LOS ANGELES TO VANCOUVER 2016: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

DAYS 20 & 21

SATURDAY 23 & SUNDAY 24 APRIL 2016

YOSEMITE & KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS

BUT FIRST, OAKHURST CA

I was honestly hoping to introduce this post as "Happy Birthday To Me From Y-O-S-E-M-I-T-E" but unfortunately it was not to be. (This rhymes as well...:)...:)....)

When I showed up in Yosemite last evening at around 6.30, the entrance to the Yosemite Village was in a traffic gridlock that Sydney would have been proud of.

I had expected it to be busy, but this was beyond the pale.

Given that it is National Park week in the U.S and entry to all National Parks has been free until today, I guess it is a good thing that people are taking advantage of it.

However, even if I had been organised enough to try and book ahead I cannot see that there would have been any advantage whatsoever in this shit fight.

Shocked to say the least, I had to scramble a plan as I sat stationary in the mile-long queue.

AT LEAST I GOT THIS PHOTO WHILST I WAS SITTING THE YOSEMITE QUEUE

When I was eventually ushered back out the gate by the rangers at about 7.30, I decided to make ground towards Kings Canyon and Sequoia, which I had also planned on visiting this week.

With the advantage of having the Dodge Dart at my disposal for the next 9 days, I located a dot on the map which was just to the south of Yosemite and somewhat closer to Kings Canyon I would otherwise have planned, so I decided to make a push for said dot which was named Oakhurst.

THE DODGE DART

Also now with the benefit of a GPS unit, I could see that there was about another hour or so of driving involved to get there.

In after dark, but what the heck.

I also just had to hope that this Oakhurst had something to offer in the way of food and accommodation when I got there.

(At a long shot, I could have even pushed through to Fresno but in hindsight would not have been bunking into a room somewhere until close to midnight...)

As 9 pm approached, and my GPS had narrowed the distance to under 3 miles, I could see a cluster of lights approaching from the valley below.

This must be Oakhurst.

The first sign of civilisation on the open side of the dense cedar and cypress forests of southern Yosemite was a Mexican restaurant called El Cid and the "Open" sign was well and truly ablaze.

"Beauty!!" I thought, I like this place already.

Descending into the township a little further had raised my hopes infinitely as open restaurants and accommodations began to spawn rapidly on either side of Route 41, followed by a collection of typical white bread franchises including Dennys, Taco Bell and bloody Maccas and as the downtown area consolidated I could even spot out some banks and a "Von's" supermarket.

No problems, this place is a breeze.

Scanning either side of the road as I went for potential accommodations, there were any number to choose from.

Ideally a Motel 6 or Super 8 may have been amongst them, but it was the last post in town that drew me in.

The "Yosemite Southgate Inn" sold itself on board the "America's Best Value Inn" chain so I figured this was good enough for me after 8 long hours on the road from San Francisco.

As I approached the reception area, I could clearly see a sign saying "Sorry No Vacancy", which was not a great omen.

Regardless, I entered and eventually got to ask the toothless chap behind the desk if he could recommend anywhere to stay tonight.

Well, he said, there was one last room remaining due to a late cancellation and it was mine if I wanted it.

He made me a quote and I accepted and 10 minutes later, there was another $20 peeled off the tab when he learned I was by myself.

Bargain, especially when you throw in an inclusive continental breakfast and free wi-fi.

I loaded my gear into the room AQAP and choofed on up the hill to that El Cid place which definitely had the best menu in town.

After all, I was a little peckish after the Yosemite debacle....

KINGS CANYON & SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARKS

Spending the night in Oakhurst gave me a great launching pad this morning to get through to Kings Canyon by midday.

The main attractions of visiting here include proximity to Yosemite and the fact that even though Kings Canyon & Sequoia are only a couple of hours south, they are both virtually empty of tourists compared to their famous northern counterpart.

This suits me just fine.

On arrival, I was able to take advantage of the final day of "National Park Week" and gain free entry.

What was more, I learned at the entry gate that the roads to Cedar Grove (north) and Lodgepole (south) only opened yesterday after being completely closed for the winter, so my timing surely could not have been better!

Immediately though, I headed for the nearby "Grant Grove" information center and dove straight into a strategy for my couple of days here.

I could see by perusing the map that by splitting my visit on a north/south axis was probably going to be most effective.

Perhaps I could do the north (Kings Canyon) today and head south tomorrow to Sequoia and Lodgepole?

This sounded reasonable, according to the park ranger behind the counter and especially since the only open camping ground was directly across the road, I could readily pull the trigger on this plan starting now.

Of course there are a typical plethora of activities on offer, the ones involving hiking most interested me, although in spite of having to forgo the previously larger plans for my 44th birthday today, I simply enjoyed mooching around, driving down into the canyon this afternoon and immersing myself in the grand scale of everything this mighty landscape has to offer.

These are the High Sierras and for the most part are a minimum of 4000 feet (1200 meters) in elevation. In many parts this extends to well above 7000 feet (2100 meters).

The light today also was especially magnificent and compelling which was just a perfect canvas for photography.

There was way too much happening by the side of the road to even consider hiking anywhere...