Don’t you just love it when the kids wake up with the
sun? Anyway…
We are starting to get into a rhythm with the RV and managed
to leave the site just after 9am. We
completely forgot to take a photo of the park but it really was infinitely
forgettable. We backtracked nearly all
the way to Yosemite Valley (about 20km) and then we turned onto the Tioga pass
road. This road is closed in winter and
is the only route through the park to the other side. Unfortunately for us,
they were back burning again today so there were no spectacular views up the Yosemite
valley.
For the first 20km the scenery was just pine trees – tall,
short, scorched and burnt – as well as barren hill sides with charred tall
sticks. This was similar to what we had
seen in Yosemite but then it started to change.
More deciduous trees kept appearing – either bright yellow, gold or red
– which broke up the pine trees and then suddenly, the trees were gone and
there were just naked rock mountains dotted with a few pine trees.
We were planning on walking to May Lake for obvious reasons,
however a sign at the turn off said “No oversizes vehicles – 2 miles to start
of trailhead”. This was never going to
happen, so sadly we gave up on this one.
However only about 5km down the road was Tenaya Lake and our
disappointment disappeared. Far out this
place was beautiful and we had it to ourselves for quite a long time. Both boys had a splash as the sun was out and
despite the altitude it was quite warm.
The pass is above 7000ft for most of the way and the highest
point is Tioga Pass itself (9945ft). We
have never had our feet on the ground this high up.
The descent was extreme and we watched the elevation signs
showing our rapid descent from 9945ft to about 6000ft. It was like a ski road with a sheer drop off
on one side.
As we didn’t do the walk we had planned, it was only about
midday when we left the park. Steve had
found a RV park in June Lake which sounded like a good spot to let the boys
have a run around and explore. So we
drove the scenic route there via the June Loop past a couple of other
lakes. Silver Lake was surrounded by the
changing trees and was filled with people with tripods and multiple cameras
with massive lenses. June Lake was a
little less idyllic but still pretty.
We pulled up in the main street and bought the essentials at
the general store. We then popped next
door to a café for lunch. This was a
very strange little place with only about 4 things available on the menu and we
bought 3 of them – breakfast bagel, breakfast burrito and a bagel with cream
cheese – as well as a Strawberry smoothie.
The food tasted ok and the smoothie was delicious.
We then easily found the RV park (finally!) and chose a
site. June Lake is at 7650ft and is
mainly a summer holiday spot for trout fishing.
In winter there is one ski resort and it is usually open from
mid-December to mid-April. In a mild
year they only get 12ft of snow whilst in a normal year it is 30ft. They also get Black Bears in the township –
Julian was excessively excited to learn this.
I struggle to imagine what living here would be like. Once again, it is warmer here than usual
(approx. 60F) and an expected overnight low of 30F. (As I type it is currently raining, we have
the furnace on and for the first time ever, I am hoping that it doesn’t snow!)
After we had set up the RV, we walked down to the Lake. There was a cold wind but Julian happily
posed with a carving of a bear with a fish in its paws. There was also a multi-age playground which
both boys enjoyed. Then it started to
spit with rain, so we walked quickly back to the RV but Julian tripped and
scuffed up his other knee (he did the other one yesterday).
Showers passed through, so we stayed inside the RV, colouring
in activity books and watching a couple of kids shows on the iPad. This calmed everyone. We also did laundry which was also very
welcome. It was all thoroughly relaxing
and exactly what we needed after a few days of hectic travelling.
Dinner was an attempt at Spaghetti Bolognese which turned
out alright but not great. Both boys ate
enough but not with the same veracity they normally would have. For dessert, I attempted true-blue American
S’mores – Honey Maid Graham crackers, Kraft Jet-puffed Marshmallows and
Hershey’s milk chocolate. I toasted the
marshmallow over the gas burner and then had to nuke the assembled s’more in
the microwave to melt the chocolate. Man
it was sweet – all four of us shared ONE s’more. I have enough for another 12 S’mores at least
– maybe I will get some dark chocolate.
Both boys were showered, in bed and asleep by 7:30pm with
very little fuss. Now we just have to
stop them from freezing overnight! How
soon we forget the humidity and heat of the San Francisco hotel J
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