After spending a week in Monterey at a conference, Richard joined me for a holiday in California!
We spent the first day on the coast looking around Lobos Point where we saw numerous seals, sea otters and birds – Richard plans a separate wildlife blog after we have downloaded the pictures from his camera!
We then made our way to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, spending the majority of time in the latter. Before we arrived, we were a little concerned that the snow conditions may have reduced our possibilities for overnight backpacking trips, however we were happy to find that some areas were relatively snow free. We therefore chose a trip that started from Roads End in Kings Canyon. The walk took us up the south fork of Kings River, into Paradise Valley and then into the valley of Woods Creek up to a junction where the path joined with the John Muir trail. We camped near the highest point of the walk, at a place called Castle Dome Meadow – a great place for watching deer whilst cooking dinner!
We’re off to Yosemite tomorrow….
Wow!!! Fantastic. Looks like a brilliant holiday. :alien: :alien:
Bloody hell, this looks amazing! :star: Castle Domes in particular, from a climbers point-of-view, looks awesome!
That rope bridge looks cool – a kind of super safe (I’m guessing it’s made from cable, not old rope) version of Nepalese ones… π
Can’t wait for the Yosemite post.
Have you been to the valley before? If not, you are in for a literally jaw-dropping experience! :love:
The “wildlife” post should be amazing too – but don’t get bitten by any snakes seeking out that “killer” picture! π What is the rhyme you need to remember in the US? “Red on yellow kills a fellow; red on black, pat it on the back!” Anyway, get those pictures off that camera Richard, we are eager to see them…
Oh, and what was the conference in Monterey about? Surely such a beautiful place can’t have any contaminated land issues! Or are you part of an international team trying to solve BP’s issues in the States?!
We did wonder whether it would be a good climbing destination for you guys… the rock is mainly granite and is very smooth in places, but we decided that you could probably still climb up some of the cracks.
We’ve both been to the main Yosemite Valley before, so hopefully we’ll be spending more time in the less well known areas … watch this space!
The conference was on the ‘Remediation of chlorinated solvents’ and it was very interesting. π
Wow looks really cool π― but I’m not so sure about the snake!
Amazing nature π― I hope in future I will visit California!