Disneyland and Sequoias 29 Oct - 2 Nov

Wednesday 28
Not much to say today, Fort Robayo is no longer, not even a trace remained to remind passers by of that great edifice! The time had come to move camps to Anaheim, just next to Disneyland and to have a bit of a relaxing day, and so we did.
Thursday 29
We were at Disney land by 9:30am (a 15 minute walk from our campsite) and having put jumpers in a locker (to be used later when it got dark) we started our 11 hour day of adventure leaving at just after 9pm. We did not stop for the whole time except for about 15 minutes as we sat on the road side waiting for a parade to arrive. Of course we did all the classics - Peter Pan, Toad of Toad Hall, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland and Pinocchio; the ones I remember from last time I was here with mum over 15 years ago - Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, the Jungle Cruise, Star Tours, The riverboat, Thunder Mountain and Honey I shrunk the Audience; and then there were some new 'attractions' that I haven't heard of before, Winnie the Pooh, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Autopia, Gadget's Go Coaster, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin and Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye (the only ride we went on twice as it was so good! You rode in a jeep through an Indiana style adventure). We got Fast Passes where we could that allow you to return at a set time and bypass most of the queues and we also explored Mark Twain's island, the shops and lots of weird and wacky boxes and levers etc in Toon Town that made all sorts of strange noises as you pulled them or opened the lids. At 8pm we watched a great fireworks show over the castle from Main Street. The whole park was really themed up for Halloween with pumpkin heads everywhere and some creepy Disney characters out and about like the characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas. The only character that we managed to meet was the very depressed Eeyore who gave me a thumbs down when I told him to be happy!
Completely exhausted we returned to the van and slept very well.
Friday 30
We awoke late and after a shower we left the metropolis to head into the wilderness again! Up North through the San Rafael Mountains to about 3000 feet and then NE to Lake Isabella along a road that followed the contours of the Kern river valley, another winding and awkward drive. We stopped in a little Mexican restaurant for lunch and had a good plate of pork, rice and re fried beans, delicious! The hills along all of the route, once we left the built up area, are all so dry and weathered, all brown with spindly trees and lots of bare rocks, but then every so often an irrigated patch looking so out of place and rather hideous as you think of all the water it must have taken to make the vegetation so luxurious. Finally we reached Lake Isabella that was an oasis of blue amongst the bone dry hills and the moon (nearly full) was enormous in the sky above the lake. We are camped in a State Park with no facilities except for a couple of earth dug toilets (that I shall not be braving), right on the banks of the Kern River. It looks a perfect salmon river (except that it doesn't connect to the sea), with looks of fast flowing water over rocks, with deep pools, probably has trout though... Celso says he can't fish it because it is too fast flowing for the tackle he has... so he just looks at the river longingly!
Saturday 31
Celso was unable to resist any longer so he did a spot of fishing in the morning but with no luck. After breakfast we drove about 3 miles back along the route we had arrived on to visit a ranger station we had spotted last night to get some information about where we should go to see the Sequoia trees. Armed with our information we drove about 30 miles along winding roads up into the mountains. The highest point we got to was 7000 ft, but only above about 5000 ft did we start to see any trees. The landscape below that was brown and dry with hugely eroded gulches and exposed rounded boulders, it was full of spiky low growing bushes and shrubs and we spotted a few lizards dashing off the road from where they had been sunbathing as we approached. We stopped at a trail called the 'Trail of 100 Giants' and spent around 1.5 hours wandering amongst the amazingly huge, wide, red, spongy barked trees that just make you want to stop and stare more and more. We picked up several different pine cones and tried to work out which came from which type of pine tree, it brought several surprises. You will have to look at the photos.
After our walk we drove further north through the mountains and then down and west back through the the scrubby brown landscape below 5000 ft, down and down to 1000ft into a huge valley where we drove for miles through orange groves and olive trees. At one point we stopped to pick up, what appeared to be, a couple of samples from a whole load of fallen fruit at the edge of one huge grove of orange trees. They were like miniature oranges, but as Celso opened one up a foul smell started to pervade the van, it smelt rather like manure; we have two theories:- 1. these tiny fruits attract all the insects that might have damaged the main crop, 2. they are designed so that people, like us, will knick them and find out that they are foul, rather than knicking the main crop!
Then starting back up into the mountains again until it started to get dark and we are now camped in a small campground that is full of permanent caravans and some rather large hill billy like inhabitants who have a large number of cats and one tiny little dog that charges around madly chasing anything that moves. We shall see if their rather large child tries to Trick or Treat us later... I hope not!

