Yosemite – Glacier Point and Panorama Trail

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california, glacier point, half dome, Hiking, National Park, panorama trail, United States, wildflowers, Yosemite

15 June 2016 – Our first stop of the day was Mark Twain’s Cabin – it was on the way and we noticed the sign.  Not the original cabin, a recreation from the 1920’s on “Jackass Hill” where Twain stayed for little over 1 year.  It was there he wrote his famous short story about a jumping frog in Calavaras country.  

We jumped out for a quick look and then continued on our way.  The kids took note because we’ve been listening to the short story and visited Angels Camp the day before.  It is a great gem of Americana and certainly a famous location for American literature.

Mark Twain Cabin – a reproduction in the same area he stayed for a year

We reached Yosemite at 12 noon.  Not a short drive from anywhere.  It was another 90 minutes (with lunch break) to Glacier point.  It is about .25 miles from the parking area to the lookout.  Luckily we found a parking space, others had another mile walk from a secondary parking lot. 

From the point is the best view of the valley – over 8000 feet above sea level and 4000 feet above the valley floor.  The view is outstanding.

Welcome to Yosemite

You can see all of the major Yosemite sites: El Capitan, Half Dome, Yosemite river, and Yosemite falls.  The point is really crowded but the view is amazing and worth it.  Even better is the Panorama trail head which begins at Glacier point.

Family at Glacier Point – Half Dome in the background

From the trail the views are just as awesome but less crowded, a lot less crowded.  The hike goes over 8 miles to the valley floor 4000 feet below.  However, the hike is great at any distance and you can turn around at any point.  We went about 1.5 miles and then took a long rest to look over the valley before the calf-burning hike back up.  It took us a total of 3 hours and approximately 3 miles round trip.  We took a 10 minute rest and snack break half way through.

A rest and a snack on the panorama trail

Hiking on the Panorama Trail

While June is a bit early we did catch some wildflowers beginning to bloom

The kids had a great time, they always love hiking.  Giuliana slept in the kid carrier most of the way 🙂 The views were better than promised with both Half Dome and 3 waterfalls illuminated by the sun.  One of the most stunning views I’ve enjoyed on a hike.  Well worth it. It feels like the greatest cathedral in the universe.

Family on the Panorama trail – half dome in the background, Giuliana sleeping on Sergio’s back

Half Dome and Waterfalls – the neverending view from the Panorama trail

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Redwood National Park

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beach, california, Forest, National Park, pacific ocean, Redwood National Park

12 June 2016 – Today we visited a location we’ve always wanted to visit, Redwood National Park.  Home of the largest trees in the world.  It is a park 50 miles. long along the Pacific coast.

On our way from Grants Pass we couldn’t help ourselves but to stop and picnic at the beach.  The kids put on their sandles and had an opportunity to play in the sand – unfortunately nothing interesting in the tide pools.

Tide Pools

Pacific Coast Panorama

Thirty more minutes and we were in the midst of the giant Redwood trees.  Having only a few hours we chose the Trillium Falls trail.  It is a beautiful 2.8 mile loop through the forest, along streams, a small waterfall, skunk cabbage, banana slugs, and of course trees bigger than you imagine.

Redwood Tree Canopy

Aurelia standing next to half a fallen redwood trunk

The forest was cool with dappled sun filtering through the canopy.  We had several opportunities to walk over, under, and through the kings of this forest.  Some were so large it was easy to imagine a whole family camping comfortably within a single hollow trunk.  It was hard to keep your eyes on the path with such a cathedral ceiling above you.

Family selfie inside a Redwood tree trunk

Hiking Trillium Falls

Trillium Falls

While we didn’t see much in terms of fauna (only banana slugs and Elk – hoping for a glimpse of the giant pacific salamander) the flora was amazing: Redwood trees, pine, aspen, red huckleberry, blackberry, coastal man root, iris, beautiful nursury logs, an amazing a variety of fern, moss, and lichens.  We saw the remnants of trillium, but too late for blooms.  There were also fragile white flowering vines called coastal manroot which had tendrils hanging along the path.

Coastal Manroot

Fern

Banana Slug

Wild Iris

The park is also home to a several large herds of Roosevelt Elk.  Coming back from the hike we saw a herd close up with several small calves with their spots.  We were only 30 feet away from several of them.

Elk herd grazing off Trillium Falls Trail within Redwood NP

Driving south we also spotted another herd lounging in the lawn of an RV park, so we stopped to admire this herd as well.

Herd of Redwood NP elk grazing in an RV park

From Redwood we drove to Redding, CA for  an overnight before heading East into the mountains.

Settling in for a trip from Redwood to Redding

Gold Mining

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california, Gold Bug Park, Gold Country, Gold Mine, Panning

13 June 2016 – We spent the traveling from Redding, through Sacremento, and into the Gold Country.

We stopped first at Gold Bug Park in Placerville, CA.  The location of some mining activity and now a state park with several activity – panning, two gold mine tours, a blacksmith, and a stamp mill.

For $2 each of us got a pan and an hour at the sluices searching for our treasure.  We had a great time, and at 82 degrees happy that the sluices were shaded and the water cool.  All of the kids loved it and found interesting gems and stones.  It was a great hour playing in some water after a long drive 🙂

Panning in Gold Bug Park

Panning Results from Gold Bug Park

After panning we took a self-guided tour of the gold bug mine.  A great tour for the kids with about 45 minutes long taking us about 1/8 mile into the mine 110 below the surface with exposed quartz veins, mining cars, dripping water, and dynamite holes.

Gold Bug Mine

From Placerville we traveled 8 miles north to Coloma and Sutter’s Mill – the site of the first California gold discovery by James Marshall on the American River in 1847 starting the famous gold rush.

The kids felt compelled to dig in the river sand to look for gold – but luck was not with us and it looks like we’ll be going back to Seattle instead of traveling the world.

On our way towards San Andreas for our B&B we had dinner in Placerville at Pizza Bene.  The restaurant was unremarkable but while we were eating some folks rode their horses into town and tied them up to a post outside during their own dinner.  The kids were quite amused.

Horses In Placerville