California Extension - Sept (CBE1502)

Friday, September 25, 2015 | Manuel Marabese | North and South America | 1 Comment

Day 4 - Fish Camp to Visalia

Our last big park of this long California & Southwest USA road trip: Sequoia Nation Park with its giant redwoods. You can't realise how big those trees are until you stand in front of them, and feel very very very little.

Lunch break near a scenic lake, Montecito

Yes, they are huge and can withstand even the harshest fire

General Sherman, the largest tree on earth!

Sometimes they fall, so you need to carve the road through them

Moro Rock is our last hike of the day... It didn't seem soooo big when we started.

The curvy road towards the southern exit of Sequoia

Peak of Moro Rock offers wide horizons

Time for coffee and sodas to refresh this hot afternoon!

Day 3 - Mammoth Lakes to fish Camp

Crossing the Sierra is on the menu for today! What a delight! Leaving Mammoth Lakes through the scenic loop in a cool morning weather is the best way to wake up! June lake loop is already around the corner, and before mid morning we are climbing the famous Tioga pass almost touching 10.000ft. The afternoon is gonna bring us into Yosemite Valley, always spectacular with El Capitan on one side and Half Dome (seen from Glacier Point is even better) on the other side.

Lake Tenaya just after Tioga Pass

Half Dome in the distance, seen from Olsted (it sounds rahter Norwegian...)

Selfie time at Glacier Point...

...and even more solo-selfie time for Noah

Let's ask someone to take our picture, so we can all fit in it, better eh?

Day 2 - Death Valley to Mammoth Lakes

Second day, and quite a change of landscape from morning to evening! From 200ft below sea level and around 96F at 9am, we pass the 9000ft in the afternoon with a temperature below 60F. Ok, too many numbers, just enjoy the pics!

Someone parked to close to the bush eh?

One of the many lakes around Mammoth

Bicycle transport

Devils Postpile: perfect pentagonal cylinders of solidified lava, what Nature can do!

The roots of a fallen tree can be quite eclectic

Here we have a dragon!

Day 1 - Las Vegas to Death Valley

The group is getting smaller, only Wendy, Joe and Noah will continue the tour with Manuel, while everyone else is goign back home. The first day brings us from the craziness of Vegas to the remote solitude of Death Valley, magical atmosphere in this oasis in the desert under a million stars.