Category: 2025 Travels

We have reserved, and cancelled, reservations way out on the Jetty at Doran beach multiple times. Reservations are really hard to get, so it’s always a bummer to let them go. But if Bodega Bay is windy, cold, or rainy, the jetty is going to get the worst of it. Even during the days of toughing out any and all camping weather, we have bailed on the jetty. But not this time!

We left a hot and toasty home, with temperatures in the 90s, drove two hours west, and landed in jacket weather. It was chilly and very foggy in Bodega Bay, which was most welcome. We took a nice walk along the beach wearing down jackets even. The weekend’s entertainment was watching pelicans dive nose first into the water, making huge splashes on impact. We couldn’t figure out how they could possibly spot fish from above, so we Googled it. Apparently they are not launching targeted strikes. They just nose dive and slap the water with their wings. They have air bubbles in their feathers, which protects them from the impact, but any fish within a few feet of the shock wave will get tiny concussions, get disoriented, and float to the surface. Like pelicans are using their bodies as water bombs to stun their dinner. Did not know that. And I’m glad I’m not a pelican.

On Saturday we hiked the Pinnacle Gulch loop trail which connects with the Shorttail Gulch trail via the beach. It’s best if you do this loop at low tide so you don’t get cut off by the water, but we scooted past the narrowest stretch of sand about an hour before high tide and made it without getting wet. We had a lovely picnic on a driftwood pile and then headed back to the staging area.

For dinner, I was really looking forward to going out. August is a long ass month for two school district employees who don’t get paid until Sept 1. We had just enough saved funds to have a splurge at Fishetarian and even get dessert afterward. We split the shrimp tacos and an “adult” grilled cheese with fries. The adult part is only exciting in the sense that you get fancy asiago and fontina cheese, with fig spread and roasted red onions. We stopped in Rocker Oysterfeller’s for a soft serve for dessert and it was surprisingly worth the steep price of $6 for a rather small swirl. It was so creamy and rich though, that we had no regrets.

We walked from Dory to dinner, and back, which was almost two and a half miles each way. We stopped and chatted with a park ranger on the way back, who told us that locals and folks in the know refer to Doran Beach as “Blowdega.” That makes sense to me and makes me feel like not quite such a wuss for having bailed so many times.

I’m glad we finally got there. It was too foggy to enjoy ocean views, but at least we weren’t getting sand blasted. Camping weekends are always dependably joyful and Bodega Bay never disappoints. We’re filling up the non camping weekends with fun day trips to pull some of that joy into home life. Work in progress but we’re getting better at it. Next outing will be for the Olema Altogather and I’m very much looking forward to that!

Total miles: 80.9, 15.3 mpg, 2 hours 32 min. Site 108 Jetty, no hookups. Great cell. Solar. Dump $10 but didn’t use it. Felt superior about that and gloated as we drove past the dump line.

This is where we close out Summer 25. We had initially thought to try to get into Yosemite for a last hurrah, but it looked too crazy and crowded. I had made reservations for an in between stop at Lake McClure that would have given us hookups between the two national parks, but the forecast said it would be hot and we wanted to end on a national park high, so we cancelled and ended the trip with Sequoia/Kings. It’s funny how much we don’t mind the idea of going home now. We used to push it to the last possible minute, but now we welcome a little bit of down time at home before the school year starts. We attribute much of this change to Richard’s new job. No more dreading the return to work life. Also of critical significance is the addition of the ADU, making cohabitation with our daughter a non issue. But before that last travel day, we got in a ton of activities in a really big double park.

The four thousand foot climb from Sequoia RV to Azalea campground in Kings Canyon had me spooked. I am not a fan of deathy drives and I got triggered the night before about what was to come. I looked at Google street view and watched some YouTube videos to get a sense of the road. I’m not sure if that helped or hindered, but I was certainly ready for the turns with no guard rail and no shoulder. I employed a new calming strategy by incessantly humming “Under Pressure” in my head. Besides that, I just went slow and kept my eye on the yellow line. As a note to my future self: 180 between Cat Haven and 245 is not that bad. It’s not your favorite, but it’s only about seven miles with short sections of no guard rail. You won’t like it, but soon a guard rail will appear, or some trees, or a bank between you and the edge. You did it before, you can do it again, you’ll be fine.

Once we got to the Grant Grove Visitor Center area, the tense driving was over and I pulled into the parking area at the campground so we could get our bearings. We did check to see if our site was open, but it was early and the previous occupants hadn’t left yet. No problem, we just explored the market and visitor center for an hour or so. Richard had good cell service, and while I didn’t, I was pleased to find good wifi at the gift store. Richard also found Mint It’s Its at the market and got me one cause I totally deserved it.

We set up in our pull along site by making a u-turn so Dory’s door would not open into the campground loop road. It’s a lovely, peaceful campground and we were way back at the end, so there weren’t too many people driving past. It was a bit tight to fit the car in and not stick out, but we managed.

We had a lot of time on the day, so Richard suggested we ride down to Hume Lake, making a loop that took us up Hume Lake Road at the end. That was a great idea because I’d seen pictures of that, and figured I would like driving it even less. It’s awesome when you can preview those roads on a bike. We went down General’s Highway for a couple of miles before we got to the turn off for Ten Mile Road. This is a totally normal, non deathy road that takes you the long way to Hume Lake. It was a big descent, but not steep, just an effortless roll for about five miles.

We saw the road that leads to Bearskin Meadow and waved. About twenty years ago, we came to Bearskin Meadow to attend the Diabetes Youth Families (DYF) family camp. This was the first summer after our daughter had been diagnosed with Type 1 (formerly juvenile) diabetes and the DYF camp was a life saver. They have summer camps at Bearskin Meadow and other camp opportunities in the Bay Area throughout the year. These are magical places where kids with Type 1 can connect with other kids in an environment where checking your blood sugar, changing your pump site, and counting carbs is what everyone else is doing. It was a transformative and memorable experience for our family, but honestly we didn’t remember a single thing about the rest of Kings Canyon. I think maybe we did day trips, but it was all a blank slate.

We arrived at Hume Lake surprised to see hustle and bustle and a number of lodges and stores, plus tons of people. It was unlike a typical resort area, and the prominent and centrally located chapel clued us in to the fact that this was a massive Christian camp. We popped in to the market to see what they had, which was unusually well stocked with candy things: automated shake dispensers, a Jelly Belly wall, Dippin Dots, and a very well stocked ice cream coffin. We noticed that most of the people hustling and bustling were teens and kids. I’ll bet the store does very well. They also host one of the few gas stations in the area. There’s another one located further south on General’s Highway at Stony Creek. Or you can go back down to Dunlap. Gas here is a thing, so don’t come with an empty tank.

We climbed up Hume Lake Road, which I think I could do in a car, but why would I? It is narrow and has drop offs, but there’s room for two cars to get past each other. Going downhill wouldn’t be a problem because you’re against the slope. Lots of people seemed to be driving that road as the preferred way in and out of Hume Lake. From there, it’s a trudge on highway 180 to get back to Azalea. We passed by Princess campground and stopped to look at their dump. There is no dump at Azalea or Sunset, so it would be a six mile commitment. We noted it for the future. We also stopped at an overlook where you can see the twisty road descending down into the canyon. That was on the agenda for later in the week.

I made a dinner of chicken and sesame brown rice with broccoli and sambal peach sauce. I figured, we’re in bear territory, might as well let them know we’ve arrived. After dinner we walked down to nearby Grant Grove, where we could see the General Grant tree. This sequoia is the second largest tree by volume in the world. General Sherman, thirty miles to the south, takes the title of biggest tree in the world. General Grant has a wider ground circumference, measured at 107 feet! Its height is 268.1 feet, while General Sherman’s height is 274.9. The tallest tree in the world, Hyperion, is actually a cousin species to the giant sequoias, and towers at an unbelievable 380.8 feet. That one is located near the coast in Redwood National Forest. The giant sequoias have similar features, but they go wide and massive. Some of their upper branches are the size of whole trees. Someone described them as “elephants and broccoli,” and that about sums it up. But really big elephants and broccoli.

The next day began with a long drive south, along General’s Highway. We stopped at Stony Creek to make sure we could get gas there if needed. Yes we could. It’s a 24/7 automated pay pump. We also noted what food they had, knowing it would be a long day and we’d be wanting dinner.

