November 1999

At the end of October the clocks went back making our days shorter!!!!!!!!!!!

Sun Rise: approx. 6.30 a.m. Sunset: approx. 4.30 p.m.

Location

King's Canyon National Park - Reaches a depth of 8,000 feet making it deeper than both Hell Canyon, Idaho and the Grand Canyon, Arizona. It was introduced into the National Parks in two sections. The section adjoining Sequoia National Park was incorporated in 1940. The section downstream from the Roaring river was not incorporated until 1965 as there was still a possibility that the canyon would become a reservoir? In 1943 Sequoia and King's Canyon National Parks were put under joint management. The wonderful views these parks offer are marred by the constant pollution from the San Joquaim valley.

Our Route - Had a good short journey from Groveland to Centerville. We are now getting really adventurous taking "side" roads to reduce our mileage. We have found that Californian "county" roads are straight and in some cases, as wide as some of our major roads at home. This reduced our journey by about fifty miles so Wullie could now get his Micro brew earlier. This meant his face had a smile on for a change. (only joking, those who know him, know it takes more than that to make him smile! Like early retirement?).
RV Site - Once again the 34' length of our RV put a stop to us using one of the RV sites inside the park. We chose King's Canyon RV site, Centerville for our four night stay. Nice large grassy pitches, no frills, reasonable price, but about 40 miles from the park entrance.

Activity

Kings Canyon - The drive from Centerville (el. 400 feet) to the Big Stump park entrance (el. 6,600 feet), can be spectacular if the visibility is clear. Many citrus orchards, vine groves, and nut orchards line both sides of the road which ascends steadily providing views across the San Joquaim/Fresno valley below. Highway 180 continues through Sequoia National Forest with many places to stop and admire the wonderful views of Kings River winding its way through the contours of the deep canyon below. Unlike most other canyons the road descends to the floor of the canyon. Now we are looking up at the 8,000+ft. mountains surrounding us. With the sun shinning on Kings River, reflecting the golden leaves of the deciduous trees, we had our lunch before starting our return journey. We had enough time to visit General Grant a Giant Sequoia - the worlds third largest tree. This tree is designated as a National Shrine - the only living memorial to those who died in war. Each Christmas people gather here for a religious service - with snow around this would be a magnificent setting and well worth a visit- however we will be in the warm, sunny desert and will miss it!

We took another drive into the park to do a couple of shorter walks (strolls), and drive to Hume Lake, another part of the park we had not yet visited.

Buena Vista - A pleasant stroll through old growth forests with magnificent trees (again) interspersed with gigantic boulders artistically arranged by nature. The viewpoint was everything promised by our hiking book. A 360° view overlooking the John Muir & Monarch wildernesses and the valleys below. The high Sierra's were once again magnificent, although some were obscured by airborne pollution. This two mile round trip took just under two hours to complete what with photo stops, cone collection, nature study and sheer enjoyment.
Hume Lake - A very pretty spot with one sandy beach. Chatted to locals who had landed one large good sized local trout and one small rainbow. They reckoned larger fish of 10+ pounds were available by the dam but these were reluctant to swallow the bait. We strolled along the lake shores admiring the views which included a couple using a large rock as a table covered with a table cloth. They were eating a champagne lunch - apparently they had used the same table and enjoyed the same view two years previously.
Panorama Point - A spectacular vista of the high Sierra. This short walk delivers the sort of views its name implies of the Sierra Nevada's and the Great Western Divide. A really nice spot where, if the visibility had been better it would be worth walking a further 2½ miles along the ridge to a fire lookout.

Location

Lake Isabella - The damming of the Kern river was completed by the US Corps of Engineers in 1953 providing a flood control reservoir for the Bakersfield area. In 1991 Lake Isabella was adopted by The Sequoia National Forest who now manage it and the surrounding forest area.. Due to the development of the lake, Kern Valley is now a haven for fishing, skiing, swimming, sailing, windsurfing and last but not least - camping (RVing). With twelve campgrounds surrounding its perimeter it makes a very attractive area for us RV'ers. At this time of year, and after a very hot and dry summer, the reservoir still has 31% of capacity illustrating the value of it's flood control function.

