Good beer – Parks & Lex

Baby’s First Yosemite Trip

September 18, 2016January 5, 2018parksandlex@gmail.com

Let’s catch up, shall we? I’m not quite as behind on my Centennial 12 Parks/12 Months Goal as it might appear. Back in May, a good friend was visiting from Norway, and I thought if anything could impress someone from the beautiful land of the fjords, with towering glacier-carved walls and waterfalls, it would be Yosemite! Since it was her first visit and we only had one full day, we opted to go into Yosemite Valley. Even though I know it will be crowded, I do still feel like people have to see Yosemite Valley. And it wasn’t just my friend’s first visit, but my baby’s first visit as well!

We headed out from theBay Area late Sunday morning, stopping at Altamont Brewing in Livermore to further impress my Norwegian friend with the concept of a growler of beer. Lodging can be expensive and somewhat sparse near the park, but we found a nice cabin to share at the Spinning Wheel Yosemite, down a dirt road off of 120 outside the Big Oak Flat entrance. They had a handful of cabins varying in size, including some new since the property was affected by the Rim Fire, and the owners were super nice. Good bird watching by the pool as well.

Monday we headed into the park, battled the crowds for parking (even on a Monday before school was out), and started out for the Upper Yosemite Falls Trail. The plan was to hike the first mile or so of the trail to a nice lookout and call it a day. However, in my continuing theme of Lowered Expectations — with Baby!, we didn’t even make it to the trailhead when I decided to call it. We had gotten a later start than intended, and while we have a good soft carrier for the baby, I think we need a backpack-style carrier for more intensive hikes. So, we diverted ourselves to the accessible Lower Yosemite Falls Trail, a short walk up to the base of the tallest waterfall in North America! And there was actually water in it — on top of the drought the past few years, we tend to visit Yosemite in the late summer or fall when many of the falls have dried up. Little guy, of course, slept through the waterfall.

Valley Loop Trail – a pleasant hike not involving going up any cliffs

From Yosemite Falls, we weren’t quite ready to stop for lunch, so we walked back behind Yosemite Village tackling a little section of the Valley Loop Trail. It is actually pretty amazing how easily you can leave the crowds behind, even in Yosemite Valley. We weren’t the only people on the Valley Loop, but we definitely had some space to ourselves on the trail. It may not be climbing Half Dome, but the Valley Loop Trail is a pleasant wooded amble past some of the park’s most iconic sites – not bad!

After a picnic lunch, we had the dilemma whether to go deeper into the Valley to walk to the Vernal Falls footbridge (Mist Trail was definitely not in the cards!) or head to one of the groves of giant sequoias on the route out. We opted for the latter as the Sierras are the only place in the world one can see giant sequoias, and little guy seems to enjoy looking up at trees while we hike. I thought he might be impressed (and I could be projecting my own feelings, but I think he was!) We hiked down to the Tuolumne Grove, which has 2-3 dozen mature trees — not as many as the Mariposa Grove in the south part of the park, but not as many people either, and certainly enough to get a taste of these awesome trees. They are just so ridiculously massive compared to other trees around them! The hike itself was pretty easy on a wide trail, but you do have to do the uphill on the way back.

So, all in all, a successful first trip to Yosemite — my Norwegian friend is ready to return someday, and we got Little Guy out into the Park, where he saw some cool trees! I also got the NPS Centennial Stamp for Yosemite, and met a nice lady in Park HQ trying to get the 125th anniversary stamp I missed last year (but misremembered which one I needed and got a stamp of the 150th Anniversary of the Grant Act, which I already have – oops!)

Fall Weekend in Yosemite Valley

October 19, 2014January 3, 2018parksandlex@gmail.com

I couldn’t risk letting 2014 go by without a trip to Yosemite, especially in their 150th anniversary year! I’ve concluded that the number of people in Yosemite Valley in July/August is just too much for me, but as expected, this random weekend in October, while still pretty popular, was manageable and gave us a taste of what Yosemite has to offer in the fall. A partial taste since the weather was a little more on par with August with 85°F temperatures! California isn’t particularly known for our fall color, but Yosemite gives it our best shot! And while we didn’t have crisp fall air, we still got to see leaves swirling in the breeze through the Valley.

yose2_04 — Take a deep breath and forget about the morning’s unpleasantness!