On we drove to the Lodgepole Visitor Center. This is sort of the central hub for Sequoia National Park. Sequoia and Kings Canyon are laid out piecemeal, with forest service land, and some private land, in between. There are two main ways to get to Lodgepole, either switchbacking up from Three Rivers, or going up 180 from Fresno and cutting south near Grant Grove. Considering how daunting all this mountain driving is, to me anyway, there was certainly no lack of cars at Lodgepole. There were a lot of services here, including showers, a store, restaurant, and … ice cream! (take a shot)

We drove a short distance to get to the trailhead parking for the General Sherman tree. Yes. That is one big tree. You have to crane your head back to see the top and it’s hard to capture it in pictures. Also hard was finding a moment when there weren’t people taking selfies by the name plaque.

We took a loop trail that got us away from the crowds and passed through the “Senate” and “House” groves. The trail is named “Congress Trail” and I get what they’re going for. The two stands of trees do seem like an imposing and majestic gathering of god like figures, making decisions of import, sharing space and ecosystem, perfectly balancing their own growth with the needs of their symbiotic, inextricably intertwined, community. Shame that any words associated with government have fallen so far from that lofty ideal. I took a picture of a tree once tall and proud, whose top had been obliterated, probably by lightning. And another picture of a clusterfuck of fallen giants, toppling over each other and knocking down their counterparts. Those images seem far more apropos for the titles.

My absolute favorite part of the trail was spotting a Yellow Bellied Marmot. He had his butt to us for a long while, figuring he was invisible and we would walk on by. I was patient though and when he turned around, he looked just like that meme of the marmot screaming, “ALLAN!” He amused me greatly.

It was time for us to head toward our scheduled event of the day. Crystal Cave has been closed to the public for the past four years, but is now open for tours. We made reservations months ago, knowing only that it would be a long drive from Azalea to get there. We later knew that it would also be an exciting drive from the turnoff on General’s Highway, six and a half miles down a narrow road with a couple of short gravel sections. They said to allow a half hour from the Lodgepole area for travel, so we planned our departure accordingly. Before the turnoff, it was already narrow and I was trying to make the journey as palatable as possible for Richard, who seemed to always be on the edgy side in the passenger seat. Any time I had a clear line of sight and no oncoming traffic, I scooted over the middle line to give him some respite. There was a car behind me, but it wasn’t until I turned to go to Crystal Cave and he flashed his blue and red lights that I realized he was a ranger. I pulled over, thankfully against a bank rather than a cliff, and the ranger told me he’d stopped me because I was going over the middle line. Fair accusation, but I was doing so very carefully, and with reasonable purpose. I didn’t argue and he let me off with a warning, which I appreciated. We hadn’t lost too much time from the incident, but I needed to not dilly dally the rest of the way down. Richard sort of stumbled out of the car when we got there, with ten minutes to spare before the tour. Later he chatted with the cave volunteers and recounted what had happened. They all knew this particular ranger and said the middle line was totally his thing and he stops people all the time. I mean, I’m all for safety, so if people are getting into head on collisions from not staying on their side, I get the vigilance. On some of these roads though, there is no middle line and I wonder how many people go off the edge.

The tour itself begins with a half mile hike down, down, down until you get to the tour guide at the entrance to the cave. Tours are scheduled throughout the day with groups of 25-30 people at a time. We booked the last tour of the day, which turned out to be a great idea since it meant almost no oncoming traffic on the way back up. The tours are run by the Sequoia Parks Conservancy, and they do a fantastic job. You have to book tours through their online reservation system and gives you a specific date and time. You can’t get into the cave without a tour reservation.

The cave walk itself is easy and paved, taking you through several large rooms with tons of cave decorations. This is a marble cave and the first I’ve seen with running water streams. Water is how these caves form and this one is still developing. It is super cool. I took a plethora of pictures, but my favorite cave feature was a collection of “fairy ponds,” or little pools that have built up over time. I also liked the dragon shaped feature in the last room. It was a highlight and a must do on any visit. Even the hike down and back up is lovely, with several attractive waterfalls and informational kiosks to stare at while you catch your breath on the uphill.

Our day was not done yet though! We topped it off by hiking up Moro Rock. I’d seen pictures of it and had heard there were stairs and handrails the whole way, but when we pulled around the corner to see a gigantic slab of granite sticking straight up into the sky, I gaped, “We’re not going up that are we?!” Yes we were, and yes I did. No regrets and I recommend it. Yes there are a bazillion stairs and steps, but guard rails or solid rock at your side the entire time. Just before reaching the top, a little voice in my head said I should definitely not be up this high. I stared directly and only at the steps in front of my feet, and kept going, one step after another. Eventually you come to the wide open space at the top. Mind you, if there hadn’t been guard rails, I would have had a panic attack right there. But I was able to cling to those suckers all the way to the end. I only let go long enough to let someone take our picture. It was a thrilling experience with an unmatchable view. I would do it again.

After a jam packed day, we were looking at an hour’s drive back to Dory and it was already nearly seven o’clock. Richard had the prescience to know this would happen, so we had already checked out the dinner possibilities at Lodgepole. We enjoyed a grilled cheese, chicken wrap, fries, and, you know it, ice cream. What a great day.

With only two days down on a five day stay, we decided to spend the next day riding down, then back up Kings Canyon Scenic Byway. We only went as far as the bottom of the canyon, which you reach at Boyden Cavern. We parked on the road just after the Hume Lake Road turnoff and started coasting down from there. It’s an exhilarating thirteen miles, with 3660 feet in elevation change. It’s good to have disc brakes for this, which I do and Richard doesn’t. The turns are sharp and the edges perilous. They do have low rock walls along a good portion of the lower section, giving you a sense of protection, but more importantly, blocking your view of the river and canyon way down below. On a bike, no problem. I don’t even mind stopping to look over the wall. Later in the car I wasn’t so thrilled with the drive back up. But on this day, it was all about the joy of biking it. Of course, Richard had all the hard work to do, but my little legs were doing some pedaling too, assisted though they were. We saw a sign saying “Caution Ice – Cream on the way.” This was a lie. We noticed the tiny shipping container with an order window was open the next day, so maybe they run on weekends only. Richard had to work hard to get back to the car, so we celebrated with treats at the Grant Grove Market, and then napped. Dinner was Romesco chicken with poblano, olives, and couscous.

Two more days to go! We followed our bike exploration of the canyon with a drive down. That drive was all fine. I let Richard out at Boyden canyon and sagged him ten miles to the Cedar Grove Visitor Center. This is another central hub of the park, though much more rustic and no cell service or wifi anywhere. The road is simply spectacular. It follows the south fork of the Kings River the whole way. It is just waterfall and rapids, one after another. Sometimes the river will open up and calm down, where people fish. You do not want to go swimming or boating in this river.

At the visitor center, we put Richard’s bike in the car and drove to the end of the road and parked. From there, we picked up the Mist Falls trail. You start with an easy walk on the Paradise Valley trail. This goes on for about two miles. We ran into a couple on that trail we had randomly seen twice before on this trip. We saw them first at Lake Isabella, where they were confused about how to get a site. We saw them again at a scenic overlook on the General’s Highway. This time we introduced ourselves properly. Monica and Oliver were on a two month van rental vacation from Germany and were taking in all the best California highlights. They get five stars for route planning and they even scored a site at Kirk Creek. Well done! Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.

We entered a marshy area of the trail, where river reeds were growing, thick in the bogs. Just out of the corner of my eye, I caught something brown and fuzzy moving ahead, maybe fifty yards from us. I stopped and barked sharply to Richard, “Sweetie. Back up, back up, back up.” The bear did not seem alarmed by our presence, but we were alarmed by the presence of a very friend shaped cub, following along after mama. Goddamn they’re cute, but our hearts were in our throats until they disappeared into the thick reeds. We breathed a sigh of relief. Well, well, that was our adventure for the day, wasn’t it? We continued on. I got no pictures. I had regret.

