Sequoia 2004 Camp-out
See Carl's Pictures, too.
A Trip Full of Firsts
The 2004 camping trip was a first: the first time we planned on spending two nights in Sequoia Park. Past trips were one night in Kings Canyon (1997, 1999 and 2000), a long day in Fresno (1998), Kings Canyon and Yosemite (2001), and Kings Canyon and Sequoia (2002 and 2003).
Carl, Tom, Gloria, and I were waiting in front of the donut shop Saturday morning. Fred and Irma came into view a minute or two before the scheduled 7:00 AM departure. Irma pulled into the gas station down the block. Fred rode up, said something like "gas", then headed down to station. This being Irma's first long ride, we rode to the station and waited. And then waited some more while tire pressures were checked. Who says we can't be nice to novice riders! Besides, I was late once, too :-)
We went to the Cozy Cup in Hollister for breakfast. After breakfast those who needed to gassed up prior to the ride down Ca. 25. The pace was moderate. The temperature was getting hot. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wished he'd removed a layer at Hollister.
We stopped at the intersection of 25 and 198 for a chance to remove unneeded layers of riding gear. Once ready we headed into Coalinga for a gas and rest stop. This was two firsts for Irma: first time in Coalinga and first time this far from home on the bike. More firsts were to come.
It's about 70 boring miles from Coalinga to Pescado Pete's in Visalia, our lunch stop. I'll try to find a better lunch stop for next years ride. Fish and chips on a hot afternoon, and it's always hot, after a big breakfast probably isn't the best idea.
After lunch we continued down 198 to 3-rivers for gas and checked out the store as a supply stop. This turned out to be a good thing. It was another 10 miles or so from 3-rivers to the campsite. When we got there we found only 3 open sites, none of them next to each other. Two of them were across a common area from each other so we grabbed them and started setting up camp. Tom, Carl, and Fred then rode back to 3-rivers for supplies. It was too late to make it to the store at Lodgepole.
Dinner was made over camp stoves. The rangers had advised us that due to the high fire danger camp fires were not allowed. That didn't put too much of a damper on things as the night was warm and the beer was cold. We celebrated more firsts: Irma's first camp out as an adult and Tom's first introduction to the Kermit camp chair. When you have 3 Kermit chairs for 6 people you can be certain that none of them will be empty. It took a while before Fred got a chance to try out his new chair.