We tried to get an early start by driving up Friday night and staying at the Best Western in Oakhurst. Unfortunately, the breakfast waitstaff at the hotel restaurant had other ideas (we never were approached by a waitress – the hostess kept coming by and, noticing we hadn’t been helped, served us the whole meal. Two other parties were seated then simply left after being similarly ignored. Combine that with an offensive button worn by the lobby staff at checkout, and we’ll make this my first negative lodging review.) In spite of that, made it to the Valley Visitor’s Center by about 10:30-11.

Our late start pretty much determined which trail we were going to hit up. I had been considering the 4-mile trail up to Glacier Point, but since we were getting into the midday heat, wasn’t sure that would be a very pleasant hike. It’s supposed to have excellent views of Yosemite Falls, perhaps not quite as impressive when it’s dry, so I’ll pocket that one for the spring. Time to explore Yosemite Valley on the Valley Floor Loop.

The Valley Floor Loop Trail is a pretty self-explanatory 13-mile loop that starts around the bottom of Yosemite Falls at Camp 4 and passes a lot of famous Valley landmarks, such as El Capitan and Bridal Veil Falls. There’s an option to do a 6.5-mile half loop by cutting across to the other side using a bridge near El Capitan. As promised by the descriptions I read, we were almost alone the whole day on the trail except for when it intersected the parking areas for the major landmarks.

yose2_12 — A mountain quail! I’ve seen plenty of California quail, but never one of these.

The only downside of the Valley Loop Trail is that it’s not that wide of a valley, so you’re never far from the park roads. On a Saturday, we could hear road noise pretty much the whole day. I will say, however, there is some satisfaction in exploring the Valley on your own two feet, even if you’re not exactly ditching civilization. Especially when you can enjoy the falling leaves and contrasting yellows and greens of the trees with the granite walls rising on either side of you!

yose2_17 — Had to sign disclaimers about Hanta virus to stay here… 5 weeks til we’re out of the incubation period!

We spent the evening in Curry Village, staying in the classic tent cabins. It may be the most expensive canvas scaffold you’ve ever stayed in, but the tent cabins have a rustic, old-school charm and are a lot easier than having to set up camp for a night. Plus, when your Fitbit reads 35,000+ steps, fresh-baked pizza and a cold, local beer (albeit at ballpark-level prices) on an outdoor deck never tasted so good! And just in case that doesn’t make up any calorie deficit, they also have delicious, enormous cinnamon rolls at the coffee stand in the morning.

Sunday, we headed back to the Bay Area, taking a detour to the Hetch Hetchy reservoir to visit our friendly local water supply. Driving out to Hetch Hetchy, we could see the evidence of last year’s Rim Fire, which started the week after our last Yosemite Trip (remind me to never again say “last chance to see the sequoia grove” while driving past!). O’ Shaughnessy Dam is a place where every good Bay Area citizen can come to feel conflicted about appreciating a stable, pristine water supply while wondering what was lost when Hetch Hetchy Valley was flooded to create the reservoir in spite of John Muir’s intense opposition. There are some trails around the reservoir, but with little tree cover and even higher temperatures than the day before, we decided to head into Groveland for some lunch at the Iron Door Saloon, the oldest continuously operating saloon in CA. Important note for stamp collectors – you have to ask for the Hetch Hetchy cancellation at the Entrance Station on your way in or out of the reservoir area as there is no official visitor’s center.

