To the West Coast and back

[johnnytravels]

I later found out that a fire broke out in Sequoia right around the same time I was leaving and had the flat.

They suspect it was a camper that caused it -- I swear it wasn't me.


http://abc30.com/news/sequoia-national-park-wildfire-fully-contained/624859/


After repairs were done, one of the things I had to do was go and find a proper spare and lug wrench, so that if I had another flat I could fix it myself. I bought a tire iron at a Harbor freight tool shop, and went to a nearby junkyard to get a spare tire.

While I was waiting, I talked to a citrus farmer named Leon, who was there waiting for a spare door to his pickup truck. We were both going to be there a while, so I started asking him questions about California's drought. He explained how as the underground water tables dropped, his wells would run dry, and then he'd have to pay someone to come and drill deeper wells to access the lower reservoirs, but this cost a lot of money, and those wells would soon run dry as well, and buying water on the open market was prohibitively expensive. Farmers who grew things like lettuce or tomatoes could cut back and try and weather the situation, but for farmers like himself with citrus trees, you can't do that. If you stop watering your trees, they'll wither and die, and it takes years to cultivate new trees to the point where they start yielding fruit, so he's basically screwed. Within a year or two, he won't be able to afford water anymore, and then his farm is done, he can't pay his mortgage, and he'll just have to walk away from everything he owned. It was sad to hear.

I was able to get a new spare tire (which wasn't cheap at $100, considering this was junkyard), but in addition to a missing lug wrench, the tool I needed to crank down the spare attachment was missing as well, so I had to improvise. Next to me was a guy with his son, on spring break, who were replacing a broken side window on their truck.

I asked if he had ever done this before, and he said no, but it was worth a shot, as paying a window service would cost three times as much. Within a few minutes they got it attached. Success!

It was nice to see folks with a DIY attitude, learning to fix things for themselves. It's something I too need to work on.

At that point, I was more than happy to leave Visalia, and be on my way North. I stopped to get gas and found sometimes they even have food trucks at gas stops along the highway in California.

On the way I stopped in Fresno at this laundromat to do some laundry, before heading out to Yosemite. And while I was waiting for my wash to finish, I went over to the Vietnamese restaurant next door.

There I had a big bowl of Pho noodle soup (which was delicious), and I knew I was in the right spot when I saw there were a bunch of locals eating there as well.

I'd later find out that Lauri, who gave me a ride out of Sequoia park lived just a few blocks from that laundromat, and offered me a place to stay if I needed one. but I was already on my way to Yosemite, and thanked her anyway for her generosity. Maybe next time I'm in town.

 

[johnnytravels]

After that little bump in the road, I made it to my destination.

The scenery is just amazing. If you've never been, it's definitely worth visiting at least once in your lifetime (or more if you're lucky). It truly is a special place, which is probably why Yosemite is one of the most visited parks in the US.

It was while I was doing the touristy thing hanging out down by the lower Yosemite falls taking pictures that I realized it was pointless. There isn't a picture I can take with my camera phone that hasn't already been taken a million times better by a professional photographer with a telephoto lens. (case in point below)

Which was what all the tourists around me were doing, so I started taking picture of them instead.

Soon I turned it into a game to see how many different tourists taking pictures I could fit in a frame.

I'd do a lot more of it later, and this would become a theme in my travel pictures.

 

[johnnytravels]

I stayed at Camp 4, a shared walk-in campground, where I met people from all over the country (and globe). That's one of the great things about visiting the national parks, they draw people from everywhere.

One of the first campers I hung out with was Adriano, who rode the Greyhound all the way from St. Petersburg, Florida (a 3 day trip). He definitely had stories to tell about the ride over, and the interesting characters he met on the bus (like a strung out heroin addict, who disappeared into the bathroom for hours, and later claimed that he died and came back to life while he was in there). Adriano came to Yosemite after breaking up with his girlfriend, and to work on his survival skills (like making fire above). Of all the people I met, he probably had the single best time of anyone there, and even found a camp girlfriend to hook up with within days of arriving. Needless to say, he was very sad to leave after spending nearly a month at Yosemite.