Sunday 1st Nov
Fortunately we were not visited by any trick or treating ghouls or ghosties and we awoke to the sound of the leaves dropping onto the van, the sun was shining and the clocks had gone back in the night so we were 'extra' early. We drove the few miles to the entrance to the Sequoia National Park and stopped at the visitor centre to get some advice as there had been signs saying 'vehicles longer than 22 foot not advised'. Fortunately we were told that this was just an advisory, it meant that on switchbacks our 24 foot van would probably end up over the centre line in the road, and we should just give way to anything in the other direction before making the turn. It turned out to be a much easier road than it sounded, much easier than either yesterday, the day before, or 'the nightmare journey in the Redwoods'. It was fascinating to watch the scenery change as we rose up to around 7000ft again and to watch Moro Rock looming above us coming closer and closer. I am convinced that I saw a couple of large spiders on the road as we drove up, and later, in the information leaflet we were given on entry it said that male tarantulas would be out and about at this time of the year looking for a mate; Celso remains skeptical at my brilliant eyesight! At the top of the mountain we stopped at a museum at what is known as the Giant Forest. We learnt some new amazing facts in the museum; the cones of the Sequoias can stay in the tree up to 20 years waiting for a forest fire to dry and open them. Of every 1000 seeds released only 1 will grow to maturity. Of every 100 trees that grow to maturity only one will become a giant. The others are killed by fires (when they are still relatively young < 100), fungus or animals, or they fall over or are struck by lightening or another falling tree. It is said that a standing dead giant Sequoia has never been found, i.e. they don't die from old age but rather from one of the other hazards I previously mentioned. From the museum we hiked a 1.5 mile trail out towards Moro Rock through breathtaking woodland with the Sequoias and other pines towering above us; some parts were ravaged by fire about a year ago and the scars could be seen on the trees all around; some places were opened due to a fallen tree and many small trees were starting to grow; some places, where dappled sunlight danced through the high branches in the breeze, were covered with bracken and small shrubs. Chipmunks ran and squawked amongst the fallen logs, crows and ravens cawed and swooped, woodpeckers drummed on the tree trunks and responded to Tristan bashing on the trees with a stick - bliss. Just before Moro Rock we were distracted by a sign to Hanging Rock, so we took a 0.2 mile trail to the most glorious, breathtaking lookout area high on the edge of the mountain, with a large rock teetering on the edge and a sheer drop down over the area we had driven up. We sat and stared, and stared and sat; Tristan and Celso spotted a couple of lizards sunning themselves on the rock but they scuttled away into rock crevices; down below we could see the river we had followed into the park; the road we had driven up, winding its way up the side of the mountain; and, away in the distance, some tree covered slopes and some bare granite towering peaks.... Fantastic, incredible, unbelievable. We took a different 2 mile route back to the car through more fabulous woodland. It was an incredible couple of hours.
Then another winding road took us North and West to the biggest tree (by volume of wood) in the world, the General Sherman Tree. It is not the tallest tree, nor the widest at its base but it has an equally thick trunk all the way up, even one of its upper branches has a diameter of 2 metres! Most of the other trees we have seen get more slender nearer the top, but not this one, it was huge. Its top is dead so it is no longer getting taller, but it is still getting wider every year.
Another 25 miles along through the woods we have stopped in a campsite and eaten the most enormous wood fire grilled steaks with baked potatoes and veg. Yum. what a fabulous day!
2nd Nov
We woke up and spent an hour wandering around the Grant grove of trees. We are now in the King's Canyon National Park but it was just as glorious. The General Grant tree is the 3rd biggest tree, by volume, in the world. It is larger than the General Sherman tree at its base but it becomes slender much more quickly, though, as you can see from the photos, it does not become very slender at all. At the grove there is a giant called the Fallen Monarch, when this area was first being explored it was used as a shelter to camp in; then it was used as a stable by the cavalry who were the first people to guard the National Parks. It has changed very little since the photos over 150 years ago showing just how resistant the wood is to rot, apparently it is the high concentration of tannin in the wood that gives it this resistant property.
From the grove we drove down towards Fresno in the valley full of Orange Groves, and then from there drove back up into some mountains further north towards Yosemite. We are now camped, washed, laundered and fed in a campsite just outside the park. Our last 3 nights have been in campsites without modern facilities, just hole in the ground toilets and wildness... so it was nice to have a shower and feel clean!