Yosemite ‘23

It took 2 days of driving to get out of Texas. We are spending a night at Oliver Lee Memorial park in New Mexico. We will then head off to Joshua Tree for a few nights before arriving in Yosemite National Park.

Thanks y’all for the comments already, feeling the pressure!

It’s Friday and we’ve crossed state line into California.

We had our first mooch docking experience (parking in friends driveway) in Phoenix Arizona.

We had hoped to spend some time with Di and Barry Scott but “somebody” forgot to let them know when we were coming and they were mooch docking in California !

They graciously made their home available.

We had a glorious afternoon in their garden swimming in the warm pool while ZuZu terrorized the local bird population .

We thought we were “Texas strong” heat resistant but hell NO Arizonians are tougher.

It’s HOT HOT HOT and summer is yet to come.

Joshua Tree National Park here we come !

No cell reception in the desert – so no comms for a couple of days.

We only managed to get 1 night in the National Park so we had to seek out a dispersed camping site on BLM land outside the boundary. Lynne found a place at Sheep’s Hole Crossing so off we went……

We drove until the road ended and then parked out in this beautifully desolate desert area.

We enjoyed the star gazing out in the desert. We thought we experienced a UAP sighting with a long line of 20 to 30 bright star-like lights in a straight line crossing overhead. Although it was silent, we concluded that it was large caliber tracer fire from the nearby Marine training base.

We returned to civilization in the morning and found a Starbucks in the town of Twentynine Palms. There was also this burger/music event place…..bizarre is an understatement.

A long day of driving from Joshua Tree to a Harvest Host overnight stop at a golf course in Dinuba, CA. ZuZu enjoyed his after dinner walk.

At long last; today we are headed to Yosemite where it will be a lot cooler than the desert.

The drive to Upper Pines campground from the park entrance was stunning. The views of Bridal Veil falls, numerous other falls due to the excessive snow melt and the imposing Half Dome were mind blowing.

Our plan to go with the flow of moving campsites every day is to hike in the morning, get back by 11:30 to move sites at noon, then tour the park on the scooter (Umfana) in the afternoon.

We could watch them climb through scopes on the ground. Depending on the route, it takes between 1 and 5 days to summit. Mind boggling

Sore legs after hiking ZuZu for 3 hours. Didn’t realize he was so heavy. When we returned and I unpacked his carrier I discovered that Lynne had sneaked a hot water bottle in to keep him warm….

Hiked part of the Upper Yosemite Falls trail to Columbia Point – hard going up but even more difficult descending with the sandy rock steps.

We spent the afternoon buzzing around on Umfana and visiting Bridal Veil Falls. Immense spray as a result of the record snow fall since 1930.

We have left Yosemite Park to stay in the Sierras for a week to catch up on much needed laundry and resupply. We do have another 2 nights at Lower Pines on Sunday and Monday but rethinking that because of huge crowds expected this weekend. We are considering Hodgdons Meadow campground which is further away from Yosemite Valley, and on our route to Lake Tahoe.