After two miles, we saw a sign pointing to the left, which means start going uphill to follow the bend in the river. The trail comes close to the river in places, then backs away, but you can always hear it rushing along to your right. There was a group at the junction who I excitedly reported to about the bears. We kept climbing up, another 2.7 miles until we at last came to the falls. It is breathtaking and cool to get sprayed by the mist if you sit at the bottom. We stopped and snacked a good long time before heading back down.

Just a little bit before hitting the trail junction, we came upon a couple who had just seen a rattlesnake cross the path. They pointed out where is was coiled up, hiding in the reeds. Well, well! This has certainly been the day for adventure hasn’t it?

Shortly after that, Richard came around a bend in the trail. He did not immediately recognize what was happening. I saw the whole thing, but it took me a minute to make sense of what I was seeing. Imagine the most adorable ball of brown fluff, with cute little rounded ears, doing a legit swan dive into the air, fluffy arms outstretched before it hits the water like a cannonball, generating a huge splashing sound and sprays of water, shooting right into Richard’d face. It was right in front of him, probably sitting happily on a rock by the stream, when it got startled by his sudden appearance. All Richard knew was that he was getting splashed by something huge hitting the water a couple of feet away. He definitely screamed. I had my phone out and was backing away so fast, with no thought of trying to take a picture, that I fell over backwards and my phone went flying. Richard spotted mama further away, but not that much further, in the water. He started calling out, “GO AWAY BEAR! GET OUT OF HERE!” I was scared he was going to piss her off, but he was following the directions perfectly on one of the signs posted by the visitor center. After a few moments of complete chaos, mama seemed unfazed, Richard stopped yelling, little cub climbed out of the water on the opposite shore, a fully soaked baby bear, and we just panted. I got up and found my phone. The rattlesnake couple caught up to us and we all looked at mama bear cautiously. As she moved farther away, we decided it was ok to move past her on the trail. I did try to snap a couple of pictures, but, you guys, nothing comes close to the image of a swan diving bear cub less than ten feet from you. That’s it. No more adventure. We’d had plenty.

As I noted, the drive up and out of the canyon was not my favorite. It came at the end of a long day though, so that didn’t help. It’s the section above the canyon that got to me, with endless climb and edgy switchbacks. I was a tired monkey by the time we got back to Dory.

At last we reach our final day in the park. We had decided by this time to head home the next day in order to end our summer trip on a new-to-us national park experience. Being that it was a Saturday, we smartly avoided all of the touristy destinations and hiked the trails from the campground. We did a loop that took us past Grant Grove, then to a lookout over Sequoia Lake. Along the way we saw the “Dead Giant” tree, which was not as interesting as the weird human made mobile hanging from a tree next to it. We later asked a ranger and apparently it is some kind of experiment, possibly monitoring insects. Cool. It’s a Grand Canyon hike down to Ella Falls, which means you do all the climbing on the second half. It was a good seven and a half mile hike with twelve hundred feet of elevation. It takes you eventually through Sunset campground and then to the Grant Village area. Another day, another It’s It. Then it was back to Dory for our final meal on the road. This time it was a delicious Kung Pao chicken with broccoli and roasted peanuts for crunch. It was delicious, but the cornstarch coating on the chicken adhered to the pan. It was lucky we were going to be able to wash that baby at home.

This was a long post for a long stay in an action packed national park. Two of them, actually. This was our first visit (since we don’t remember the actual first), and we think we have a good sense of the park now. The driving is a lot, at least for me, but not a deal breaker by any means. It’s like highway 1 in the roller coaster section. You just have to get used to it. Once you know what to expect, it gets easier. I liked where we stayed in Azalea. It’s centrally located to the canyon and you can day trip down to the Lodgepole area. Lodgepole was by far the most crowded part of the park. You can stay down in the canyon at Sentinel campground, but boy, I’d have to really psych myself up for taking Dory down and back up out of there. The canyon is the most visually stunning, and the most remote and relaxed. It is just beautiful. I would happily do every single thing we did again. Five days was a nice long stay to experience the park, but because of our shower habits, we did need to go dump at Princess campground in the middle. That wasn’t so bad. Thus ends our eleventh summer out in a Dory. Thanks for following along! It’ll be a few weeks before we’re out again, but this summer was one for the books.

Total miles from Sequoia RV: 27.0, 9.4 mpg (100% uphill), 1 hour 6 min. Site 56 no hookups, pull along site. Great solar. Good cell most of the time for Verizon, but no service for ATT except an occasional tease of 1 bar of 5g that did nothing. Only one bathroom in campground. No dump. Princess campground 6 miles away has a good dump station with potable water fill. Normally costs $20/use, but pay station was broken, so it was free.

This is just a quick post to say that this place exists. It’s fine. It’s weird. But it’s in a convenient location and it has electric hookups that work. It’s right across from a gas station, which is important if you’re heading up to Sequoia or Kings Canyon. It does not look as nice in person as it does on its website, but that’s marketing for you. There was no one to check anyone in, so it was a choose your own site situation. The map showed a dump at site 46, but really it was just that you sort of pull through site 46 and use their sewer outlet. Confusing. But it worked. Hookups are way at the back of the sites but our power cord reached. All things considered, it was fine, but for $60 a night you’re paying for the location.

For us, it was good to stop here. Coming down from Lake Isabella and stopping in Bakersfield for shopping was a six hour travel day. We were also wanting to gas and charge up before climbing five thousand feet. It was only another twenty miles into the park, but that’s an exciting drive best saved for the morning after a good night’s sleep. If we come back, we want to check out Project Survival Cat Haven. It is just up the road from the RV park and it looks super cool. We got there too late in the day to visit and it closes at 4. It is a 93 acre facility housing large cats, some rare and endangered. Note to self to keep that in mind and arrange a tour next time we’re up that way. Richard also notes he would like to figure out how to ride 245 some day.

Total miles from Boulder Gulch: 161.5, 17.3 mpg, 6 hours 10 min with shopping stop in Bakersfield. Site 84. Electric and water hookups. There was a sewer outlet but the hole was too small. There is a pseudo dump by pulling through site 46 and using the outlet there. It is marked on the campground map, but not indicated any other way. Hookups are located at the back of the sites, so some seemed like they would be too far from the pad. Not a lot of sites with shade. Self check in. Good cell service for both.

Have you ever had that moment on a trip where you go, “Wait. Who’s idea was this?” And if it was probably your idea, you go, “Wait. What was my thinking there?” I know we put a lot of thought and discussion into summer trips, and every year we learn something new. I find it hard to believe that the new thing we needed to learn this year was that it gets hot in July. I think we were taking that into account and were intentionally booking things at higher elevations for that reason. But Lake Isabella is right around two thousand feet and definitely not high enough to be saved from July temperatures. I think we were also trying to save money by not staying at private places with hookups. Maybe the lesson here is that sometimes the extra money is worth it.

But here we were. It was in the mid to upper 90s and we were going to give it our best shot. The reservations at this Forest Service campground are not site specific, so you have to find what you can when you get there. Oh right, we also learned that Saturdays are more crowded than other days. I feel that is not a new lesson either, but perhaps something that needed to slap us in the face so we consider that for future planning. Being a Saturday, all the places with nice shade were taken by the people who came on Friday. The campground loop road is narrow, with a maze of one way loops, so I wasn’t into doing a lot of circles to find the one with comparatively most shade. I took one with at least a shady sitting area and set about doing all the things we could to cool Dory off as much as possible for a two night stay. I pulled out the Aluminet to shade the sides, opened everything, closed the blackout curtains, ran 12v fans. Then we sat in our Nemo chairs outside and basked in internet connectivity.

For the next day, our original plan was to bike around the lake, but Richard was noticing how much more traffic there is on a Saturday in July as compared to the last time we were here on a Thursday in January. That idea kind of got set aside. We decided to run the generator, partly to help Dory’s batteries keep up with the refrigerator, but also to recharge my bike batteries in case we did any riding at all the next day. As we were wrestling with ideas, the campground host went by and shouted that we were the only ones in the campground. We took her likely meaning as, “Why are you not being normal people? Do you not know that there is a lake right over there?” She wasn’t wrong. Most of Bakersfield probably flocks to Lake Isabella on hot Saturdays specifically so they can get in the lake. But not us. Nope.

