August 29 Fantastic Friday

They must not have early services at His Church Coastgold ,Ca as there was no activity as we snuck out of their parking lot 

Then off to Sequoia National Park.  Note to self: before entering any national park, make sure you have topped off your gas tank before entering and if all of a sudden you realize you already are in the park, turn around and go back to the last little town .Then you won’t have to waste time driving off the beaten path to get to the one gas station. However, they lied, there  was another one on the main road . As I am now rather paranoid about running out of gas the prospect of a day driving up mountains with just over a half a tank of gas wasn't worth it.

 I ended up at Hume Lake at the north tip of the park, which turned out to be an interesting experience as it is mainly a Christian youth camp, one of many Hume Christian camps, apparently around the country. It was well outfitted with every kind of activity you can imagine and had two chapels. I found it interesting that both of them were more like theaters with a stage and sound rooms as one might find in a professional theater but nowhere where did I see a cross or a crucifix or an altar in either one? I decided not to ask!

Once back on the main highway through the park I reached Kings Canyon visitor center. It had all kinds of information about the area and a great movie about the demise of the grizzly bear, and how they are finally trying to protect the black bear population after once, actually purposdefuilly feeding the bears at feeding stations where people could come to watch. This turned out to be a disaster as the bears would become aggressive and fight each other, and sometimes the audience. They then tried to trap the  aggressive bears, and move them to a different part of the park, hoping that would de-escalate the aggression only to find that they invariably would slowly work their way back to their home territory. The current approach appears to be working by keeping them wild and not interested in humans activity if they never find food there. 

Further on down Generals Highway he hit Lodgepole visitor center and Village, which turned out to be another trove of information and of course a souvenir tourist trap .But low and behold the sign said “public showers”and even a laundromat.

 Would you believe three minutes of good hot continuously running water for only a dollar. For 8 quarters you could Shampoo, get really clean and then have time to luxuriate in hot water. It was like finding a gold mine. While we were indulging in creature comforts, they also had huckleberry ice cream for Sheba and I to share.

Then on to the main attraction: The General Sherman Sequoia Tree. The largest tree (in volume) in the world! As I made my way down the path that led  to the viewing spot I saw people coming up the trail huffing and puffing , one lady obviously taking her pulse. I wondered why I felt slightly short of breath, pursing my lips to exhale. Then the sign told me I was at 7000 feet and the tree was 250 feet below me. Going down was easy and oh so worth it. There was a line for your family to take your picture in front of the tree. Almost impossible to get the whole tree in a photo 275 ft tall 2,200 years old. It was there even before I was born!.

I caused a small panic for a few minutes as I pointed out to some fellow admirers that there was a big black bear in one of the caves in the base ( made  and blackened by previous fire damage)   It sure looked that way to me, two ears and a big black nose ! Less imaginative souls poo poo ed it and calmed them down.

I did finally huff and puff my way back up to my exuberant dog who again was sure I had left her forever. We rested a bit and rehydrated before taking off down the mountain. Oh what a ride! I thought I had been on winding mountain roads before but Ms Highlander got the workout of her life. The trick was to negotiate the hairpin making sure you stayed well within your lane and prayed if you met some one at the bottom of the turn that they did the same.  Only encountered one poor soul stranded with car trouble in the other lane and no pullout nearby to get out of the road. 

I was reminded of my trip down some mountain somewhere when I was on a skiing trip with Riley and got a wild migraine on the top of the slope. I made it down to the base camp, but then had to endure a similar weaving from left to right trying to brace myself in the car to minimize motion that would exacerbate the pain. Obviously I survived, but later Riley said he was sure I was having a brain bleed and was driving as fast as he could.

As I was almost exiting the park a sign caught my attention: Dump Station. As I was again about to overflow I had to check it out. Sure enough It was a fully equipped free dump station, ( not the $20-$30  they charge you elsewhere for your poop. Not only that but a bit beyond was a big empty spot beside a babbling brook with a beautiful mountain view. Couldn’t  have asked for a better spot to park my by then weary bones for the night.

So Ms highlander got new oil and clean tanks, a  true test of her metal. I got a roller coaster ride without getting seasick and saw one of the few places on earth that is ideal for Sequoia growth and saw up close and personal ,the largest tree in the world !  Whew what more could anyone ask.!