DAY NINE, part three: Sequoia National Park to Yosemite National Park

DAY NINE, part three: Sequoia National Park to Yosemite National Park


The drive from Sequoia to Yosemite was dark. And winding. And twisting. And frightening. And nauseating. But I’ll bet in the daylight its gorgeous!

In light of information given to us at Sequoia, the plans had to change a bit. Tomorrow’s dinner plans became tonight's dinner plans. No harm, no foul. We pulled up to the Tenaya Lodge. I got out of the camper and stood in the cold night air. I could see my breath. The ground was covered in snow. I looked up to the tops of the majestic pine trees all around and saw the huge diamond clusters of stars in the night sky. Sometimes the beauty of a moment is more gripping than the scenery.

The lobby of the lodge had a beautiful Christmas tree and one of the warmest fireplaces I have seen. There was a schnauzer in the lobby, and a lab, and talking with the owners we learned the lodge is very very pet friendly.

As we waited for our food I went to the concierge for a map of the park. She gladly obliged, and began to mark off the many roads that were closed due to weather. I watched as she crossed off our eastward route towards Moab. Talking with her about options, she informed me that we could exit the park, head north, and go through Donner Pass, or we could head south to Bakersfield, cross over to Vegas and head up to Utah. She gave me to run down of all the frightening things about travelling through Donner, with the icing on the cake being that a huge snowstorm is due the day we plan to leave, and we need to cross our fingers that we’d stay ahead of that weather.

We left the lodge and headed to the campground. That was the longest 35 miles of my life. The roads were pretty clear, but they wound and wound up to over 6000 feet and then dropped to around 4000 feet. The GPS kept losing us sporadically, making it an even more eventful drive. As we neared the campground, the map showed we were passing the famous “El Capitan” which was now shrouded in complete darkness. But I’ll bet we passed some amazing views. We’ll have to check them out tomorrow.

The campground was seemingly in the middle of nowhere, blanketed in a good 4-6 inches of snow. And yet, there are numerous tent campers! Someone at the Grand Canyon told me acclimation is the key. But I’m not sure. Even if you’re from Siberia, sleeping outside in the snow without a fire seems a bit nutty to me. But I’m dying to know what their coats and gloves are made out of!

The kids fell asleep on the winding ride in. The rocking of the car had to have been like a medicine for them. I’m jealous. The plan for tomorrow is to sleep in and to drink in as much of the park as possible.