It took us a while to get off our butts the next morning, but the rising temperatures more or less forced the issue of what were we going to do for the day. We ended up driving a ways up the Kern River to check out the road conditions. We drove just about to the end of the section where Sierra Way follows the curves of the Kern before heading up into the mountains. We had enough information to say that it might be fun to ride part of that. We found a shady spot, parked, got out our bikes, and rode six miles up the road.

The Kern river is very bouldery and dramatic. Here and there it widens and slows enough to create little swimming holes. The road was rough and patched in places, but not too bad, and there wasn’t much traffic. What cars there were gave us a wide berth when they passed. We went a tiny bit up Sherman Pass Road, something Richard has heard of as an intense ride, but we weren’t prepared for that kind of effort. Instead, we turned around and just rode mostly downhill back to the car.

There are a couple of private campgrounds along the way, and a little tiny town called Riverkern, which had some stores, a couple of food places, and lodging. All in all, it’s a very inviting area. We saw many cars parked along the side of the road or in Day Use areas or Forest Service campgrounds, with people frolicking in the coolness of the river. We didn’t stop and do that, but I have no clear explanation as to why. At least when you’re biking, you cool yourself off by creating your own breeze, especially when coasting downhill. Our out and back was enough for Richard’s activity needs, and it was pushing 1 o’clock and high 90 degrees. Time to stop.

We had passed through the larger lakeside town of Kernville and noted two things: it looked fun and old timey, and it had an ice cream shop. Perfect place to sit in air conditioning for as long as we were allowed by the management. The mint chip by the way was quite good. The place is called Something Sweeter and you should go. We managed to linger for about an hour.

With the only other option being loitering in the local Von’s Market, we decided to be like normal people and get our asses in the lake. We had brought our swimming suits, so that wasn’t an issue. For me it was that these upper arms and legs absolutely never see rays of sunlight. I had to frost myself with so much sun screen, it left residue on the car seat. For Richard it’s that lakes are ew. I have no photos to prove we got our dainty bodies in the ew lake, so you’ll have to take my word for it. You’re welcome.

There are no trees around most of the lake, and I didn’t want to sit in the sun. Somehow I imagined we would be swimming or something, but even I was reluctant to plunge in because, ew. What turned out to be nice was finding a tall rock with a patch of shade right in a spot that was sandy rather than muddy. There we could sit with our legs and butts in the water, being amused by little fishies and gradually deciding that the ew wasn’t all that bad. And you know what? Sitting in a lake has a decidedly cooling effect. Who knew? We were able to tolerate that for the rest of the afternoon. We then went back to Dory and did another brand new thing for us: we used the outdoor shower for outdoor showering! We barely remembered Dory comes equipped with this handy piece of equipment and it was perfect for rinsing off the ew.

I had the energy to make a nice dinner of southern spiced chicken with hot sauce snow peas and bell pepper, over golden raisin rice. Yum. By then it was cooling off nicely. We were proud of ourselves.

Richard had found a hike that he took me on for sunset. It is the Isabella Peak trail, which goes about a mile and a half up, to get a really nice view of the whole lake. The dam looks like a really big pile of rocks. I’m assuming it’s a well engineered pile of rocks. We got back down to camp just as the last light of day was fading, triumphant heat warriors, overcoming the challenge that thousands of people go out of their way to experience every hot Saturday of the summer. Yay us.

For future trip planning, we want to remember to check elevation for potential heat once we hit July. We honestly have been so lucky with the weather this summer. This is only the second stay that’s been uncomfortable, and neither time was bad enough to make us bail and get a hookup site somewhere. We also want to remember to notice where we’re staying on a Saturday. This campground emptied out completely on Sunday. We could have had our pick of any shady site we wanted. Plus, the traffic wasn’t nearly as bad. Just something to keep in mind. Trip planning is hard though, and I think we did a pretty damn good job for the most part.

Total miles from Alabama Hills: 127.8, 18.1 mpg, 4 hours 34 min. Site 39 no hookups. Excellent cell signal. Water spigots, flush toilets, no dump, trash & recycling.

This one was an adventure for us! I don’t think we’ve ever stayed in a dispersed camping area. It has recently changed so that you must stay only in designated sites, but it’s still pretty rustic. Definitely a memorable experience. In order to gear up for the unpredictability, we stopped along the highway in Bishop. This is the ‘big city’ out in these parts, and a good place to restock on groceries, as well as donuts. We joyfully discovered that yet another in the Schat’s Bakkery (not a typo) chain was located here. Richard had the dubious honor of going to check it out and choose something while I got a few groceries. He said it was completely overwhelming and sent me a video he took of just one of the sections. From his description, it has just about anything you can imagine in the way of baked goods. It also has an entire deli section that is bigger than all of Arcangeli in Pescadero. It was awfully hard for Richard to narrow it down to just a couple of donuts and a mini eclair. All were delicious.

To get to the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area, you start in Lone Pine and turn up Whitney Portal Road. From there you go uphill, toward the imposing wall of Sierras taking up the entire horizon. Eventually, you come to Movie Road and you turn right. It starts as a paved road, but quickly turns to packed sandy gravel. It’s a perfectly fine road to tow on, even if it is a little washboardy. You will see signs posted all over the place letting you know you can’t camp in the Day Use areas, only in designated marked campsites. We learned that this whole area used to be a free for all and it was getting trashed. We saw ample evidence of broken glass, but it also seems lots of effort has gone into cleaning the place up. One of the ways to preserve it was to limit where you could park and camp. Also, you need to get a permit, which you can do online, before you can camp there. We’re in favor, but it made finding a place exciting.

We drove out to a staging area where there were maps posted and information on exactly where you could find a space. There were sites listed in green as “accessible” and sites in orange as “4WD accessible.” They are not kidding. I expect to have nightmares about accidentally towing Dory down one of these roads and getting stuck. I was super worried about it, but it was all fine. There is not a great way to know how bad one of these sandy roads is going to be, but between the paper map and some other map apps, we could mostly tell which ways would be a bad idea. Richard was able to find a Forest Service guy who reassured him and said there were only a couple of dips on the road we wanted to try. Richard walked ahead and thought he found an ok site, but when I pulled Dory up to it, I rejected it for being way too tippy. We slowly moved along, hoping to not get stuck, until we came to the next green site. This one had a wide area where I could make a U turn to get out, and the road seemed adequately passable. I was way outside my comfort zone here, but we were able to do the best we could with leveling and unhitched. That meant we were committed.

There was absolutely no one else around at that point, so the worries over not being able to get a first come first serve site were yet again unfounded. One of the first things we wanted to do was get a better feel for the layout of the place, including what other sites might be workable with a trailer. There are signs posted on all the roads saying don’t take trailers on them, but the forest service guy said they were just cautionary and that he could get his 28 foot trailer in any of them. I’d like to see a 28 foot trailer get pulled up some of those 4WD roads, but maybe he just meant any of the green ones. It was also really hot, like in the low 90s, and we were curious about the other FS campgrounds farther away.

We left Dory in her crazy scenic pseudo site and got in the car to go explore. A few miles on the other side of Whitney Portal Road is Tuttle Creek campground. It gets very good reviews, but I was not particularly impressed. It has vault toilets, dumpsters for trash, and a “terrible” dump with a big ol’ curb. The sites were mostly more level than the BLM, but nothing was making me wish we’d gone there. On the plus side, I think the cell service would have been better.

Next we drove up to Lone Pine campground. This one is higher and was a little less hot. You have to reserve this place and there are only a handful of sites that would be big enough for a trailer. It sits down low in a valley off the road, and there are trees and greenery to offer some shade. There was water and trash, but no dump or cell service. The Whitney Portal Trail starts from that campground if you want a ridiculously hard hike. Again, nothing made me wish we’d stayed there, and I was gradually getting used to the wild wild west vibe of the area.

The last thing we did to maximize car AC time was drive back down to Lone Pine where there was cell service and the Museum of Western Film History that showcased all of the films that were shot in Alabama Hills. We are not big western movie fans, or we might recognize more of the titles. It seems many of the John Wayne movies were shot there, and series like the “Lone Ranger.” “Gunga Din” was one of the featured movies and there is a location where you can see where they built a bridge for one of the big scenes. That’s on our list of movies we need to watch now. A couple of the “Star Trek” movies, “Django Unchained,” and “Tremors” used this place too. All very fascinating and we did spend time the next day looking for the locations.

