Sequoia 2005 Camp-out
Marc Hyman
Another weekend-after-Labor-Day means it's time for another breakfast club camp out somewhere in the vacinity of Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. This year, like last, we spent two nights in the Buckeye Flat camp-ground in Sequoia National Park. I think it's safe to say a good time was had by all.
Tom and Gloria, Dan, and I left Burlingame at 7:00 AM. Fred and Irma had
emailed that they'd meet us in Hollister (or along the way) for Breakfast.
No sign of Carl; perhaps he thought we'd be leaving at 7:05? Oh well, he
knows where we're going and can meet us there. Sure enough, he pulled
up in front of the restaurant a minute or so after we'd arrived claiming to
have been running a little bit behind schedule. Fred and Irma joined us at
the restaurant before we were served.
Following breakfast and a gas stop for those who needed it in Hollister we
proceeded down highway 25, spreading out along the way. A stop was planned
near the intersection of 25 and 198 to regroup and shed some gear if
needed. The weather was warmer, but in no way hot. Some of us took off
liners, others waited until the next stop in Coalinga, some 30 miles away.
We took a longer break in Coalinga for gas if needed, removal and
stowage of cool weather gear, and resting up for the next boring leg: 198
from Coalinga to Visalia. Gloria looked tired at this stop. I think Tom's
pace going down 25 and 198 was keeping here awake!
I'd received a request to try a different restaurant for our Visalia lunch break. A little web browsing found Mearle's, an old fashioned drive in. How old fashioned? Picture something you'd expect to see in Happy Days or American Grafitti and you've got Merle's. The malted chocolate shake was good. The ambiance was great.
It's about 45 miles from Visalia to the Buckeye Flat camp ground. We were happy to find when we arrived that Derek, riding down from Grass Valley, had beat us there by about 20 minutes and already claimed what I'd like to think are the two best sites in the camp-ground. After pitching tents some volunteered to go back down to Three Rivers, about 12 miles from the camp-ground, and load up on supplies, e.g. food and beer.