Our Route - Our journey from Centerville to Bakersfield was completed mostly on Highway 99. Only one route is recommended into Lake Isobella if towing a large RV - Highway 178. This follows the contour of the Kern River through a narrow canyon, with tight bends which must be negotiated with care especially when towing a 34 foot RV. The road was quiet so we were able to enjoy the journey with glimpses of the Kern river as it tumbled in the canyon beneath us.
RV Site - Lake Isabella Resort is situated on the south shore of the lake, just four miles from Lake Isabella town. This resort is in the process of being improved and upgraded - electrical rewiring, individual BBQ's and steps between the different levels. It is a very clean and tidy site with a swimming pool and club house. We were allocated a nice spacious pitch in the long stay area. Internet access was available in the office but was limited to E-mail because of the disruption.
Scenery - Stunning. We could not imagine what this area was going to be like as it is at the Southern end of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and yet so close to the Californian Desert. When we got our first glimpse of the lake, the sun made it look really blue, with the surrounding mountains, which are bare of trees but very colourful, so different from what we had envisaged.

Activity

Sunday Peak Trail - 3.4 miles The trail head was 6.5 miles on forest road 24S15 where we encountered some snow before arriving at out destination. The trail started at 7,200 feet and Sunday Peak is 8,300 feet. 1,100 feet is gained through 1.7 miles of old growth forest with many different trees, some hundreds of years old. Occasional views of the neighbouring mountains are available through the trees. The snow on the trail provided a good indication of those who had proceeded us, a bear, some deer and lots of squirrels/chipmonks. To reach the peak the trail takes a sharp left turn which we missed the first time, but being experienced hikers we thought after a further half a mile down hill, "something is wrong here". We retraced our steps back up the steep and dusty/snowy path until we found the uphill trail to the peak. The 360 degree view includes the Great Western Divide, Sierra Nevada's, Lake Isabella and the Kern Valley, and the foothills leading out of the San Joquaim Valley. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch sandwiched between a phone call (while we had the luxury of good reception on our mobile phone), and photographic sessions. A really wonderful viewpoint which was rated 9 by our hiking book but we felt should have been rated 10. The return trip, all down hill, was made more enjoyable by our attention to the Autumn colours and the fact that no new bear prints had been made in the snow.
Sherman Pass - We took the route from highway 395 onto Kennedy Meadows road. Our ascent from 3,000 feet to nearly 7,000 feet was completed in just nine miles. Wonderful views were given of the of the desert below through the folds in the mountain ranges as we quickly gained height. The road then shelved out as we drove through Kennedy Meadows, then on through those magnificent forests once again before arriving at the 9,250 feet summit of Sherman Pass. It was 45°F with a couple of inches of snow on the ground so a hike to the viewpoint was out of the question, as once again we were not dressed for the occasion, we were in our shorts. With photo's and videos taken very quickly we started our picturesque decent. Steep and icy patches made the journey slow, but who wants to rush with these views! We turned onto the Sierra Way which runs alongside the north fork of the Kern river. With the sun low it made the Autumn colours exquisite. The fast flowing river and the sheer walls of the canyon made this a most picturesque journey. The icing on the cake was the superb sunset over Lake Isabella giving beautiful reflections in the water - we just had to stop for another photographic session. Yet again, we arrived home in the dark.
