I´ve been to California almost 5 times now and I can safely say that I am no fan of Los Angeles. The city is smothered in thick smog and well Hollywood is disgusting. However, the main reason we have visited the sunshine state the last two times was to visit our dear old friend Camaron. This certainly did not disappoint. It was so good to see her again after what felt like such a long time, and yet felt like no time at all. With the truest of friends time lapses never matter.
What we have discovered though, was that California has some of the most beautiful and pristine National Parks in the world; and by this, we certainly were not disappointed. Now the plan was to head to Yosemite National Park for a take 2 (after a couple of years earlier our tour bus broke down on the way). In the end we did not make it to Yosemite, but that did not matter.
So, we picked up our hire car, a Jeep Patriot and after a few days of hanging out and feeling queasy at Six Flags, we set off northbound. We spent our first night in the foothills of Sequoia National Park where we discovered that indeed every piece of food and toiletries has to be locked in a secure bear-proof box, as if we would see a bear. We had quite the set up in the back of the car with 2 blow-up mattresses, pillows and blankets – we were comfy! The next morning we ventured through the park and saw the world´s true giants. Sequoias towered over us as we drove through the beautiful forest. The General Sherman Tree, the world´s largest tree by mass, left us in awe as we were completely dwarfed in its presence.
We were so lucky to see a total of 8 wild bears whilst in the park, including 4 teeny, clumsy and adorable cubs. The deers, marmots and tonnes of squirrels kept us entertained. We met some wonderful people whilst camping and twice they took pity on us after seeing us cook our cans of soup over the fire. We were fed a Filipino Feast and even a rib-eye steak complete with mash and veges – spoilt!
After 3 days we ventured further north and were amazed by the sheer cliffs of Kings Canyon. We hiked to the beautiful Mist Falls which gave us the perfect vantage point to gaze over the entire canyon. We swam in the crystal clear river, gazed at the endless stars and even were entertained but some country campfire songs, courtesy of our new American friends.
Feeling completely refreshed (although filthy), and not at all ready to leave, we headed back down south. We spent our last weekend in California once again hanging with Camaron. We were lucky to have a delicious home cooked meal, courtesy of her lovely mum. Our last couple of days we relived being kids and played some awesome mini-golf, killed it in an arcade and stuffed our faces with Jolly Ranchers.
With a sad goodbye to Camaron, but with excitement for our onward journey, we boarded our plane to Peru.