Then there was Leif and Caera, a kiwi couple travelling from New Zealand. They were in the US for three weeks, visiting LA, San Francisco, Big Sur, Las Vegas amongst other places. Leif and I had a shared interest in martial arts, which we discussed quite a bit, and he's currently making a name for himself competing in mma and ju-jitsu, and hopes to one day open his own martial arts academy. Caera was a former attorney, now restaurant manager and support system to Leif's martial arts career. The two of them were so laid back and fun to hang out with, I felt lucky to have them as camp neighbors.

The four of us drove down to Mariposa grove to see the giant Sequoias. These trees are some of the oldest living things on earth, and largest by mass. The oldest are over two thousand years old. It's hard to wrap your mind around that, some of these trees were saplings when Cleopatra ruled Egypt. When you're around them it's easy to turn into a tree hugger.

During that time, we also hung out with Sarah and Jeff, who flew down from Alaska on a five day trip to see Yosemite, San Francisco, and Portland. They were also very fun and outgoing, whose interests, in addition to travel, include hiking, rock climbing, slack rope walking, and swing dancing (where the two met). They ironically had even traveled to New Zealand on their second anniversary, so they had a lot to talk about with Leif and Caera, who were from there.

Before taking the photo above, they hammed it up for me, as I had shared with them my 'hobby' of taking pictures of tourists taking pictures.

One of their goals was to find hipsters when they stopped through Portland on their flight back to Alaska. I told them that they didn't have to go all the way to the Pacific NW to find them, you can spot hipsters right there in Yosemite, like this fellow I saw bopping around the Village one day, before catching the shuttle to wherever hipsters in Yosemite go.

In particular, I thought Sarah and Jeff would like this one.

On my way back from hiking Vernal and Nevada falls, I saw this pair photographing a squirrel. After they finished and left, the squirrel didn't move at all, so I took a few pics of him myself. He was quite a photogenic little guy.

I wonder if there was someone taking a picture of me taking his picture.

 

[johnnytravels]

At this point, I should probably mention the animals at Yosemite. There's a lot of emphasis placed on bears, and bear safety and food storage rules one has to follow, but in reality bear sightings are very rare, but the ******king squirrels aren't -- they're everywhere! They're around all day long, just waiting for you to get careless so they can snatch your food. It can be extremely annoying. At first you find them cute and fun to watch, but they quickly become the bane of your existence. I couldn't help but smile every time I heard someone yelling at the squirrels to go away or chase them off with a stick. I joked that every campsite came with a couple squirrels, but this is not far from the truth, as I'll go into more detail later.

The bear lockers should really be called squirrel lockers, because they're the ones that are always trying to get at your food. And it doesn't help that people feed them. The squirrels at Yosemite are some of the fattest, healthiest specimens I've ever seen. They even hang out indoors like they belong there.

The moment you step away from the picnic table, they're instantly on top of it searching for food. This one found a book instead, maybe he's trying to learn how to read. Then you have the deer that are fully domesticated and aren't bothered at all by humans or cars.

This coyote was a regular visitor at camp. On several mornings I saw him strolling around, oblivious to the people staring at him. I also saw him one day wandering along one of the walking paths while riding the shuttle, and the bus driver pointed him out over the intercom, and I was like, "hey, I know him."

 

[MtnToSea]

Enjoying your travels and photo log.

 

[johnnytravels]

^^Thanks.

 

[Bushcoat]

Hah! This is awesome. I'm going to start taking pictures of tourists. Maybe one day I will see a pic of myself taking a pic that you took, johnny! Have you thought about where your next adventure will take you?

 

[johnnytravels]

I forgot to mention raccoons also came around at night. Several people had their backpacks dragged from their tent vestibule and rummaged through. At first we didn't know who or what did this, and initially blamed the coyote, but on second thought decided that coyotes weren't actually capable of unzipping packs, and that it had to be something else. Then I guessed raccoon, and had it confirmed one night when we stayed up late, and one wandered into camp. As he walked by, we shone a light on him, and he just looked back like, "what?" and kept right on going. I couldn't believe how blase his reaction was. Raccoons I had previously encountered always scurried away, but not the ones at Yosemite, and that was pretty much par for the course.

