Yosemite, Kings Canyon & Sequioa National Park... and Exeter

Lembert Dome, North Yosemite (Yosemite, CA USA 1 June 07)
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We have continued in quite a convoluted fashion, zigzagging across the Sierra Nevada mountains from Mammoth towards the North Yosemite entrance. The drive up to the pass at the top of the mountain range tested the poor car to  the limit, so we were pretty glad to get to the entrance in one piece. After a drive through the north of the park, which is noted for its domes - sheer granite boulders 250ft tall; we continued down into Yosemite Valley.

Yosemite being one of the most popular parks in the US is known for its volume of visitors, and having visited many national parks that were pratically deserted we were surpised by the number of people there....however the animals don't seem to mind, as we saw when a bear ambled into the area we were walking through. The two tiered Yosemite falls is particularly spectacular, but all in all we were glad to escape the crowds and continue onto King's Canyon &Sequioa National Parks which were altogether a more peaceful experience.

Close up of falls Yosemite (Yosemite, CA USA 1 June 07)
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We camped in the middle of the Sequioa Park which was stunning = enormous giant sequoia trees thousands of years old, and deer roaming freely all around the site. The trees are quite amazing - the General Grant is the broadest tree in the world with a base of something like 40ft - made us feel vv small! King's canyon is a lovely remote area of the park, and also has the world's oldest gravity petrol pumps = I hope they are serviced regularly... Winding down King's Canyon got hotter and hotter, so much so that the rocks on the side of the road were too hot to touch, but did very nicely for a clothes on hot stones massage! The Sequioa park is lovely and slightly cooler than King's canyon due to the altitude, with some great caves too for escaping the heat.

El Capitane (Yosemite, CA USA 1 June 07)
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We wound down and down into the valley from Sequioa (its average altitude is 2000m) and entered California's main agricultural area - orange,lemon,pistachio, and olive trees, as well as vine trees, as far as you could see. In the middle of this we encountered the city of Exeter - V's nearest city in England. We thought the sign was worth a photo!

I leave this entry as we enter the desert and an altogether more different landscape than the snow and fir trees we have encountered on this trip so far.  Feeling a little nervous regarding our next trip across Death Valley - hope the car makes it.....

Yosemite Falls (Yosemite, CA USA 1 June 07)
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V&R