Friday, 17 Sep 2010
Marc writes:
Friday
Gloria and Tom after breakfast
The holy grail of the fall Sequoia campout has been finding campsite 18 empty when we got to the campground. It is by far the best site in the small campground although most of the 28 or so available sites are just fine. In recent trips we’ve been lucky to find any available sites. To improve our odds this year we decided to leave at 6 AM instead of the traditional 7 AM start. I met Carl in Burlingame. We rode down 101 and took 25 into Hollister for breakfast at the Cozy Cup. Tom and Gloria were waiting.
Clear roads
Tom and Gloria Follow
CA 25 view
After breakfast we headed south on CA 25 for 60 miles of empty road. We took the traditional quick stop at the 25/198 junction then rode into Coalinga for gas and to mentally prepare ourselves for the coming stretch of very straight roads with a 55 MPH speed limit.
Leaving Coalinga
Boring stretch or road
Mirror shot
Near Lake Kaweah
The straight stretch of road wasn’t as bad as it can be. There was some traffic that needed passing if nothing else. Soon enough we were riding through Visalia on the way to Three Rivers for another gas stop and a chance to shop for any needed supplies before hitting the park.
Carl at campsite 18
The mule
Home
Living room
We were at the Buckeye Flat campground in Sequoia park around 1 PM. The campsite was near empty at this relatively early hour. So empty that the much desired site 18 was available. We quickly registered for the site and started setting up what would be our home for two nights. Once everything was in place Carl left to pick up some firewood. Gloria started exploring the camp.
How to raise a tent
This is a stake
Tom and I were being amused by the folks who pulled into the neighboring site. They were speaking Portugese and not quite understanding the instructions in english for the brand-new-just-out-of-the-box tent they were attempting to raise. We took pity on them and helped, showing them how to get it raised.
Glora and Tom
When Carl returned with the firewood we sat around chatting, drinking beer, listening to good tunes, etc. Before it got dark we cooked our various meals (pasta with polish sausage and madras lentils for me). After dinner and clean up we moved the chairs around the fire pit and started a fire. I think everyone was in their sleeping bags before 10 PM.
