From the Mid-West to the Mountains!

skfitz

New member
You're going to look back on this trip for the rest of your life, and every time you do, it'll make you feel a little better than you felt before thinking about it.

Slow down a little and let it soak in. Keep it real. :)
 

jessejman

Adventurer
Eric Schatz bakery, hit the hot springs outside of Bishop. Go see the boulders called the Buttermilks. And then YOSEMITE.
 

SDTacoman

New member
Crackerjack and Smoov55: Thank you

Skfitz: thanks; I appreciate that! Just gotta get out of the moving mindset

Jessejman: I got a call this morning for an opportunity I couldn't pass up so I left Bishop before I caught your reply, I'll definitely check those out if I head back through Bishop.

This morning I got a call from my friend Uriah who is Camping out in Santa Cruz, CA. He informed me that not only did I have a camping spot for tonight if I made it, but he got a deal on an ocean kayak rental for tomorrow morning and a free ticket to the aquarium. Sounded like a great opportunity to me so I headed for the coast from Bishop in the morning.

My shortest route was through Yosemite, but this will certainly not be my last trip there. I think a person could probably spend a couple weeks there alone and still not be finished enjoying the scenery.

As I entered Yosemite on highway 120 the road twisted up the sides of a few mountains surrounding this valley
2bf440865705a89ab471b5470fd6fcba.jpg


Upon entering the actual park the first stop was Toiga Lake, which was incredibly clear
66e7641a09e70cf852900ed5fdb2ddb9.jpg


My next stop was Lembert Dome which seemed like more of a picnic area, but it was still quite beautiful
5f635cc4705075a67a35cd8c20f0fc16.jpg


Then came Tenaya Lake
9c562d6f6a976c8b1442b193d14fb66e.jpg


Then I stopped at Olmstead Point where I got my picture taken. The Half Dome can be seen right behind me off to the right. I feel sorry for the gentleman who took this for me; it took me three shots before I got one I wasn't blinking in
80982c12b2451d39611d4d368aa27413.jpg


then there was El Capitan. It was very humbling to see such an enormous mountain tower over Yosemite Valley
c7bf37b1b3aa4f67655b7309e631e2ef.jpg


Once I was out of Yosemite I headed straight for the coast, and got a picture from Moccasin Point near Jamestown,CA
71a3f46c4bf2bbedc68b45124bd5a831.jpg


I'm now laying in the back of the Blazer at a campground in Santa Cruz pretty excited for tomorrow!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

SDTacoman

New member
Well I've been a bit lax about updating this recently, but here's the run down of my last few days.

After spending the night in Santa Cruz me and my budy Uriah took off for Big Sur. We dropped my truck off at a Wally World in Marina, CA and continued our trip in his ~400 HP Forester (this is actually the second Super fast vehicle I've had the pleasure of cruising in this trip; the first being Stephen and Leigh's 300 WHP Impreza Wagon that I forgot to mention earlier. These guys have got me wanting another Subaru now!)

Our first stop was in Monterey where we picked up some Chinese Food and then headed to the aquarium as he had 2 free passes

We caught the Kelp Forest at feeding time
e3a3516e71d51df807aea7d934569f04.jpg


The Jellyfish section there is also amazing
9e4e6c554a367b6867a77539cfa37f06.jpg


There were also many other amazing things to see there, and the great thing about the aquarium is that almost all of their animals are taken from the wild when they are to injured to survive and either rehabilitated to the point of being released or it will become their permanent home if they are injured to bad to recover well enough for release

We then began down Highway 1 without a real destination. A few beaches caught our eye on they way but the fog (read: Marine Layer) was dense so the cruise was mostly spent driving that day

7be46c0e16ac3cdf2ba9463954283a13.jpg
49863067d917ee111e32944f7451c659.jpg


By nightfall we found ourselves at Limekiln State Park where we got a great camping spot. If you end up here a thing to not is that they have camping spots up in the forest right next to hiking trails, but they fill up. Once those are full they post that the campground is full, but if you go talk to the host they'll likely set you up with an overflow spot. The overflow spots are the best spots in my opinion; ours was as close to the beach as you could get and was right across from the bathrooms and showers

Our spot was right below the bridge in this picture
4edab5c7b86094233a45e1b238c0b581.jpg


When we woke up the next morning we decided to hike around the park and we ended up finding the namesake of Limekiln: the kilns used for processing lime
4c601acecc0cf42a03b1540e650a974b.jpg


Then we went down another trail to find some beautiful waterfalls and commenced in some light climbing around the area
a2d9d868ab0adb0f6d4c97d42b260b71.jpg


And before we left Uriah befriended this little guy. These squirrels were all over the campground and would stand about 5' from anyone eating waiting for crumbs to drop
00d6acf205633001b1bdcb3572749182.jpg








Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

fpilotbike

New member
Excellent stuff. Helping me keep my sanity in my home away from home! Is this the second trip the the limekiln?

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 

SDTacoman

New member
Nope that was trip number one to Limekiln for me. It was a great place to camp though; I would recommend it!

Well it's been a while since I updated I've just been caught up hanging out with family out here in Arroyo Grande, CA.

After we left Limekiln State park we headed to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and checked out McWay Falls

6cbd77324d4af255ee981f64968a7e14.jpg


We drove down a backroad to scope out possible camping spots and the road ended at Bixby Bridge

4f43fb1b9c17729b5834081b180409da.jpg


After passing through Big Sur (a very small city along they highway) and getting some advice from a local we headed for Andrew Molera State Park to try and catch sunset on the beach. The hike to the beach included crossing this stream that fed into the ocean and was surprisingly warm right where the two meet

45c33a11a2e6d2a42f1c1e8b5bce3331.jpg


We backtracked to the road that led us to Bixby Bridge and set up camp for the night

47824052c7b62ee44e41e478ac65e2d3.jpg


In the morning we cooked up some nice Jet Boil breakfast over a stump

cd8ad33624fbf8448c06a237cbe480dd.jpg


On the way out a bearing in Uriah's A/C Unit started squealing and he decided it was a great time to pull the A/C from his ride and maybe gain a little power at the same time. I figured it seemed like a good time for a picture

e6e2120c6429ea80d45e1943c93d42d3.jpg


We then went back to Monterey thinking it was too cold to do any ocean activities, but it soon warmed up and we took advantage of the favorable weather by taking to the sea via kayaks. I would highly recommend this to anyone! It was a great time and a great workout, and now I'm seriously considering pulling some money together for my own kayak

04ccedcee38e89c1ec555069401488b8.jpg
3770250760f8a5981205ee7d391ec5da.jpg
b2e8d5121c20eff42b716db3da9bcdbf.jpg
1ff8cb8a263e5893c37f5abf8c5d49ce.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Buddha.

Finally in expo white.
Just saw this thread. Great pictures, nice to see another road tripping blazer. Just got back from a 3,00 mile trip myself.

Here was Glacier.

20160603_151729.jpg
 

Ashton

Newbie
How did your adventure go? More pics? More places? Return back to being a cog piece in the wheel of economics?
 

Forum statistics

Threads
186,192
Messages
2,883,170
Members
226,050
Latest member
Breezy78
Top