Kern River - Starts at 12,800 feet above sea level at Lake South America in the Sierra Nevada's. It is considered one of the fastest rivers in North America as it drops to 400 feet in just 140 miles. Despite falling as much as 60 feet a mile, it has only one 15 foot high slide at Kern Falls. The hike started at Johnsondale Bridge car park above the north fork of the river. A lot of people stop here to picnic, or just look down on this fast flowing river. As we were preparing to start our hike we got chatting to a couple from New Zealand. Like us, they came from a small Island, had purchased an RV, and were on an extended vacation in North America. Like us, they were enjoying the massive amount of space, beautiful scenery, wonderful weather. We left after exchanging E-mail addresses hoping that our paths would meet again so we could exchange our experiences over a "wee dram". The path took us through the canyon and by the river bank, we watched herons fishing, dippers feeding along their stretch of river and listened to the squawking of the colourful Stellar Jays as we approached their territory. The colour of the deciduous trees along the riverbanks, bright gold leaves shinning in the sun made this six mile walk complete. One problem - two of us started out on this very pleasant hike but three returned. Wullie picked up a "tick" which he luckily noticed in the early evening. It was removed by Surgeon Wullie, (never even thought of passing out!) assisted by Nurse Linda. One of the prices we must pay for all this glorious weather here.
Needles Lookout - The trail head is 2.8 miles along one of those rough, dusty and snowy forest roads we have come to love and adore. This was a five mile round trip through firs, ponderosa pine, sugar pine, granite and sand, for a great birds eye view of the Golden Trout Wilderness, Kern Valley, and the Sierra Nevada's including Mount Whitney. The Bird's Eye view description is due to the fact that Needles Lookout is perched like an eagles nest on top of a huge boulder at 8,500 feet. Two bench seats are placed strategically where the trail leaves the forest, just three minutes after leaving the car park - the views begin. So if five miles of walking seems beyond your "want" simply walk to these bench seats, unwrap your sandwiches, take out your flask and enjoy the view. The views continue to provide pleasure most of the way to the top. Stairs and catwalks ascend to the lookout which is "manned" for six months of the year. The present occupant is a lady from Colorado with whom we spent an interesting 30 minutes blethering and finding out about the area. She advised us that water, propane and groceries are lifted in by helicopter. We recorded the views on our various cameras before making our descent. The return drive down the Western Divide highway, Mountain road 50 and Mountain road 99 is particularly scenic and well worth the journey. We have found the mountain roads in this area are of a very high standard.
Grove of 100 Giants - This is as good as and maybe better than, most of the giant sequoia trails in Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. The trail through the sequoias and other old growth trees blew our minds. The most unusual combination was a Sequoia and Incense cedar growing together and sharing the same food chain. The forest rangers have called this a "sequedar".
On the way home after another super day we had our first sighting of a "Roadrunner" dashing across the road in front of us. I guess it was rushing home before it got dark (Linda reckons she heard it going "Beep-Beep" but Wullie's not so sure?).

Location

Death Valley - The Shoshone Indians lived in the valley for over a thousand years. When the '49ers stumbled into the valley the Shoshone hid, watched as huge wagons, immense oxen, and pale faced humans flowed down into the valley, became mired in the sand and then staggered back out of their valley. In 1933 Death Valley became a National Monument and in 1994 it grew by another 1,300,000 acre's and was then designated a National Park. 3 million acres of wilderness and 350 miles of back country dirt roads as well as the major roads make it one of the largest National Parks. The hottest months are May - September with temperatures between 100°F - 120°F, in the shade, making it the hottest spot in North America, a 'no go' area, unless you really have too. The yearly rain fall of less than two inches also makes it one of the driest areas. October - April temperatures between 66°F - 93°F make it more acceptable. It has so much diversity, with the lowest elevation in the western hemisphere near Badwater at minus 262 ft, and surrounded by mountains up to 11,000 feet+. With it's sheer size, plus all the fascinating and beautiful places to visit, it cannot be done quickly. Because of the sheer vastness you need time to visit all the wonderful places this park has to offer. We managed only a few - and were surprised by the beauty it has to offer.
The route we liked best to enter and leave the park was highway 190 on the eastern side of the park. It did not matter what time of the day we drove this road, the colour of the badlands and mountains were superb. Coffee & cream , red` green and the many other colours made our 45 mile one-way trip so enjoyable, we never tired of what we saw.

