gcvmom
Here we go again!
Okay, so I got a little sidetracked with difficult child-Dad drama...
But my story continues.
We got up the next morning and headed up the mountain for Sequoia National Park. Home of the Giant Redwoods. And I do mean GIANT. Not only are they BIG, but they practically live FOREVER. Many of the mature sequoias in the park are over 2,000 years old. When they rarely topple over, it's usually due to repeated weakening from lightening strikes (they are practically the tallest trees in the forest) or wild fires. They are resistant to termites and mold/fungus. So they are essentially inedible and unrottable.
The only older living trees are on the next mountain range east of the Sierras -- the Bristle Cone Pines located in the White Mountain range. The oldest known Bristle Cone is 4,600 years old!
(Don't even ask me what our gas mileage was... suffice to say it was lousy!)
We stopped at several of the major campgrounds only to find that they were full. So we decided to head for a more isolated campground on a 10-mile road to the main lake in the park. It only had 10 campsites and we were in luck that two spots were open. We chose the one closest to the bathrooms (!) and it also was surrounded by two creeks (or cricks, as husband likes to say), which made for a very soothing sound.
So we settled in for our first night of camping. I cooked up a trout that difficult child 1 caught earlier in the day. We foil baked potatoes in the camp fire and roasted marshmallows. We cleaned up our food and stored it all carefully covered up in the car since there were no bear lockers, and we were advised that if a bear could SEE a cooler in a vehicle, it knew that food was inside and they'd break the windows to get it. Then we all turned in for what promised to be a good night's sleep. The air was cool and crisp (got down to 38 degrees at night, so no bugs!). The babbling brook lulled us all to sleep.
Apparently, the two women who were camping with their kids across the creek from us forgot that bears have an excellent sense of smell. They'd stored all their food in a tent, but the food was opened. Even I can smell Doritos when they're open, so you can imagine what the mamma bear and her cub realized when they wandered through that campsite at 1:00 in the morning. Those chicks may as well have rung the friggin' dinner bell!
Needless to say, the bears tore through the "food tent" of theirs and enjoyed a meal while the crazy women ran around like wet hens banging on pots and pans and screaming in the middle of the night.
I think husband, difficult child 2 and I finally got back to sleep around 3:30am. The other two kids never woke up.
The next day we headed for nearby Lake Hume for some fishing, kayaking and swimming.
We ended up dining out that evening, so there wasn't any food to put away when it was time for bed. But guess what? Bears have REALLY GOOD memories when it comes to where they had their last tasty meal. So ol' mamma bear and her cub(s) returned that night, and we were treated to another pot and pan overture by the screaming banshees across the creek at about 2am this time. And yes, they'd stored all their food this time. But the bears just had to check to be sure.
That night, I think I woke up about 10 times until the sun came up. I started to feel very closed up inside that tent.
The next day, we went on a cave tour at Crystal Caves. It was an amazing example of the power of water and chemistry.
On the way back from the caves, we happened upon two young mule deer bucks on the side of the road. One of them thought he was pretty hot stuff, despite his relatively small and velvety rack.
That night, perhaps due to the lack of sleep or the anticipation of another rude awakening by our bearish neighbors, I discovered that I was suddenly and quite literally claustrophobic in the tent. A full-blown panic attack hit me like a ton of bricks. I thought I was going to suffocate! I bolted out of the tent and stood there in the dark practically hyperventilating.
Didn't get much sleep that night, and yes, the gals across the way were at it again. Thankfully, they left the next morning, but then so did we. On our way out of the park, we decided to take a day trip down into Kings Canyon (the national park next-door to Sequoia) and explore the Merced river for the afternoon.
Our next stop was to be Yosemite National Park...
But my story continues.
We got up the next morning and headed up the mountain for Sequoia National Park. Home of the Giant Redwoods. And I do mean GIANT. Not only are they BIG, but they practically live FOREVER. Many of the mature sequoias in the park are over 2,000 years old. When they rarely topple over, it's usually due to repeated weakening from lightening strikes (they are practically the tallest trees in the forest) or wild fires. They are resistant to termites and mold/fungus. So they are essentially inedible and unrottable.
The only older living trees are on the next mountain range east of the Sierras -- the Bristle Cone Pines located in the White Mountain range. The oldest known Bristle Cone is 4,600 years old!
(Don't even ask me what our gas mileage was... suffice to say it was lousy!)
We stopped at several of the major campgrounds only to find that they were full. So we decided to head for a more isolated campground on a 10-mile road to the main lake in the park. It only had 10 campsites and we were in luck that two spots were open. We chose the one closest to the bathrooms (!) and it also was surrounded by two creeks (or cricks, as husband likes to say), which made for a very soothing sound.
So we settled in for our first night of camping. I cooked up a trout that difficult child 1 caught earlier in the day. We foil baked potatoes in the camp fire and roasted marshmallows. We cleaned up our food and stored it all carefully covered up in the car since there were no bear lockers, and we were advised that if a bear could SEE a cooler in a vehicle, it knew that food was inside and they'd break the windows to get it. Then we all turned in for what promised to be a good night's sleep. The air was cool and crisp (got down to 38 degrees at night, so no bugs!). The babbling brook lulled us all to sleep.
Apparently, the two women who were camping with their kids across the creek from us forgot that bears have an excellent sense of smell. They'd stored all their food in a tent, but the food was opened. Even I can smell Doritos when they're open, so you can imagine what the mamma bear and her cub realized when they wandered through that campsite at 1:00 in the morning. Those chicks may as well have rung the friggin' dinner bell!
Needless to say, the bears tore through the "food tent" of theirs and enjoyed a meal while the crazy women ran around like wet hens banging on pots and pans and screaming in the middle of the night.
I think husband, difficult child 2 and I finally got back to sleep around 3:30am. The other two kids never woke up.
The next day we headed for nearby Lake Hume for some fishing, kayaking and swimming.
We ended up dining out that evening, so there wasn't any food to put away when it was time for bed. But guess what? Bears have REALLY GOOD memories when it comes to where they had their last tasty meal. So ol' mamma bear and her cub(s) returned that night, and we were treated to another pot and pan overture by the screaming banshees across the creek at about 2am this time. And yes, they'd stored all their food this time. But the bears just had to check to be sure.
That night, I think I woke up about 10 times until the sun came up. I started to feel very closed up inside that tent.
The next day, we went on a cave tour at Crystal Caves. It was an amazing example of the power of water and chemistry.
On the way back from the caves, we happened upon two young mule deer bucks on the side of the road. One of them thought he was pretty hot stuff, despite his relatively small and velvety rack.
That night, perhaps due to the lack of sleep or the anticipation of another rude awakening by our bearish neighbors, I discovered that I was suddenly and quite literally claustrophobic in the tent. A full-blown panic attack hit me like a ton of bricks. I thought I was going to suffocate! I bolted out of the tent and stood there in the dark practically hyperventilating.
Didn't get much sleep that night, and yes, the gals across the way were at it again. Thankfully, they left the next morning, but then so did we. On our way out of the park, we decided to take a day trip down into Kings Canyon (the national park next-door to Sequoia) and explore the Merced river for the afternoon.
Our next stop was to be Yosemite National Park...