We did a good job killing time during the heat of the day using car AC, so we decided to head back up and make dinner. I will give us credit for carrying a lot of options for cooking. Under normal circumstances, I cook inside Dory. When it’s hot though, we have the grill and we have a camp stove for maximum flexibility. Our site had a big rock slab where we could set up the grill table and be in the shade. I made a lovely steak and panzanella salad, which we ate inside because of the crazy wind.

After dinner it was cool enough to go hiking around. We did the Arch trail, which is a really nice, well marked loop of a couple of miles. We also checked out a couple more of the green coded sites. I made notes on the map photo of which ones we could definitely rule out. I can imagine someone who loves off roading would get a kick out of this place, but I don’t see how any vehicle could make it over some of these pits and rocks. There were a good number of them though that would totally work. I circled those in green for any future return trips.

We were in the groove now, and went to bed without closing the privacy curtains. There was absolutely no one in sight and the stars were amazing to look at through Dory’s windows. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a bad idea because we did get someone coming in down the road a bit, just after midnight. The approach of a car’s headlights in the dark lights up every rock face in the area. And they took a while to get their tents set up, so the headlamp beams were coming right in whenever they looked in our direction. Plus, in the morning, the earliest rays of sunlight start hitting the mountain peaks around 5am. It was a romantic thought, but we for sure closed the curtains the next night.

We got a nice early start and hiked until around 2, before it got hot again. We checked out all of the movie locations and I took pictures in case we ever get around to watching them. You can see where they put concrete and reinforcing anchors into the rocks for the “Gunga Din” bridge.

Then we did a longer arch loop trail that covers the area to the east of Movie Road. This trail gives you a great view of Mt. Whitney and the crazy approach of Whitney Portal Road as it zig zags its way up the wall of granite. I don’t think I want to drive that section of road. We looked it up and the grade is about 14% in places, with an average grade of 9% and a climb of four thousand feet. Not something to be taken lightly, even in a car. Incidentally, Mt. Whitney is the highest point in the contiguous US, and lies only a hundred miles from Death Valley, the lowest point. All of this was created by the crashing of tectonic plates way back when. Pretty awe inspiring.

It was a great trail, but they sure don’t make it easy to spot the “Eye of Alabama” arch from the trail. We had to use gps and go off trail to find it. We saw a cool leopard lizard, and some Dr. Seuss looking plants called Desert Trumpets. There were cacti and tons of sagebrush everywhere. Very desert like, with an occasional oasis of cottonwoods running along a wash.

We got back to Dory and passed the hot hours of the afternoon in our Nemo chairs, tucked into a shady little rock cave. For dinner, I whipped up a stir fry with beef and bok choy. The trickiest part was keeping all the ingredients from blowing away before they got into the pot. I paired cooking time with margarita time and the day was perfect.

We didn’t know what to expect here, but ended up loving this place. It could have been less hot, but what do you expect in the middle of July? We’ve actually been super lucky with weather on this trip, so no complaining. Our purpose in coming was to learn what the deal was and explore. Check and check. Great stay!

Total miles from Convict Lake: 100.7, 17.5 mpg, 4 hours 24 min with stop in Bishop. Site 25 according to the posted map, but sites are not marked with numbers. BLM free campground, no reservations, must camp only in designated sites. Some sites are accessible only by 4WD on VERY rough high clearance roads. Be careful. No services, no dump, no water, no trash. Porta potties at beginning of Movie Road and in other FS campgrounds. Sadly frustrating cell signal. Could sometimes get something if you climb up on some rocks. Worse for Verizon than ATT, but both sucked. Dump in Tuttle Creek had big curb. No dump in Lone Pine campground. We ended up dumping in Paradise Cove campground at Lake Isabella.

This is a great place and will probably go down as one of our favorites. It is located just down Highway 395 from Mammoth and is situated on a lovely lake. I mean, there is definitely no shortage of lakes in this part of California, but we particularly like this one. It’s just a little more of that eastern Sierras feel; namely, less forested. The dramatic mountain peaks that border it are stunningly beautiful, and it is the perfect size for quiet boating. There is kind of only one long trail around here, and it’s a big one. But there is also a calm loop trail around the lake that is only around two and a half miles.

Given it would be a short travel day, Richard did his morning workout by biking around town to explore all the things. One of the things we worked through was figuring out how important that morning movement is for him. It doesn’t need to be very long, but it needs the intense cardio to get the desired effect. I can always entertain myself in the morning, just by slowing taking my morning shower and screwing around, especially if I have service. I got caught up on all of my pond cam clips from home. We have the regulars, like Mr. Stripes, and the raccoon clan, but I have now seen a coyote pass by twice! Good thing our kitty is indoors at night.

The move from Mammoth was fast, at only about ten miles. We used the dump there instead of Shady Rest because it’s free. It’s a good dump but the potable water spigots are in a bit of an awkward location. No biggie. We found our site and were really pleased. It’s near the beginning of the loop and has a beautiful view. There was excellent solar and a little shade tree for sitting outside when it’s hot. The only bummer was that the cell service cut out just as we entered the campground. Those darn mountains are lovely, but they sure do block signal. Oh well.

The first thing we did was to walk over to the Resort and check out their store. It’s exciting to find places that sell It’s Its and they had both vanilla and cappuccino flavors. They also had a wide selection of grocery items, though no produce. There were little gifts and cute things too. I bought a beer bottle opener, not for opening beer bottles, but because a clever Altoiste posted a picture of using one of these to prop open the door window just a crack. That is super helpful when you only want a little ventilation. 

After doing a visual inventory, and establishing that they do not have free wifi (you can pay $5 for a day per device, but it only works right by the store), we walked around the lake. This is a beautiful 2 or so mile loop and an easy walk until you get to the top of the lake. There are boardwalks to get across all the river crossings, but one crucial section is down. We both ended up taking our shoes and socks off to wade through the ankle deep water.

The next day we did a big hike and put a lot of thought into it beforehand. We wanted to try an experiment by having Richard go balls out for a shortened out-and-back, so he’d be ready to calm down and walk with me for a 4-5 mile climb. He wanted to meet me at the beginning of the climb, which is at the other end of the lake, about a mile from Dory. We wanted to give him a head start so he could go a certain amount of time in one direction, and then turn around and come back. I would wait a certain amount of time before starting my walk around the lake. The question was how much time would result in us meeting up around the start of the climb. This is that word problem where, if a train leaves New York at 8am going 55mpg, and a train leaves Los Angeles at 9am going 60 mpg, where do they meet? We figured, he goes about 3 mph, I go about 2. If we gave him an hour, he’d be 3 miles out. Then he’d turn around and I would simultaneously start. It would take me about a half hour to go a mile and he could cover about 3/4 of a mile coming back, so maybe we’d be within a 1/4 mile of each other. This was serious math we were doing here.

We started our one-hour timers at 7:47. He took off, I slowly started my day with coffee, shower, etc. At 8:47, both of our timers went off. I was ready to lock Dory and start up the trail. He had gotten to a good stopping point and started heading back down. I kid you not, I literally saw him reach the trailhead from about fifty yards away. Nailed it.

Elated with the success of the experiment, we walked together up the Mildred Lake trail. We knew in advance that we might not make it to the lake. There were reports of a bridge being out and a rather dangerous river crossing four miles up the trail. I knew that four miles one way, and a sixteen hundred foot climb would be plenty. The lake is another mile up after that, so you’d be looking at an over ten mile day. But I was ready to decide when we got to it too. We each carried an over abundance of water.

The trail is absolutely beautiful. From the views up the canyon, to the wildflowers and sounds of the river next to you, you can’t ask for more. Except maybe a bridge in that one place. We were both satisfied to stop at the site of the former bridge. The water was rushing very fast and the rocks, even dry, were slippery. Not worth risking our lives to see another lake.

Lots of the trail goes across rocks. Like not bouldering, but packed rocks about the size of baseballs. There wasn’t any scrambling, but you did have to watch your footing carefully most of the way.

We were tired but happy when we reached the bottom, and made a bee line for the resort. Our scheming had resulted in both of us getting what we needed and we were pretty pleased with ourselves. Those It’s Its were well earned and we enjoyed every bite. 