Our Route - This was our first real sight of a desert, not at all what we imagined. We had expected valleys with straight roads as we had seen this on TV, but not with the high beautiful varied coloured mountain ranges that surround the valley. A great experience especially if you have plenty of time, but I suppose it could become boring if you had to travel them all of the time The valley roads are so flat and straight you have absolutely no sense of distance. When you climb out of the valley through canyons and up the mountain roads, they just go up and up for miles and miles. Our day was spent ascending and descending 5,000 foot passes, stopping for photo opportunities when the terrain allowed. Scenic highlights of the trip was the decent into Panamint Valley on Highway 178, which could easily be included in the National Park. While driving through the valley floor we wondered where the exit was. All of a sudden in the far distance we got a glimpse of sun shinning on the windows of a car descending. What! do we have to go up there was our question! The long decent into Death Valley on highway 190 was interesting and slow with a 34" trailer on the rear. The portion of highway 190 from Furnace Creek eastwards was extremely scenic. The 200 miles took us 5½ hours to complete as we had to keep stopping to admire and photograph the scenery.
RV Park - The chosen site, Longstreet Inn Casino and RV Park, is situated in the foothills of the beautiful Funeral Mountains - amenities include the Casino (slots and black jack), swimming pool, and 9 hole golf course, plus phone connection into the RV - all that for $12 a night. Our stay here turned out to be even cheaper. We had booked for one week, but after three nights were asked to move as someone had previously booked this particular pitch. Management said, "if we move the rest of our stay would be on them". To top it all, when we checked out, Wullie had our first flutter since arriving - with just 25 cents he won $20. Our week only cost us $8.52 - just right for us pensioners!!