A later campmate (Johannes) recounted the time he saw a bobcat hanging out in the village one day, it just sat there as people around him took pictures. He said it was like being at a zoo, the animals were not wild at all, there were tons of tourists with their cameras out taking pictures of everything, and shuttle buses driving people around, and he gave the perfect description -- this place was like Six Flags.

I talked to this man while we were both waiting at the bus stop and learned that he and his daughter flew in from Maine over her spring break, and just returned from a five-day back country camping trip. I couldn't believe how young she was to be doing this (she looked like she was 6 years old), but he said she held up well, carried her own pack the whole way, and had a great time. It had even snowed while they were out there, and she had lots of fun making snowmen. I didn't grow up camping or being outdoors, so it's great to see kids being exposed to these sorts of experiences. When they got back into town, her reward for being such a trooper was pizza and hot chocolate.

During a hike, I met the family above. They were from the Bay area (which was only a couple hours away) so they'd visit Yosemite twice a year. I met a lot of folks from nearby areas that did this, and that made me a little envious. One guy from Fresno just drove up for an afternoon hike.

Eventually the couples from New Zealand and Alaska left, and the next wave came in. Derrick (below) was from Washington, having driven down on his motorcycle to LA, and was on his return trip home. He had just graduated with his engineering degree and would soon be looking for a job, so he came to LA and San Francisco to check out tech companies he might want to work for, and to see friends. He was a bit of a polymath, and seemed to know a little about everything. I really enjoyed hanging out with him, and found out he even built his own CNC fabricating machine (whatever that is).

I thought it was cool that he traveled that far on bike, and I told him about Gene and Neda: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/119739-YEAR-3!-Quit-our-jobs-sold-our-home-gone-riding


Coincidentally, we also met another person travelling by bike, who arrived the same day. Josue (below) rode cross country from Florida, and got a job working at the hotel gift shop. I took this pic later when I ran into him at the village grocery store. By that time he had already left camp and was assigned housing and started work. He described riding as his main passion in life, that when he was on his bike it was almost a meditative experience, everything would just tune out and he'd be one with the road. I thought he was lucky to have found the one thing he was really passionate about, not everyone does. I did meet others on my trip who shared a similar outlook, the activity itself might vary -- riding, surfing, rock-climbing, martial arts, music, art, etc -- but the experience is the same, they each found the one thing that gave their life purpose and meaning. My friend Eric, an artist whom I would later visit in Montana, also epitomized this.

I talked to a number of other Yosemite employees, asking how long they'd been there, and got a wide range of answers, from just started last month to I've been here for years. I wondered what it'd be like to live and work there, as we all kind of fell in love with the place and it's natural beauty. Derrick and I discussed this, would that level of appreciation change if we were there all the time?

Part of why I enjoyed being there was the fact that I knew I'd eventually have to leave, and that made me want to savor the moment -- like the photo I took one afternoon while I was sitting in the meadow staring out over Half Dome, enjoying the day. If I was there busy working all the time, would I want to just hang out like that?

This reminded me of how I spent nearly a week at the beach while I was in LA, and told my cousin Marty how much I was going to miss it, and she said that she almost never goes to the beach anymore. When I asked why, she replied because it's always there. And ironically that makes sense because that's how life is -- its very accessibility makes you no longer appreciate it. No matter how fantastic or special something is at first, you eventually get used to it (be it people, place, or thing), and if you want something to be important or meaningful to you, you have to constantly renew your appreciation of it, or it might just go away.

 

[johnnytravels]

Hah! This is awesome. I'm going to start taking pictures of tourists. Maybe one day I will see a pic of myself taking a pic that you took, johnny! Have you thought about where your next adventure will take you?

Not sure yet. but I was definitely bit by the travel bug, and plan to travel more in the future. I have to go back to work and save up some money, but I'd like to take another long road trip and wander around the states some more, then maybe Canada, and possibly drive all the way up to Alaska for the summer. You never know... but I did this so I could learn how to travel, and really gained a lot from this trip. Hopefully, I can put it into words as I continue this blog.

 

[johnnytravels]

Then there were the girls from Colorado (Sam and Olivia), who couldn't be more opposite and alike.

Sam was introverted and an intellectual. She graduated with a biochem degree, and would eventually go back and get her masters, but was currently working as a ski instructor. We got into a discussion about literature, and I remarked that she was very well read for someone in the sciences, and learned that she started out as an English major before changing focus.

