May 2010 CA,OR, WA Part 1

Bridal Vail Falls, Yosemite Valley
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, YosemiteNP
Drive through Sequoia tree at Calaveras Big Tree SP, CA
Azalea

In Fresno, we toured the Forestiere Underground Gardens. Here an immigrant wanted to have an orchard, so he bought land in the Fresno area. Afterwards he found out the land was composed of several feet of hard pan where nothing would grow. Not one to admit defeat, he dug a maze of underground tunnels where he planted his orange trees, and dug holes to the surface for light and water. He even lived underground. It’s amazing what a determined person can accomplish with 40+ years of back breaking work.
We were able to get into Yosemite NP and we biked around the valley. We even saw a black bear while we were there (but no picture). We did get a campsite in the NP, but it was 20 miles from Yosemite Valley. We tried to get up to the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir but we were told by the NPS that our RV was too wide, despite road postings that indicated we were OK. Frustrated by our efforts to see Sequoia and now parts of Yosemite, we decided to leave.
Since we could not see the big trees in Sequoia NP last month, we went to Calaveras Big Tree SP and saw its giant Sequoia trees. We followed the scenic Trinity River over to the coast to see the Redwoods. An unexpected bonus was finding a group of 12 Roosevelt Elk grazing at a coastal lookout.
Overall, we were happy to leave California. In addition to the problems we had in their National Parks, their State Parks were by far the most expensive in the country, as much as $45/night.