The final day was really about logistics and service. We needed some things in town and I was getting dangerously behind on blog writing. If I get more than two stops behind, I start to forget everything that happened. So we drove back to Mammoth, found a shady spot, and I typed. Richard walked around town some more, and, as is his way, found an excellent ice cream place called Local Scoop that had just opened and had five star reviews. The only problem with traveling with Richard is that I always want to partake in the delicious things he finds. But I burn way fewer calories than he does. I try to monitor the calories in/calories out on these trips, but my guess is that I will have gained some pounds back. But I’m not going to freak out about it. I mean, what is one supposed to do when you get a picture texted to you of a liege waffle topped with a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of hot fudge? There is no other sane choice there.

We can add another gorgeous lake to the list of ones I did not boat on. I might have done so if there wasn’t so much afternoon wind. That does seem to be a theme here. Besides water sports, there is the canyon trail. Beyond that, you could rent horses or go fishing, if either of those is your thing. It’s an Instagram worthy location and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Total miles from New Shady Rest: 11.7, 13.5 mpg, 1 hour (including dump). Site 88. No hookups. Great solar. Not really much cell service. Good free, double sided dump. Potable water spigots on the left if you’re entering, or the right if you’re leaving. Flush toilets. Resort store and restaurant. Boat rentals.

This is a short post just to note that we liked staying in this location. Is it pretty? Not really. Is it by a lake? Nope. Does it have a burbling little creek flowing past it? Nah. But what it lacks in Instagram worthiness is totally compensated by the fact that it has great cell service and is located at the bottom of the Lakes Basin Path, rather than the top. This means you can do all the hard work of climbing to hikes or lakes or other outdoor activities at the start of the day, and bask in the downhill whoosh at the end when you’re tired. You can walk, or bike, to fun little shops or restaurants for dinner, and you can top up on groceries, gas, propane, anything you need super easily. We liked it.

And if you’re going to book there for the cell service, we note that the sites closer to the road have the best service. Once you get past site 128, the campground drops downhill and the signal starts to get weak. Some of the sites are short, so that must be noted when making the reservation. The one we got, and 129 across from it, are both a little apart from others, and have all the benefits we enjoy. We’d do those again next time we come.

Total miles from Coldwater: 6.5, 22.9 mpg, 45 min. Site 128 no hookups. $10 dump. Good dump with rinse water and potable water. Excellent cell service for both. Some solar. Great proximity to all town things. Right by the Lakes Basin Path.

This was an interesting stop. I’ll say we overall had a good time, but several elements brought up issues we needed to work through. We’ve had time to process the glitches, and I think I can sum them up by a few things we’ve learned. 1: It is very important for Richard to move his body, especially before being in the car for a while. 2: We really do like at least a little bit of cell service. 3: Mosquitos suck. 4: We hike at very different speeds. 5: #4 triggers all kinds of deep emotional programming stuff for both of us. We’re good now, but I’m going to say this stay was bumpy, and only partly had to do with the campground.

This was our first exploration of the Mammoth Lakes area. Weird that two native Californians have never been to this place before. It’s kind of overwhelming how many campgrounds there are and how much there is to do in the area, so we’re chalking this up to a first dip of the toes. Reviews of all of the campgrounds rate the ones up at the higher elevation lakes as top notch. I get why. They have that high Sierras picture perfect look to them, and many of them are right on a lake. There are campgrounds down in town that we rejected, partly because of the reviews, and partly because they don’t present as attractively as the more rustic ones up high.

Coming off excellent cell service in Washoe Lake, we were excited to see a couple of bars of 5g, even as we drove up, up, up away from town and toward the lakes. But the road just goes on and on, climbing a thousand feet from Mammoth proper. Once you get to the first set of lakes, Twin Lakes, you keep going until you eventually go past Lake Mary to see the turn off for Coldwater campground. By that time, all signal was lost.

The campground loop road is narrow and shows signs of winter wear. As it happened, the site we had was way at the farthest point in the three consecutive loops. Arriving finally at the site, it seemed nice enough, with lots of dense forest and a little creek flowing in the background. I needed Richard to spot me as I backed in so I would neither hit a tree, nor drop Dory’s wheels off the pavement. The very first sign of struggle with this place was how many swarming mosquitoes converged on him as he tried to guide me. The smell of mosquito repellant tends to repel me more than the mosquitos, so it takes a lot before I’m willing to cover myself with it. This situation definitely warranted head to toe spraying. We both got bites as we unhitched as quickly as we could.

It was the middle of the afternoon. We had made a stop in town to get a couple of things and check out their Von’s grocery store. We’d left Washoe Lake early to avoid the wind, so Richard didn’t have a chance to get any exercise yet, and he was feeling it. The site felt dark and oppressive, with hovering mosquitoes tapping the windows while we hid inside Dory trying to figure out what to do.

I had to convince Richard to get the bikes out so we could go explore the nearby bike path and see what was what. He was in a mood, but agreed, and that was a good call. The Lakes Basin Path is amazing. It is a well paved, two way multi-use trail that goes all the way from Mammoth to Horseshoe Lake, making stops along the way at Twin Lakes, Lake Mary, and Lake Mamie. If you are coming from town, you are going to climb all the way up a thousand feet. But if you are going down, you needn’t pedal at all for about six miles. We noted that staying in town down below would allow you to ride up in the morning to do things, and then fly downhill at the end of the day. We had booked the opposite experience. We tootled around and didn’t descend past Twin Lakes, so as to avoid a steep return trip. At the Twin Lakes campground, there is a fun little store, which you can actually buy, if you happen to have $625,000 handy. There is also a Lodge where you can get a really expensive dinner.

After a much less expensive Dory dinner, we drove down to town so we could orient ourselves a bit and walk around. We checked out the campground we had previously rejected: New Shady Rest. What stuck us was that there was great service there, and it was walking distance to many fun shops, including Schat’s Bakery. We went so far as to look online to see if there were any open sites, that’s how much we prefer having service. There weren’t any with consecutive night availability, so we put on our big boy and girl panties and decided we’d survive the five star rated camping experience at Coldwater.

The next day’s agenda was all about Devil’s Postpile. We’d heard conflicting information on how to access the national monument, and definitely read that at least part of the road to get there was closed Sun-Thu. We didn’t really know if biking the road was an option, so we just drove up to the summit, where there is a big ski resort and the “Adventure Center.” We first went past this and continued on until we came to a kiosk that barred any further driving. The person inside explained that no cars were allowed to use the road from that point on, due to construction. Bicycles were technically permitted, but road bikes not advised because of the condition of the road. The only real way to get down was to pay for a shuttle service, which you have to do back at the Adventure Center. 

This irked Richard, but back we drove, finding a parking space in a rapidly filling lot. It seems one of the popular things to do here is take mountain bikes up to the top of the ski slopes and ride down. Tons of people were unloading their bikes and gearing up. We spent the $15 each to get a shuttle pass and grabbed our hiking gear. 

One thing I will say for sure: I do not want to ever drive Postpile Road in a car. It reminds me of the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier in terms of how narrow it is and how steep the dropoffs are. Yes, it was under construction, and the loose gravel and quasi paved surface would have made for a jarring bike ride to say the least. So they weren’t wrong. The shuttle is the way to go, and I personally didn’t mind the $15.

We were still pretty confused about how to hike this valley to get the best “postpile experience.” Really, you just need to get off at Stop 6, aptly named Devil’s Postpile. There are other trails you can take, as we did, but they are mostly best accessed from that central location. Given information from a park ranger, we decided to do an out and back first to Minaret Falls, then take the trail to Devil’s Postpile, and then continue to Rainbow Falls. We would even see if we were up for a short out and back to Lower Falls afterwards. At the end of this grand plan, we could simply pick the shuttle back up at the end of the valley; Stop 10 Red’s Circle.