Olivia, on the other hand, was an extrovert, who worked as a school teacher. Soon after arriving, she spotted some folks practicing yoga a few campsites away, and went over to say hi. Ten minutes later, I glance over and see this.

She was doing partner yoga with some random guy she just met. I thought that perfectly captured what a free spirit she was. One morning she broke out her flute and started playing. I suggested she go over to the ranger's kiosk, where a long line waiting to sign up for campsites had formed, and play for them (a captive audience). She grinned and said she wasn't that cruel. The same day the girls arrived, so did this group of French cyclists (below), who camped next to us.

They were together in the states for varying lengths, but had met up to cycle over from San Francisco to Yosemite, and then on to Las Vegas, where one of them would catch a flight back to France. They averaged around sixty miles a day, and rode with all their supplies and camping gear, which was really cool and adventurous. I explained to them what BLM lands were, and my basic understanding that you were allowed to camp there and in national forests for free (for up to 14 days). Sam, who had taken French in high school, retained enough to actually be able to converse in French with them (even though they spoke English well enough), but I still told the old joke that if you speak two languages, you're bi-lingual, if you speak three, you're tri-lingual, and if you speak one -- you're an American. The joke kind of loses its punch when one has to translate it in French.

Btw, at one point, there were three different groups of native French speakers camping in the site next to us. Along with the french cyclists, there was a group from Quebec, and another couple from France. I didn't know if it was coincidence, or if they got assigned that way by the ranger. it was probably coincidence, but again reflected how diverse the visitors to Yosemite were.

It was also around this time that I met Jake (also from Colorado), who came over on the Amtrak. I thought it would be a neat experience to travel cross country by train. You see so much more than from the highway, as the train often passes through remote areas and over long narrow bridges. Jake works as an electrician, but is able to take a couple months off each year to travel and climb (his passion), and on this trip to Yosemite, where he stayed for nearly a month, he accomplished his dream of climbing to the top of El Capitan (which is over three thousand feet tall), which he explained was THE major climb in the world. (Recently, in January, a pair of climbers made news for being the first to climb the most difficult route up El Cap.) I thought it was very cool that he accomplished this, and asked "so what's next?"

(El Cap)

Jake had a great story about an Iphone he found at the base of El Cap. Earlier, he heard from a camper that hiked up to the top and accidentally dropped their phone, and later while scouting around the base, he found it. That's when he reached into his pocket and whipped out this busted Iphone (I wish I had taken a picture of it). The screen was shattered, but it was still intact for the most part. He was going to give it back when he saw her later. Somebody said he should look around the base of other cliffs, since he seemed to have a knack for finding lost items. I told him that I dropped a pack of gum during one of my hikes.

Jake's friend Margaret would later arrive from Colorado, and they would hang out and climb a few days (even though at this point he had a hairline fracture in his foot and was hobbling around, but refused to go to the medical clinic) before she gave him a ride back home. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of Margaret, but she was really cool and knowledgeable about the outdoors, and showed me how to find dry tinder and build a fire, even after it rains for two days and everything's soaked.

The next group to arrive were the Filipino's from San Diego. You could tell they weren't experienced campers, and had tents that looked brand new, and a campstove that was still in the box. We watched as they tried to put it together, then got lost, and had to get the box out and look at it before they finally assembled it properly and got it working. They also forgot to bring a pan to cook in, so I lent them mine, and in return they shared some of their adobo pork (which was delicious).

(not actual picture)

They'd constantly switch back and forth from English to Filipino, and we thought they might be talking about us. On their final morning, as Dennis was filming the group at breakfast, I started taking pictures of them, and Mike looked over and noticed me, then Dennis started filming me, and the tables were turned.

I offered to take pictures for them, and they included me in one of their group photos. lol.

 

[johnnytravels]

Not all campers needed tents, I saw one guy sleeping out in the open. Around this time, it still got down to near freezing temperatures at nights, so I admired his fortitude.

And on one of my walks, I saw a guy sitting out in the meadow sketching, and someone practicing on a slack line near camp.

On the hike up to Yosemite falls, I noticed a small trickle of water over this stone, and wondered how long it took to carve this out.

