Since we flew into Portland, we had a 3 hour drive to Bend. We chose the 84 eastbound along the Columbia River since we enjoy this beautiful scenic drive. We spent a few hours hiking to the top of Multnomah Falls before continuing eastward. Like Vernal Falls in Yosemite, the hike to the top of the falls is a continuous climb upward. The trail leads away from the falls but has beautiful views of the Columbia River. The trail is partially paved then compacted dirt and wide enough for two-way traffic in most sections. Reaching the summit, you drop down into the river bed and can enjoy soaking your feet in the cold water before it falls 542ft.
From May 24 through Sept 5 of this year, Multnomah Falls requires a timed permit that limits the amount of people here. We were fortunate to use our cell phone (there is reception in the parking lot) and get the last 1pm ticket. The tickets have a hourly entry window. You also need a separate permit to drive the ‘waterfall corridor’ along US 30 Historic Highway.
After two-days in Yosemite Valley, we spent our third day on Yosemite’s Tioga Road. The drive takes you to higher elevations than Yosemite Valley so it’s much cooler. The only challenges were the 20-30min road construction delays at places along the road. These significantly slowed our progress exploring this part of Yosemite. But this area is much less crowded and a lot cooler so definitely a nice change from the past two days & worth the trouble. Olmsted Point is a must-stop along the Tioga Road. It’s a viewpoint with a spacious parking lot, docents (the day we stopped), and an easy trail. A short hike will take you to breath-taking views of Tenaya Valley & the northside of Halfdome.
A mile down the road from Olmstead Point is Sunrise Lakes Trailhead & Tenaya Lake, Yosemite National Park’s largest lake. Unlike Mirror Lake, Tenaya Lake water level was not low and refreshingly cold. A 0.35mi hike from the parking lot took us to a rocky beach where we waded & enjoyed the beautiful lake-view. A great place for a packed lunch picnic.
The hike to Soda Springs is an easy hike through Tuolumne Meadows over the Tuolumne River. The Soda Springs ‘cabin’ is an opened-roof square surrounding small, rust-colored carbonated springs. There is a field of carbonate bog surrounding the multiple springs and cabin. There is also the Parsons Memorial Lodge nearby with information and history of the area. A fun easy hike through the meadow with panoramic views of the surrounding mountains. Marmots live under the Tuolumne River bridge and Flycatcher birds nest in the tree by the lodge.
The iconic Yosemite Valley is always a great place to visit. With national park visitation so popular, we are glad they’ve implemented the 3-day pass ($2) requirement. Fortunately, we were able to take advantage of our July pass somewhat last-minute, booking our campsites just a month before traveling.
July can be hot in Yosemite with 95-100°F mid-day temperatures. Starting hikes early, picking shaded trails, and bringing plenty of water and sunscreen can help make the experience enjoyable. The free shuttle buses stop frequently but many riders do not comply with the mandatory mask mandate. So we chose to drive & bike to the trails and lodge for lunch. Parking becomes scarce by noon so biking around Yosemite Valley, once you find a parking spot, is an ideal way to see the place.
Because of the heat, we picked shorter hikes – Day 1: Mirror Lake, which we mostly biked to, was pretty low but Half Dome was reflecting in the pools.
and Day 2: Mist Trail to Vernal Falls, a somewhat challenging 4mi hike because of the 1279ft elevation gain and 600+ often slippery steps. Like Angel’s Landing in Zion, this is a must-do especially during summer since many waterfalls are low flowing. This was one of the few falls in late July to have a decent flow. In Spring, this waterfall is normally much fuller with mist showering the trail & hikers. Here is the website that tells you what the flow rate is: Should I Hike the Mist Trail Today? (yosemitehikes.com) This one is worth the hard upward effort but, like Angels Landing, crowded by noon.
Bass Lake at Yosemite RV Resort is ~372mi from Oceanside, CA. So after a 1-night stop in Bakersfield, we arrived at Bass Lake at ~2pm 15 Jul 2022 – it was 95°F.
Bass Lake RV Resort Map, site 67
Bass Lake at Yosemite RV Resort has both a members-only section and public campsites (RV & tent). The campground is on the lake’s eastern slope so many sites are terraces, especially the non-member sites. We were assigned site 67, a terraced campsite where backing in was a bit of a challenge. It is angled on a curve section of road (see campsite map), and sloped, making the wdh hitch disconnect difficult. Once unhitched and leveled, we cranked up the AC and relaxed in Howie until it cooled down. The wooded campground is beautiful with a short quarter mile hike to the lake. So our 1st evening we did the short hike on the Willow Creek trail to the lake. Mosquito repellent is a necessity and bear spray an extra precaution although the trail is short and well-traveled.
