07/27/2010 – 07/28/2010 – Lassen Volcanic National Park and Death Valley National Park

Before our trip began, neither one of us had even heard of Lassen Volcanic National Park.  It’s one of the lesser known parks in Northern, Central California.  As we were trying to figure out how we were going to get back down south to some of the other parks we wanted to visit, we spotted [...]

07/26/2010 – 07/27/2010 – Redwood National Park

Editor’s Note:  This is a continuing series of posts, in an attempt to record the experiences and details of a Great West Tour:2010 traveled by Kelli and me.  Redwood National Park is a little bit different than any of the other National Parks that I’ve visited in that the park is jointly managed by the [...]

07/25/2010 – Up the Coast

Having taken in a couple of days of the sleeping in hotels or our friends’ apartment, it was time to head back out on the open road.  Up next, we planned to drive up the coast on Highway 1, stopping whenever we saw something interesting, and eventually making it to the Redwood forests of Northern [...]

07/23/2010 – Toward San Francisco (the Scenic Route)

We definitely felt much refreshed after being able to take proper showers and sleep in an actual bed.  With spending a week in tents and the outdoors, we were ready for a little bit of city life as a break.  So, we planned to meet up with our friends Katie and Gabe.  They’re friends of [...]

07/22/2010 – Down in the Valley

Having completed our goals of reaching the top of both Clouds Rest and Half Dome, and a little too intimidated to hike back to the Tenaya Lake trail head (mostly uphill from where we were at the Little Yosemite campground), we decided that the best course of action was to continue southwest and head to [...]

07/21/2010 – A Full Day in the Wilderness

Everyone who goes backpacking in the wilderness of Yosemite National Park is required to carry a bear canister.  If you do not have one, they will rent you one for about $5 dollars (if I can remember correctly).  You must place everything which has a smell associated with it in the can at night, and [...]

07/20/2010 – Heading Out to Clouds Rest, and Beyond

It took us alot longer than we anticipated to actually embark on our three day backpacking adventure.  The previous day we spent romping around Tuolomne Meadows without a care for preparing the next day.  We figured, we’d throw out things in our packs and head out.  We hoped to be on the trail no later [...]

07/19/2010 – A “Free” Day in Yosemite

I found myself to be surprisingly comfortable, wrapped in a high-tech sleeping bag, laying on the concrete slab porch of the Tuolomne Meadows Wilderness Permit Station from about 3:30 until 7:30 when the station opened.  Though the temperature was no warmer than the lower 40s, the sleeping bag was more than adequate.  At first I [...]

07/18/2010 – Arrival at Yosemite, Continued…

Before I continue the narration of our Great West Tour 2010 (Which I am determined to finish!) I wanted to be sure and include more pictures in each post.  As I have already detailed our arrival into Yosemite National Park I will not go back and edit that post.  Instead, I will link to some [...]

07/18/2010 – Arrival at Yosemite

Sunday morning, we had driven for a day and a half, crossing two timezones.  So, when we naturally woke up around 7:00EDT it was 5:00 local time.  This made for a great start as we were on the road before sunrise.  Our destination was Yosemite and we originally planned to make it there at some [...]