Activity

Artists Pallet Scenic Drive - A one way, dusty single track 6 mile loop road through multi coloured badlands and canyons. Just before sunset is the best time to visit when you can see why it bears this name, seeing is believing with all the wonderful colours this canyon has to offer. We made the mistake of not leaving enough time to see Artists Pallet before the sun dropped behind the Paramint mountain range. Well that's not exactly true, we did have enough time, but Linda had to stop, look in awe once too often to take photo's of the many different coloured canyons, which meant we arrived at Artists Pallet just after the sun had dropped behind the Paramint mountains. Don't make the same mistake, give yourself plenty of time. What we saw we will never forget. Hopefully, if we have time we will revisit.
Zabriskie Point - This was the perfect end to a perfect day. The setting sun made the surrounding mountains and the valley below come alive with colour. We captured some wonderful photo's to remember.
Twenty Mule Canyon. - Is part of the path the mule wagons took from the Borax mine to the Death Valley railroad at Ryan prior to 1927. While travelling along this rough, dusty and narrow road you doubt if the road has been upgraded since then, but don't let that turn you off, you will thoroughly enjoy the experience of driving these six miles amongst even more colourful mountains.
Dante's View - el. 5,475. This 13 mile good paved road from highway 190 east, ascends steadily all the way. The final 1,000 feet is climbed in the last mile making that stretch of the road unsuitable for long vehicles. Views across to Telescope Peak - 11,049 feet (the highest point in the park), down on Badwater - minus 283 feet which is the lowest elevation in the Western hemisphere. The black rock masses below Dante's view are reputed to be the oldest in the park at 2 billion years old. It is an excellent place to be at sunset, we waited until the sun dropped behind the Panamint Mountains on the western side of the park. Shortly afterwards the sky adopted the various colours which make up a beautiful sunset and we took our best sunset photo's yet.
Uhehebe Crater - This is situated on the most northerly paved road in the park. The crater is 2,400 feet in diameter. A volcanic eruption about 1,000 years ago created this vast crater and the smaller ones that surround it. As this was another new experience for us we were amazed by it's depth and colour. A path took us the 1.5 mile around the rim where we had wonderful views into Uhehebe, Little Hebe and the surrounding mountain ranges. Clear visibility also gave us views of the most northerly part of the valley. We lunched on the side of the crater, once again thinking how lucky we are to be able to see all these fantastic sights.
Titus Canyon - If you fancy an exciting drive through a very rough, narrow, winding canyon and you have a high clearance 4X4, then this is the one to choose - we didn't, we just wandered a mile into the canyon, which was certainly worth while. If you decide to have a go, then tell us what it was like. Maybe we'll do it one day!
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Reserve - Is located outside the park, in the Amargosa valley in the Mojave desert. When the climate in this area changed from wet to dry thousands of years ago, many plants and animals perished, but over 20 species adapted and changed to survive. The refuge consists of 22,117 acres with over 30 natural springs dispersed around the refuge. These springs provide 10,000 gallons of fresh water per hour - amazing considering this is a desert. The largest of these is Crystal Spring which on its own produces 2,600 gallons of water per hour. The water is derived from the mountains of Nevada and travels through an underground system deep in the earth. As a result the temperature of the crystal clear water as it exits the spring is approx. 87°F. It takes thousands of years for the mountain water to reach these springs. A whole series of reservoirs have been created to capture this water. Perhaps the most famous resident in these waters is the Pupfish which is found in the Mojave desert and Mexico. The Pupfish in Ash meadows are unique, as are the Pupfish in Death Valley, as they adapted to the change in conditions. The Pupfish species was reckoned to inhabit this area when dinosaurs etc. roamed the earth. The Rangers are returning the environment in the refuge back to its native state. All non native plants and wildlife which are harmful are being removed. Linda looked in awe at the water pumping from the natural springs into the many ponds that we viewed, especially as it was so warm. What a pity swimming is prohibited - it was oh! so tempting.
Golden Canyon Interpretive Trail - This easy trail is another must. It is so easy and the many wonderful rock formations in the canyon were believe it or not outstanding. Red Rock Cathedral is the star of the show (the rock formation really does look like a cathedral). You can make the hike as long you want by wandering in and out of the many canyons listed on the leaflet.
Mosaic Canyon. The diversity of death Valley meant this was so different from Golden Canyon. The highlights were the multicolored highly polished marble and the mosaic of stones. The whole effect was due to the rush of water through the canyon when it rains in the mountains. We've never seen so much marble, it must be worth a fortune. Thank goodness for the National Park that now protects it.
Stovepipe Wells Sand Dunes - We had wanted to drive to the HUGE sand dunes at the north end of the park. Windy weather had filled in the road which made it impassable We had to settle for the smaller and more accessible ones. We walked up and down the dunes until we reached the ridge of a medium sand dune, where we could sit and watch the sun setting. While waiting we imagined Lawrence of Arabia riding his camel in front of us, (some imagination!). The ripples caused by the wind, and the peaks of the surrounding dunes stood out in the sunset. More photo's taken, then home in the dark once again. A perfect way to finish a wonderful weeks touring, admiring, and dreaming about another fantastic National Park - Death Valley.

Location

Las Vegas - no need to tell you about this place if you have already read our September's Progression page.

Our Route - Ninety miles on Interstate I5 took us right into Las Vegas with no detours. High winds made the first part of our journey slow, but our reduced speed meant we had no mishaps. Good map reading by Wullie and exceptional driving by Linda bought us into Vegas with ease, despite all the traffic near to "The Strip".
RV Site - Circus Circus was chosen because we knew its location and what it had to offer. It's on "The Strip", which meant we had the luxury of leaving the truck and walking out in the evenings. Arriving early afternoon enabled us to get everything set up before the very strong winds arrived. No Internet access - hope we don't receive too many messages!