Near Mirror Lake, there was a rock garden, and I built my own little statue and left one of my origami animals (kangaroo).

I guess this is why it's called Mirror Lake. There I ran into Ed and Noreen, from Redding, while I was taking a picture of bear scat, they asked me if I found something interesting, and we struck up a conversation.

I told Ed about my tentative travel plans (heading up North to see Crater Lake and then east to Yellowstone), and he recommended stopping by Lassen National Park, which was along the way and was kind of a mini-Yellowstone. I would eventually get there, but I'll save that for later. The two were experienced travelers and told me about some of the different places they've been, and past visits to Yosemite, where they once did actually encounter a bear. Noreen said she came out of her tent in Lower Pines one day and found a bear sitting on their travel chest, trying to get the lock open. That's when they decided to camp only in hard shelled vehicles and bought a camper.

I frequently visited Curry Village, where they had showers and wifi in the lodge, and saw this dog with remarkable coloring. He was a little shy at first and wouldn't make eye contact, but eventually I got him to look directly at me. Next to the lodge was a grocery store, where you could buy individual beers and drink them on the porch. I saw Adriano doing this one day and started the habit myself.

And where I saw this kid that reminded me of Sherman, Mr. Peabody's pet boy.

I did a lot of walking and hiking while I was there, and assembled a nice collection of walking sticks (btw, that's the Fillipino group's tent in the background, I told them it looked like Darth Vader's helmet, or the one from Spaceballs). But I was riding the shuttle when I saw a pair of Buddhist monks near the visitor's center. Fortunately, I had just enough time to get out my phone and take this picture before the bus started moving again. The last one was while I walking to Curry Village, when I saw this pair carrying a rented raft, and snapped this picture. The guy in the background, Dre, with the big grin on his face, saw me do it and was like, "Hey, text me that," and gave me his number. I couldn't get a cell signal at Yosemite, so I told him I'd send it later. I still hadn't actually, but will once I get done posting this.

 

[johnnytravels]

I guess I'll post some random pictures I took on the shuttle bus.

In the one above, the girl on the left is holding a little origami penguin I gave her. And I liked how it was the toddlers that were staring at me.

Btw, folding origami is one of my hobbies. Here are some.

I make them and give them away. During my travels, I'd leave them in random places for people to find. Speaking of random, here's a van I saw in the parking lot one day. And another I saw walking around LA.

And a few other random photos.

This guy looked like Hulk Hogan, and I tried to get a photo of him, but didn't want him to see me taking his picture. Unfortunately, this was the best I could do, before he rode away on his bike.

 

[johnnytravels]

Then came the rain and overcast weather, which was a contrast to the mostly sunny days I'd experienced throughout my trip. But even with fog and clouds, the scenery was still beautiful.

And it gave me an excuse to relax and hang out at Curry Lodge, where there was limited internet access. Despite battling a cold the entire time, along a nagging cough, I had constantly been on the go, so the rest was well needed.

Lots of people left, and I met the next wave of campers. There were Chris and Anna, a very nice Canadian couple (redundant?) from Toronto, who drove across Canada and US for adventure and to find great spots to climb.

And Mark and Dave, who both arrived alone, but started hanging out together in camp. Mark (on the left) was from Quebec, where he works as a climbing instructor and is one of the most happy-go-lucky guys I met. And Dave, whom I found to be very thoughtful and reflective, quit his jobs working for the parks service and doing flooring work, drove all the way from Maine to relocate to California in search of a new career. I'd meet a lot of people who were in a similar transitional stage in life along the way. I think maybe Yosemite attracts those kinds of folks.

And Daniel and Yvonne, from LA. Despite a language barrier, I learned they were taking a break from the kids to come up here, so I gave them some origami, and in return they got me a bottle of lighter fluid from the camp store, after watching me screw around ineptly trying to get a fire going. I actually had lighter fluid already, but was working on my primitive fire-building skills, but didn't want to step on their kind gesture, so I thanked them and used it start a proper fire.

 

[Longtrailahead]

Great stuff to read first thing in the morning over coffee johnnytravels. Keep living it up on your own little adventure, and keep posting how things are going so we can all continue to follow along.

 

[johnnytravels]

^^Thanks. glad I could be part of your morning routine. ;-)