Muir Woods National Monument

July 29, 2014January 3, 2018parksandlex@gmail.com

I’ve been utterly failing at getting out to any parks this summer, so two weekends ago I was determined to at least hit up one of the NPS sites in the greater Bay Area on a day of hiking. I opted to go get my Passport stamps for Muir Woods in Marin County, in spite of knowing that summer weekends would bring crowds.

muwo06 Muir Woods is a beautiful example of a California redwood forest, with coast redwoods lining a shaded creek surrounded by ferns and a blanket of redwood sorrel. Unfortunately, it is also THE place for people touring CA to get a quick giant tree fix, so you get the trees without the tranquility. There are certainly better places to lose yourself in nature, including redwoods, but the scenery is still able to impress (and as you can see, I managed to get a few pictures without people in them!). Other highlights of the Monument (which likely also contribute to its popularity) are the educational programs and the boardwalked trails through the center of the park, which both protect the woods floor while also making the park more accessible to all visitors.

muwo03 muwo04 muwo09

muwo08 If you must visit Muir Woods during summer weekends (as I apparently had to), it is highly recommended that you take the Muir Woods Shuttle (follow signs from the freeway). Another option if you are planning on doing more than just the boardwalk is to hike into the Woods from Mt. Tamalpais State Park. There are several options here: From the Mountain Home Inn, you can take the Panoramic and Ocean View trails into Muir Woods or follow Alice Eastman Road down to the Plevin Cut and Camp Eastwood trails.

We opted for a longer hike from the muwo01 Pantoll Ranger Station, starting with the Stapelveldt and Ben Johnson trails and returning via Bootjack and Alpine. Up at the ranger station, it was all blustery fog and moss-covered trees, but we quickly lost the wind heading down the back side of the hill and had a pretty solitary hike until we got closer to Muir Woods. As you descend, you can see the redwood forest develop as you get further down into the watershed – it’s really quite a nice way to approach! All together, it ended up being about 8 miles and 4 hours, including some meandering about the visitor’s muwo02 center and a stop on the trail for some lunch.

Of course the only muwo10 problem with doing the hike this way is that the uphill is all on the way back! Using the TCC trail as a connector, you could do the loop we did from the end of the Muir Woods trail if you prefer to do the uphill first. My fitbit logged 147 flights of stairs – I was highly tempted to go up and down the stairs at my apartment 3 more times when I got home, but my knee was hurting from all the downhill hiking.

Back in Mill Valley, where Highway 1 turns up toward Mt. Tam, we stopped at the Dipsea Cafe for a late lunch and a much-deserved Mt. Tam Pale Ale from Marin Brewing!

Joshua Tree National Park: Lodging & Camping

May 22, 2014September 7, 2014parksandlex@gmail.com

jotr01 — An east-facing room gives you great views of a desert sunrise.

I always obsess over finding good places to stay when traveling. I don’t need luxury – what I really want is something that helps capture the character of the place I’m visiting. Tripadvisor has never let me down when it comes to hotels, even if you sometimes need to read between the lines, but it can be harder to sort through other people’s expectations and experiences with different campgrounds. I thought I’d include some periodic posts dedicated to lodging and camping, so here’s an installment on where we stayed on our Feb trip to Joshua Tree.

Because we’d be arriving on the later side after the long drive from the Bay Area, we opted to stay in a hotel in 29 Palms our first night. The 29 Palms Inn was great! We stayed in one of the adobe cottages, which consist of a cottage-style room with a private sun patio and a fireplace. They are situated right on the Oasis of Mara, the birthplace of 29 Palms, and are not more than a half-mile or so from the Park visitor’s center. The restaurant was tasty (light breakfast included) and uses vegetables from their garden. The inn’s grounds were great for watching birds at the oasis and sunrise over the desert.

jotr02 — Cactus garden at the 29 Palms Inn

Our next two nights we camped at one of the Park’s family campgrounds. I had wanted to book a site at Indian Cove to be a little more central, but when I made reservations in late December, Saturday was already booked. There are some first-come, first-serve campgrounds in the park, but with our long drive, I didn’t want to risk it. We ended up staying at the Black Rock Campground, which if a little further from the main park entrance, did have the advantage of being close to our route out of town the day we left, and they have the most Morning at the campground amenities of campgrounds in the park (I have to say, I am a fan of access to potable water). Some campsites were pretty large, but with nothing but a few Joshua trees for buffer, it did get a little noisy from some of the nearby campers. Not so noisy you couldn’t hear the coyotes crying in the early evening, though. There are some mid-range hiking trails in the area of the campground, but we didn’t check them out this trip. We did discover that Sam’s Market (and pizza and Indian food…) a few miles down the road in the town of Joshua Tree, had a good beer selection and other supplies, such as firewood.