Activity

We had intended to visit a couple of state Parks but due to the big drop in temperature, and the fact that we were too lazy to take the truck out, we decided to spend the following three days wandering along the Strip, hoping to win our fortune once again.
One of the most enjoyable casinos we visited this time was Mirage. We had the guided tour in the "Secret Garden" of Seigfreid & Roy. The dolphin section was the most enjoyable for Linda, it made her ambition to swim with the dolphins even stronger. Wullie bought Linda a dolphin (not a real one), before we continued our tour of the white lions, white tigers, black panther and golden leopards a wonderful afternoon.
Winner - Wullie won another $50 the first evening. We managed to lose it and a little more over the next three days - so what! it was fun.
Hairdresser - Linda's dread came true - her hair was cut far too short, and she had to pay $60 for the mistake. Wullie was very kind - when he first viewed the new hairstyle he tried very hard not to call her Spiky, but his tongue formed the words and it was out before he could stop it. Lucky we don't know anyone here. Another photo for Margaret's "funny photo album.
The Rat Pack - At the Desert Inn was the show that Wullie had wanted to see since our last visit. This is a night with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr and Joey Bishop on the occasion of Frank's birthday in 1961.A very popular show which made us wonder why the venue chosen by the casino was so cramped. Seats are allocated on a "first come" basis. Our seats were at the side which made for less comfortable viewing of the 90 minute show.

Location

Hesperia, California. It was the Thanksgiving holiday time and we knew most sites would be busy, so we booked this site as a four day stopping off location over the holiday period. It was handy for shops, also there were a few places we could drive out too which were not to far.

Our Route - Just over 200 miles on Interstate 15 - one of those very straight highways where we found ourselves looking out for landmarks that would keep our minds occupied. These are some of the places and landmarks we passed: Baker has the "tallest thermometer in the world", it did look tall but wouldn't like to say it was really the tallest. Today's temperature registers at 60°F, the lowest temperature reading is 30°F and the highest 135°F, wouldn't like to be here then). Calico Ghost Town - was a booming silver-mining town 1881-96. Didn't really see it, just drove past the road entrance. We just imagined the tumble weed blowing down the main road.
Zzyzx Road - we were not sure how to pronounce this name, all we can tell you is that it goes to locked gates, then the Californian Desert Studies Centre.
RV Site - Desert Willow Resort is just off Interstate 15, which made it very handy for a short visit. A very nice spotless site with very large back-in pitches. Full hookups including lots of TV cable channels. No Internet access yet again.

Activity

Rim of the World scenic byway (highway 138/18). Quite some name!!. For the first ten miles we wondered where the name came from, but after the next 35 miles understood what they meant. An extremely scenic road which travels along the rim of the San Bernadino Mountains. This is a very popular leisure/recreation area for L.A. residents. The area includes Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake, both lakes/towns were very busy with parking problems especially on Thanksgiving Weekend. The area lying between 5,000 and over 7,000 feet, in the summer is used as a cool retreat and in the winter as a winter sports resort. With temperatures of 60+ degrees the ski resorts had decided to make there own snow? Well it was Thanksgiving weekend wasn't it and no SNOW means no DOUGH! The slopes were fairly busy with skiers and snow boarders. Definitely worth a visit but more commercial than we like.

Next Destination

We have decided to give the wheels on the RV a rest during the month of December. Borrego Springs, Southern California, is where we will be spending Christmas. Desert sunshine,Hiking, swimming, and generally sitting and relaxing while drinking a few of those terrible Microbrew beers. Ya cannae whak it!!

Months Weather Report

Continuous sunshine throughout the month. Daytime temperature in Las Vegas below 60°F meant the long trousers had to be resurrected from mothballs. Temperatures the rest of the month were between 60°F and 80°F which was very pleasant once again. The coolest part of the night is round about 5.0 a.m., when the temperature was between 35°F - 45°F.

Miles travelled this month: 2,865

Accumulative miles: 14,499

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