

Lake Mead

The idea was to drive to Hoover Dam and check out the new bridge by the dam. A source on the internet said it was open, but alas, it was not. You can’t even see it in the distance. You can drive over the bridge, but you can’t see the structure underneath.

https://www.hdrinc.com/portfolio/mike-ocallaghan-pat-tillman-memorial-bridge-hoover-dam-bypass

Had to settle for this free campsite on the shore of Lake Mead!

Zion has to be on everyone’s must see national park. The pictures really do not convey the scale of the rock formations. It was a wonderful time to be in the park as the busses weren’t running and there were relatively few people in the park.

Biking is another great way to get around parts of Zion. At the time of this writing, the buses were not running and traffic on the roads was limited to the few number of parking spaces available. This made riding in Zion especially wonderful. There is also bike path for a small portion of the park.

The journey continues, leaving behind Arches National and Moab, Utah and the heat and headed to Bryce Canyon, Utah. There were a few notable things along the way including a train car motel and Butch Cassidy’s childhood home.

Bryce Canyon National Park

---

Did I really just see that?

Saw a guy hold his infant daughter over the railing of a very log drop – telling his wife he was doing this “so she won’t be afraid of heights when she grows up”.

Visited Arches National Park and took in all the views.

Biked the bike path that runs up the Colorado River from Glenwood Springs, Colorado – 36 mile round trip. The path runs parallel and under Interstate 70, which is quite an engineering feat in its own right.