Several things were happening here that we had to unravel later. First, Richard was irritated by the confusion at the start, plus he didn’t like that there was an unavoidable shuttle fee. When he gets tense, I shift unconsciously into helper mode. I was trying my best to make the most of the day, but was also feeling the effects of the 9-10,000 foot elevation, which made it hard for me to hike very fast. Coincidentally, one of the things Richard does unconsciously when he is tense is walk very fast. The hiking on this day surpassed 8 miles, all of which was done with me trying to keep up, Richard walking ahead, and both of us running out of water because we didn’t plan for it to be that big a day. It took us the whole next day to work through the deep layers of unconscious thought patterns pinging off of each other. The shortened version comes to this: I have abandonment issues laid down during childhood that get activated when I feel physically vulnerable. Richard physiologically struggles with going slow, especially when he’s focused on a goal or hasn’t yet gotten sufficient exercise. Super combination.

However, with all of that going on underneath, we were still able to pull off a successful exploration of the postpile valley. I think we could have skipped the out and back to Minaret Falls, but it was pretty. Also, along the way, we met a couple of rangers who offered us some bug spray that we both tolerate. We would not have made this discovery otherwise.

The main attraction was the geologic spectacle of Devil’s Postpile. This phenomenon was created by pooled lava that cooled, crystalized, and cracked, forming hexagonal pillars. From the top, it looks like someone has tiled a hill with polished cut stones. From the exposed edges, you can see the pillars stand against each other, sometimes tall and straight, and sometimes leaning and curving into each other. It’s quite striking and is created similarly to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, just on a smaller scale.

Rainbow Falls is well worth seeing in person. As its name suggests, the spray coming off the impressive cascade creates a perfect rainbow when viewed from above. The Lower Falls, though not as impressive, is still nice, but most people skip this one. It’s a little over a half mile to go down to it, so the out and back adds another mile and an uphill return. It was at the bottom of this trail that we both realized we were almost out of water. So it was a long, hot, slog up to Stop 10. Richard became convinced we were going to have to ascend Mammoth Peak, but he was equally convinced there would be ice cream sold at Red’s Circle if we could just get there. I thought that was an utterly ridiculous belief, but have never been so happy to be proven wrong. I guess they keep the little cafe and store open for backpackers, even if the road into the valley is closed. There is also a small general store and potable water spigots. It was a glorious end to a hard hike. We gave ourselves a little reward at the end of the day by driving back to New Shady Rest and reserving a one night stay for Sunday, so we could bask in service for our last night in town.

That night, as we were planning the next day’s activities, all of the underlying conflict came out. I said something about how I didn’t want to hike like that again, prompting Richard to ask, “like what?” And boom. Who needs therapy when you can camp in a 90 square foot space for two months with your partner who triggers all of your dysfunction? All kinds of fascinating stuff comes out. We spent the next day basically conflict hiking. One thing about me is I do tend to walk faster when I’m mad, so that’s something. We did the trail out of the campground up to Barney Lake. The scenery around there really is gorgeous, but I can’t say I was in the mood to enjoy it, except on a disconnected, objective level. Meanwhile, Richard was trying an experiment to see if he could shift his mindset while hiking to be ok with going slow. What I needed was reassurance that it was just as important to him to spend time together, as it was getting in a cardio workout. Now that I have an e-bike, all of this gets resolved automatically when we’re biking together. I have no trouble keeping up, he gets as much of a workout as he wants, and I don’t have to worry about being a drag. What we need here is an assistive technology solution for hiking, but until someone invents hover shoes, we needed to figure out something else.

The next morning Richard suggested we ride the bike path down into town together and then ride the Scenic Loop drive. That was exactly what I needed. It was our last day in the area and we had the site at Coldwater reserved for all day and that night. We also had the site at New Shady Rest double booked, but wouldn’t be able to check in until the afternoon. This was perfect. It allowed us all day to have fun and we could come back and move Dory whenever we wanted. The bike path is super fun, and biking together always goes smoothly. Feeling much more connected, we set our course for a first stop at Shea Schat’s Bakery. Richard talked to the owner and mentioned we had met her daughter at Washoe Lake. We split a chocolate glazed and a lemon filled donut, noting that the taste was excellent, and the consistency of the dough had a more dense texture than we typically find.

We then rode out to do the Scenic Loop, pausing to do a short hike out to Inyo Craters in the middle. The one mile road up to the craters trailhead is not paved, but we managed the sandy gravel just fine. As we walked, we floated ideas on how we could handle big hikes in a way that met both our needs. Then we got back on our bikes, finished the loop at highway 395 and decided to go back the way we came, rather than ride with fast moving highway traffic to get back to town. We both thought the Scenic Loop was not all that scenic, unless you really like trees. It’s a way to get off 395 I suppose.

Before tackling the last climb of the day, we hit Hugs Ice Cream in town. There are so many fun looking resort areas in Mammoth, and no shortage of food places. It seems like the perfect combination of outdoor activity access, and posh resort services. I can see why so many people would want to come here. Richard got in his cardio workout on the ride back up to Dory, and I cheated all the way. We moved Dory down to New Shady Rest where we dumped and got caught up on all things internet. What a great way to end the visit.

For future stays, we think we would probably just stay at New Shady Rest. It’s not as picturesque, but it would mean you could do the uphill ride in the morning, hike around lakes for the day, and enjoy a six mile coast down to fun food and abundant service for the night. We don’t particularly care if the campground looks pretty I guess, at least not on these long trips. For a weekend excursion I can totally see wanting to feel disconnected from the world in a High Sierras lake environment. I could do without the mosquitos, but we also noticed that our particular area of the campground seemed to have it the worst. It was probably due to being on the side next to the creek, nestled amongst the lush vegetation. Perfect mosquito breeding habitat. Now we know. Great place for many return visits.

Total miles from Washoe Lake: 153.3, 17.0 mpg, 5 hours 31 min. Site 51 no hookups. No cell service. Occasional bar of LTE or 5g up in day use or out near other lakes. Could get signal sometimes out on trails. Generally no internet around the lakes above town. No dump, no solar. Lots of mosquitos.

Now we start our southward stretch down the eastern Sierras and along Highway 395. Our first stop was a special one because we got to reconnect with Linda, our Alto BFF. We haven’t seen her in way too long, which is weird, because she moved from farther south to much closer to us. The trouble has been the mountain range in between us, and the fact that it gets snowed in. July was a good time to visit and see her new neighborhood. 

Washoe Lake was a place we actually briefly stopped at many years ago when Richard needed to join a work meeting. I remember exiting the highway, pulling into an empty site, and setting up the booster until his call was done. We pushed past this place back then, but I’m happy we got to check it out this time. In fact, I’ve been very happy with our smaller, closer to home, mostly California loop this summer. It has made for shorter travel days and less anxiousness on my part. Like, if something breaks, or if there are fires, or something goes really haywire, we could make it home in a day. I like that.

We set up in our site, nosing Dory into the wind. Linda warned us about the wind, and boy, she was not kidding. Starting around 2 or 3, there is a constant wind coming off the mountain passes, flowing right through the whole Carson City valley. She says every new homeowner she asks in her development mentions that they ‘missed the memo’ on the wind. 

It was not too windy to drive up to Carson City for a fun dinner out at a potato place. Richard found Hot Potato Pie online and it was really good! They are kind of like smooshed flat baked potatoes with all kinds of toppings to choose from. We split a Buffalo Chicken potato and Linda had one with beef and chiles. After dinner we, obviously, needed to go find ice cream. This was achieved at Scoups Ice Cream and Soup Bar in downtown Carson City. It’s a funny combination of hard scooped ice cream and a rotating menu of soups. They have awards mounted showing how they won first place in the Soup and Ice Cream competition. I have so many questions about that. Downtown Cason City is really cute, by the way. There are historic old buildings in the downtown area, plus the state capitol building and governor’s mansion. Lots of fun restaurants and stores, all with a cool neighborhood feel. 

The next day we grabbed Linda for a full day out on bikes. She has an Aventon e-bike too, so we dragged her all around Washoe Lake. That’s what you get for agreeing to meet up with the Levenbergs: bicycling and ice cream. Our first stop along the way was Anneke Schat’s Bakery. We had delicious pastries and Richard chatted up the owner. We found out that this is a family chain and the owner’s mother has a bakery in Mammoth. We noted that for the future.

On we rode to the next stop, which was the Chocolate Nugget Candy Factory. We sampled a couple of chocolates and I considered stocking up for xmas gifts, but then decided no way would a bunch of chocolate bars survive in the car until home. 

