Happy to arrive in California after traveling more of the Pacific Coast Highway south from Yachats, Oregon. Our time in California took us to the cool, moist Redwood forests along the Pacific coast in the northwest corner of the state, the hot, dry Mojave Desert and Death Valley National Park to the south; and Yosemite National Park in between.

The California wildfire threatening the Sequoia Trees (another type of Redwood) was far to the south of us in Sequoia National Park. Thankfully no fires in the northern Redwoods.

Starting with our four night stay at the Chinook RV Park, we had full hookups and a site next to the Klamath River about 1/2 mile inland from the Pacific. The park was not busy, scenic, and quite enjoyable; located just north of the small town of Klamath close to the Redwood National and State Parks. This group of parks featuring the “Coastal Redwoods” combines the resources of the State of California and the National Park Service; here are our highlights:

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park: Stout Grove and Howland Hill Road.

Redwoods National Park: Lady Bird Johnson Grove and Trail (an easy 1.5 mile trail through the forest) and Bald Hills Road.

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park: Newton B Drury Parkway, Gold Bluffs Beach and Fern Canyon (some of the Jurassic Park movie was filmed here).

Humboldt Redwoods State Park: Avenue of the Giants – a 31 mile drive, weaving through the Redwoods right next to the road. There are several small towns, many trails and points of interest along the way.

All the parks have scenic drives, and multiple short and long hiking paths through the forests, some have bluff overlooks of the Pacific.

South of Redwoods NP, we visited Patrick’s Point State Park along the coast. Patrick’s Point Drive takes you along a high cliff overlooking the Pacific; it was here, with help of binoculars, we could see gray whales migrating south. We could also hear and see the sea lions on the rocks directly below us.

Needless to say, there is a lot to see and do in this area and I found it difficult to summarize. There were no crowds here and we really enjoyed the peaceful Redwood forests and the nearby Pacific coast.

Leaving Klamath, we continued south and east on our way to Lee Vining, CA near Yosemite NP, that included overnight stays near Upland, CA and Reno, NV. This was the best route for us to cross the mountains, taking Hwy 20 to I-5 to I-80 around the north side of Sacramento across to Reno before heading south back into California.

With our advanced reservation pass to Yosemite National Park in hand (required this year until October 1st), we entered through the Tioga Pass Entrance. From this east entrance, we drove about 50 miles to Yosemite Valley where most of the popular attractions are located.

We found the park to be pretty crowded and there were many road and building construction projects in progress, causing parking lots to be closed off and some signage removed making the park a little difficult to navigate. This along with smoke from wildfires to the south, made for some disappointment, but we managed to see El Capitan, Bridalveil Falls (with just a trickle of water due to drought and time of year), and the Half Dome. Still a gem of a park and it looks like the improvement projects underway are geared toward handling the increase crowds and should be nice when completed.

We stayed at Mono Vista RV Park named for nearby Mono Lake (13 miles long x 9 miles wide). The lake has a high salt content; this along with other minerals created columns of limestone called “tufa towers” that appear to rise up above the surface of the lake.

Moving on to Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley National Park, this was a one day drive from Lee Vining. Highway 395 south was a great drive, however Highway 190 east into the park was a challenge with tight curves and steep downhills. I admit to being a nervous passenger at times, but Jim handled this drive with no problem, like he always does.

The small oasis of Stovepipe Wells includes a 14-site full hook up campground, a store, small motel and restaurant. Everything seemed to be fairly new and provided a nice base in the park.

Death Valley was a little different than we expected. We knew of the hot dry environment with very little vegetation, but there were more diverse mountain vistas, less sand dunes, and low attendance. All made for a lot of natural beauty that you might not expect in the desert. This time of year, the temperatures start to drop and we arrived to “cooler” 90+ degree weather – it’s a dry heat!

Locations we visited in the park included: Furnace Creek, Golden Canyon Trail, Artists Drive, and Zabriskie Point. We spent time at Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes and Badwater Basin with the lowest elevation in North American at 282 feet below sea level.

With Death Valley NP designated as a “dark sky” park, we were able to sit out on a clear night and see stars all the way to the horizon as well as the Milky Way; an awesome and humbling site.

A note on fuel: With a 100 gallon fuel tank, we were able to plan our fuel stops so we did not have to purchase much diesel in California. Check out the prices in Lee Vining! We filled up in Oregon and Nevada for more than $2 less per gallon. This was the highest price we saw; other places in CA were between $4-$5 for diesel.

More than half way through our trip; southern Utah and Arizona are up next!

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