June 21st
Do you know what is between the beach and the
mountains? Nothing. A big HOT nothing. We spent a day in the truck intermittently
wiping our brows and watching the temperature gauge of the truck as we drove
through Fresno’s 100 degree temperatures and the Sierra Nevada's steep mountain
ranges. The truck is still overheating. Tom pulled over and tried a new cocktail of water coolant. All in all, mostly just an
unpleasant drive.
We were briefly rewarded with a curious little pit stop in Santa Paula, CA called the Loose Caboose. It was, we thought, just a simple produce stand. It turned out to be a mesmerizing maze of barnyard animals, peacocks, and quirky wares that spanned over at least an acre. We spent an hour scoping the whole place out. The kids loved the baby chicks. Tom and I were most impressed with the trees that had been turned upside down and were now holding large bird nests in their roots. It was a welcome oasis in our long hot drive.
I had decided that our best bet for Sequoia National Park
would be a section of road that promises several free BLM (Bureau of Land
Management) campgrounds that are free to the public. It also appeared that the road went directly
through the middle of Sequoia National Park, so it would make a great homebase
for exploring the park. There were a few omens along the way that should have cued me in to what was going to happen next. First, we stopped at a little gas station just outside of the forest called the "I Forgot Store". And then, as we rumbled along the road, we began spotting these gigantic pine cones. It was beginning to feel like we were entering a new dimension.
The mountain was so beautiful, that we briefly forgot how miserable we had been the whole way up there. A few of my assumptions were right! The campgrounds are free. There was plenty of space available. And the road, did in fact, run right through the middle of the National Forest. By the time we arrived at Kirch Flat Campground, the sun was setting , the temperature was dropping and we were very sleepy. After that tiresome drive we were looking forward to a good nights rest so we could jump up and make our way to the General Sherman tree inside the park.
When we woke up, the temperature was still bearable, and we became temporarily sidetracked by
this amazing cove full of gigantic pollywogs just behind our campsite. We spent the better part of the early
afternoon catching those fat little tadpoles.
And then…the sun really came out.
It was suddenly unbearably hot.
As in…if I fell asleep, I would probably never wake up again hot. We
asked another set of campers if they knew how to get into the park from our
location. They just happened to be
locals and were amazed that we had found Kirch Flat in the first place. Apparently only locals stay here. Why?
Because the road to Kirch Flat does indeed sit inside the Sequoia
National Forest, but it doesn’t take you to the park at all. It dead ends. Our only option was to drive back down the
mountain, all the way back to Fresno,
down south, and then drive an equal distance back through the main entrance. A four to five hour drive. On that hot awful road. On this hot awful day. I wanted to cry. I got a headache instead.
Looking back, it would be easy to write Kirch Flat off as a very big and
expensive mistake. An unpleasant side
effect of our no-planning road trip. In
fact, from a logistics and financial standpoint, it was exactly that! But at the
end of the day, the kids are probably going to remember that pool of pollywogs
as the highlight of their trip. Fat, slimy, wiggly pollywogs as big as their palms. That is what they will remember. So that is
a price we are willing to pay.
Our Trip Summed Up:
Miles Driven: 3,469
Days Remaining: 20
Currently in: Visalia,
CA
Total Spending so far:
Gas: $1,015.02
out $1,500 goal
Sleep: $135
out of a $500 goal
Eat: $483.08 out of a $600 goal
Other: $175.67 out of a $400 goal
Grand
Total: $1,808.77 out of a $3,000 goal
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