We made one last stop at Bower’s Mansion and learned about the sad history of the widow who ended up dying penniless in Oakland after trying to make it as a fortune teller.

That was a big riding day, Linda’s longest ride! We celebrated by heading over to her ’new’ home (she’s been there a year now) where she let us do our laundry. Camping BFFs are an essential part of a good life. It was great to see the doggos, especially Taz and Rocket. Since Richard had not yet worked up an appetite yet, he and I walked over to the somewhat nearby Costco, where we got one of their amazing chocolate chip cookies. If you have never had a hot Costco chocolate chip cookie, you are missing out. They serve them hot from the food court for $2.49; warm and gooey on the inside, crisp on the outside, and loaded with so much chocolate. OMG

After a windy walk back, we had earned dinner at The Basil Thai Cuisine, again in downtown Carson City. We split chicken satay, drunken noodles, and shrimp fried rice; all very good. Again, we walked over to Scoups for dessert.

For our last day, I drove and Richard rode his bike over to Reno to do some city things. As is his way, Richard found a donut place en route called Dough Boys Donuts. It wasn’t his plan to get donuts that morning, but the sign looks like a bicycle, so you can’t really pass that by. He said we’ve had others better, so I didn’t need to have donut FOMO. 

He also found that the National Automobile Museum happened to have free entry that day, and that there was a bike path that went right by it. I can highly recommend the museum, even if you pay the $16 entry fee. It has a huge collection of pristinely maintained classic old cars. Some date back to the early 1900s. There were cars from movies, like the Blues Brothers car, and cars from just about every period in history. So very cool. I texted pictures to Randy and he knew exactly the type of engines they had.

We then grabbed some lunch from a taco truck – very delicious – and rode the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail as far as it went, through Sparks. The trail goes up to Lake Tahoe too, but we went east until it dead ended after about seven miles. It’s a nice paved path that runs along the Truckee River. If you only look toward the river, and if you don’t mind riding past some unhoused locals, it is a nice trail. On the other side there are mostly industrial lots and waste water treatment plants, so that’s not exactly scenic. But it sure is convenient to bike through a metropolis without having to use surface streets. Before leaving Reno, we did a big shopping trip at Safeway to stock up, and then got in one last visit with Linda. 

We expect to return to Washoe Lake, if for no other reason than to hang with our buddy. That alone is worth it. The campground is nice and chill, but yeah, WINDY in the afternoons. The dump station was closed, but there was a free dump in a Mavericks back in Carson City, so no problem. This location is close enough to both Carson City and Reno to make easy day trips. There are also wild horses around, and we got to see one on our last night. 

Total miles from Cedar Lodge: 151.0, 17.5, 4 hours 22 min. Electric and water hookups. Dump temporarily closed. Dumped in Carson City Mavericks for free. Good dump with rinse water. Great cell service for both of us. Excellent solar but had hookups. WINDY in the afternoons. Nosed Dory into the southwest and that reduced buffeting.

Thank you Cedar Lodge, for saving Lake Almanor for us! After leaving that other place, we were lucky to find availability in a full hookup campground with brand new electrical panels in a perfect location. The owners, Oliver and Megann, and the camp host, Judy, could not have been more welcoming to us. This whole area burned down in the Dixie Fire, but they have been rebuilding ever since. They have a cute little hotel and a small one-loop RV campground, close to the intersection of highways 36 and 89. They have planted trees that will one day shade the whole area. They have laid new gravel and have brand new picnic tables in each site. They are a tale of resilience amidst a landscape of hardship. Within view of the campground, a hawk has made a nest atop a standing dead tree, an appropriate symbol for the ‘life finds a way’ spirit here.

There was a bike trail Richard was interested in checking out and Oliver drove him along a quasi-paved road to show him how to get there. Seriously great people. We got our bikes out in the afternoon to go explore the route. The road is, for some reason, colored a rusty red, passable on a bike, but not without lots of potholes and short sections of packed dirt. Where it finally ceases to be paved, we chose to hop onto nearby Highway 89 for .8 miles until we got to the crossroad that leads to the west end of the bike trail. 89 is not a bad road to bike, especially for such a short distance. There is a shoulder and it’s not too trafficky.

The red road made a really profound impression on Richard. He calls it ‘trauma bonding’ and I get why. The road is rough, so you feel the physicality of traversing it in your body. You have to give your full attention to where you are, scanning for larger rocks or potholes as you make your way along. It’s an exercise in being fully present. Something about the color, set against the background of standing dead trees and abandoned trucks and machinery, creates an otherworldly feel. And yet, the journey is pleasant. There was a cool breeze coming off the lake, with Lassen standing tall and striking to the west. Even as the bumpy surface of the pavement vibrated beneath us, we had all the tools we needed to navigate the passage. It was a physical manifestation of the feeling of making our way, together, through hard times. Even the presence of the active volcano peak, looming always on the horizon, a reminder of the ephemeral nature of this expedition through life, provides an ominous reminder to enjoy what is before you. Richard used the word ‘romantic’ to describe the road, and later said that wasn’t quite the word. But I think it’s fitting.

After four miles on the red road and short stint on the highway, we came to the unpaved turn off to catch the trail head. The Lake Almanor Recreation Trail is a fully paved multi-use path that runs about ten miles along the southern side of the lake. It weaves its way along the water, through campgrounds, and up into low hills, until it reaches the Canyon Dam boat launch at the southeastern end. We didn’t explore the whole thing on that day, but we got far enough down it that we knew what we wanted to do the following day.

For all my ambivalence about facebook, one thing I am always grateful for is how it helps connect you with friends. When I posted shots from our stay at McArthur Burney, a longtime (like since before marriage and kids) friend said something about being in Chester. Didi and her husband Jerry were staying at (as she hilariously puts it) the “optimistically named” Lake Almanor Resort, just across the lake from us. Because they are super cool people, living the dream in life, they have a jet ski and suggested we meet for lunch at a place in Almanor. We could bike there, they could jet ski over there, like they are some kind of James Bond movie couple. It was a date.

We biked the entirety of the trail, stopping along the way to check out the Plumas Pines Resort and Bar, as well as Carol’s Prattville Cafe. Both are super fun places to stop for lunch or breakfast. There’s a little store at Plumas Pines and the cafe is seriously popular for lunch. Didi and Jerry got us a spot on the wait list and we joined them on the grass, listening to excellent live music and watching kids blow bubbles and play on a slip n slide. We shared our story about the authoritarian enabling former campground, and they shared stories about the “irrational inflatables” obnoxiously on display at their resort. I love that term and warned Didi I’d be using it in the blog. So great to catch up!

Jerry then suggested we pass the time by taking a spin on their jet ski. You guys. This old lady has not been on a jet ski in her life. I have been on a motorcycle like once, maybe twice, as a teenager. Richard didn’t even have to think about his answer, but I said what the hell and climbed aboard. Jerry did an outstanding job of making it exhilarating, but not too terrifying. I think he said we were going about 25 mph, which I later learned is way faster than he goes with Didi. I very much appreciated that he waited until after we were back safe on the dock to share the story of how he once flipped the thing, and had to swim to it while it was going in circles all by itself. It was like the most fun thing I’ve done in a long time. And yet, there is zero danger that I am ever going to try talking Richard into buying a jet ski. What an awesome day!

Honestly, if not for the unexpected hospitality at Cedar Lodge, we would have left Lake Almanor with a negative impression. Instead, we got to enjoy one of the highlights of the trip and I got to have an unforgettable experience on the lake and reconnect with dear friends. The discovery of the Lake Almanor Recreation Trail was a definite score and something we would love to do again in the future. The little town of Chester is cute, with just enough stores and services to satisfy any needs. It is definitely noted for return trips, and we would love to stay at Cedar Lodge again. The other campground that looked really nice was the PG&E Rocky Point campground. There are no hookups there, so in the heat it might be tough, but it is also entirely in the woodsy shade. Great save!

Total miles from Manzanita Lake, with one nighter at other place: 67.0, 18.9 mpg. Full hookups. Brand new electrical panels. Excellent wifi that can be hit from inside the trailer. Much better cell service for both of us than at other place. Newly planted trees will provide nice shade when they get big. Brand new picnic tables and fresh gravel. Super helpful owner and camp host. Good proximity to Chester.