Chillin with Some Generals

The decision was made that we had to go back to Micki's in order to get the stuff I had forgotten there. Now, there are no roads that go east through Big Sur, so we would either have to drive to the north or south terminus in order to head towards Sequoia. Since driving to Micki's would take us by way of the northern terminus, the only logical choice was to forfeit our second night at Big Sur, drive up to her apartment, then head straight towards Sequoia National Park for as long as possible, crashing at a rest area on the way. This is exactly what we did. We grabbed our stuff from Micki's around 11:30 PM, then stopped at an in-N-out burger (thank you for the recommendation Eric) and ate our late night meal. For those unfamiliar with the west coast fast food chains, in-N-out Burger is basically McDonalds with about 3 things on the menu, so you don't get stuck in lines of people trying to decide if they want a number 3 or a number 15. We loaded back in the car and started our trek towards Sequoia stopping at a rest area on I-5.

In the beginning of the trip, sleeping in the car wasn't so bad. We always got an early start after a surprisingly decent night's sleep. This does not remain true after two weeks of road tripping. We slept horribly. The back seat was so congested that we couldn't put our seats back more than a few degrees, and in the morning instead of getting an early start, I just put my hat over my head to block out the annoying sun. We eventually got going though. The fairly flat terrain slowly gave way to arid semi-desert the further we drove from the coast. The highways got smaller as we left civilization the same way tributaries of a river shrink as you go further upstream. Eventually we saw signs for Sequoia National Park, and after checking in started the steep ascent into the mountainous park.




Every time I think roads can get no crazier, I have to eat my words. The road into Sequoia is insane. Whereas Big Sur had curves that were impossible at the 50mph speed limit, this road had curves that were nearly impossible at 15mph. I seriously don't know who comes up with the speed limit signs out here, but they need to go back to traffic school. I eventually succumbed and took a bonine for motion sickness even though I was driving. Much to my (and my car's) relief, we eventually leveled out onto the flatter roads that traverse the elevated mountain passes.

Our first stop was the world famous General Sherman, which is considered to be the largest living tree on Earth. Immediately upon parking we saw the differences between Sequoia and the other National Parks we had been to. As our book on the parks of the west had forewarned, 80% of this park's visitors are daytrippers. The attractions at other parks were typically on trails ranging from one to several miles that were cut out of the brush. Sometimes there would be wooden boardwalks to allow travel over patches of water. In Sequoia the trails seemed to be under a mile, and on asphalt paved thoroughfares. Tons of people lazily walked down the paths in contrast to other parks where there were never too many in your immediate vicinity. Regardless, we made our way down to the massive sequoia which bears the title "Largest Tree on Earth." It is neither the tallest nor the widest, but simply the most voluminous, measuring almost 1500 cubic meters. Though the great sequoias are truly impressive in their massive presence, we found ourselves missing the more elegant nature of the redwoods, who tower above you into a dream-like canopy. Sequoias more or less just sit there, squat and stout, much less elegant but with their own larger-than-life personality. We marveled in its glory for a while before moving on. There were several other great sequoias on the short trail which we passed over. The bark of the sequoia is also different. Soft and smooth instead of soft and crumbly like redwoods. Gigantic pinecones also littered the floor, one of which is now in my possession.





We got back in the car and the non-drowsy motion sickness medicine finally took hold of my consciousness. Pri and I switched and I promptly passed out. When I awoke, we were at the second trail in the park we had wanted to see. There was an extremely creepy sight in the parking lot:



Creepy bat weilding babies aside, we started the second trail, focused on the General Grant, which is considered the world's widest tree with a circumference of 103 feet. The trail was less populated, so we could enjoy the gigantic trees a little more. Somewhere along the trail we found this awesome hollowed out tree. After wandering the grove for a while, we returned to our car determined to arrive at our campsite before sunset for the first time.

We checked in, receiving a map to the parking lot for our walk-to campsite. Parking in the spot for site 40, we threw on our fleeces and brought the camping bag full of sleeping bags, mats, the tent, etc down to our site. We seem to have good luck in parks themed around large trees, as the site was huge and right next to an awesome gurgling stream. I dropped the stuff and ran down to the stream, hopping rocks to a large-ish boulder in the center. Pri started laughing, as just earlier I had wanted to hike an 8 mile trail so we could see a stream. For some unexplainable reason, I really really like streams. After bonding with the brook for a while, I got back up in the campsite and we set up camp. As soon as the tent was up, three rude kids wandered through our site, between us and the creek and paused looking around and mumbling to each other about where the bear had been last night, directly across the brook from where we were all standing. Three deer stood there now, grazing, and they ran off to take pictures.

Before long we were busying ourselves with dinner. While still in NJ, Pri had purchased two bags of freeze-dried campfood (the kind you just add boiling water to) for the sole purpose of combining for dinner some night. The dishes in question were garlic mashed potatoes and some kind of tomato paste/soup (depending on the amount of water added). Since we were so early, we decided to experiment with what we were sure would become a signature camping combination in the future, simply dubbed tomato-potatoes. I boiled some water, added it to the packets and after letting them heat for awhile, Pri set to mixing the two together with our mini metal forks. While she was busying herself, I dropped two squares of ramen in the kettle because I felt extra hungry. We finally sat down to eat our long awaited meal, and the first bite was absolutely torturous. We had imagined a creamy, slightly sweet and salty taste, but instead we were assaulted with the most wicked tongue wrenching tangy nastiness imaginable with a disagreeable cardboard-like texture. I winced and attempted a second bite, but nearly gagging, I looked at an equally dissatisfied Pri and said I could not go on. We luckily had ramen ready to cleanse our palettes. With all of our other food stored in secure metal bear boxes (you can't even leave food in your car or a bear will break the windows to get in) I'm sure we would have been safe to leave the tomato-potatoe disaster outside our tent as bear repellent, but I went up to the service sink (in a bear-proof room) and scraped the disgusting concoction into a ziplock bag for disposal.

After clean-up was done, it was time to set up the campfire. We purchased wood from the camp store, and it was unfortunately pine wood heavily laden with sap. We had some drier wood left from yellowstone though, and we eventually got the fire going at a decent level. We sat there until exhaustion set in, and after dozing off for a few minutes, gave in. I scattered the coals around until the fire was sufficiently out, took one last look up at the star speckled sky and we turned in for the night. I can not express how peaceful it is to fall asleep to the sound of a rocky brook just outside of your tent.

Arising the next morning, we broke camp quickly, eager to make our way to Yosemite. After one last trip to the brook, we reloaded the car.




While driving away, I heard a sliding noise followed by the sound of shattering glass. You see, at some point during packing the car, I placed on the roof an empty iced-tea bottle that I wanted to throw in the recycling bin at the visitor's center. I caught Pri's amused look, as she had previously informed me that the roof was probably a bad storage place for glass. I got out of the car and picked up as many pieces as I could, and walked to the visitor's center while Pri drove the car around. We swung through the gift store quickly to procure our magnet and postcards, then got on the road for the next national park on our list.

[adam]