Most of the eastern shore of Bass Lake is private property and marinas. The northern and western shores are US Dept of Agriculture (USDA) property with several primitive campgrounds & day-use beaches. Parking on the shoreline street does not appear subject to the $10 day use fee. On Saturday, we stopped to rent a boat at the Bass Lake Marina but everything was booked so we reserved a pontoon boat for 8am Sunday. Next, we drove the west side of the lake and enjoyed some time soaking in the cool water. Having passed the lakeside Forks Resort cafe earlier, we went back for lunch on their shaded outdoor patio. Turns out we could have rented a boat here. So if Bass Lake Boat Rentals (basslakeboatrentals.com) has nothing available, check around.
Tripadvisor highly recommended the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad Moonlight Special. They serve BBQ before taking passengers on a 100+yr old steam engine ride through the forest, stopping for a campfire sing-along. It was a fun time and the starlit train ride back was memorable.
The Bass Lake Boat Rentals and Watersports marina was adjacent our campground so easy to get to by 7:15am. They recommend arriving well before your rental time so the line queue, paperwork & orientation does not take time from your rental window. Their pontoon boats are very similar to one we rented at Big Bear Lake so orientation went quickly. The lake gets really busy by late morning so boating early, when the lake is glassy, is a more relaxing, pleasurable experience. As we pulled out, a fisherman caught & released a good size bass right by the marina’s dock. The lake is long and narrow so great for water-skiing. I fished near the dam as recommended by the marina host but didn’t have a nibble. Bass Lake was an enjoyable stop on our way to Yosemite.
After a week in Maui, we ‘hopped over’ to Kauai. It’s the last major Hawaiian Island we’ve wanted to visit and considered to be the least crowded of the four main islands. We stayed in Lihue so we could access both the southwest and northern parts of the island. We had a rental car and put about 288mi on it in 3 days. Unfortunately, day 4 was spent at the hotel due to food-related illness so our last day was quiet. Kauai is beautiful and easy to drive although the Waimea Canyon drive is slow with many switchbacks. Tour buses visit the main Waimea Lookout but do not appear to head further up the canyon. The highlight of our trip was Waimea State Park and the ‘moderate’ (more like hard!) Canyon Trail hike. Like Maui, the weather continued to be windy with scattered showers but warm, not hot. Great weather to explore the island and get photos with interesting skies. Like Maui, the weather and landscape – rainforest vs dry – depends on which side of the island you are on. Most of the beaches tended to be rough for snorkeling but many have protective coves or jetties. Many of Kauai’s waterfalls are near the road but access to the base of the waterfalls requires kayaks &/or hiking.
We got a much earlier start today, President’s Day, and had a much better experience with smaller crowds. There were plenty of hikers, just not the insane number yesterday. The weather was clear and sunny but the wind had picked up significantly. Although sunny, it was cold and REALLY windy. But once on the trail, there was plenty of shelter from the wind by the rock outcroppings. Most of the popular trails in Joshua Tree are short, easy & family-friendly so you encounter more families on the trails than more challenging hikes. Still, there are plenty of side trails and boulders to scramble over if you want more of a challenge and fewer people.
Some landmarks like Skull Rock & Hall of Horrors are close to the road. Today, Skull Rock was uncrowded so we stopped for a quick photo, but didn’t hike the nature trail loop. Next stop was Hall of Horrors – we had to stop just because of the name. It’s a really short 0.6mi loop hike around some great climbing walls. We did not find the namesake ‘hall’ between the two rock faces I read about later on Alltrails.com. Next, was Barker Dam, another short 1.5mi hike that loops by a small dam built by cattlemen in 1949. A great short hike but the dam’s water level was very low. Bighorn Sheep & other wildlife are said to visit this watering hole but we did not see anything or signs much had been around recently. On the way back, there are Petroglyphs in an alcove. Most are at eye-level & higher so they are easy to miss without the trail marker or people gathered. With such short hikes, we wanted one more and Hidden Valley Nature Trail was real close. It’s another short but beautiful Joshua Tree hike (1mi loop) surrounded by the beautiful rock outcroppings & plant life.
That was enough of Joshua Tree for this trip so we exited through the West Entrance and stopped at the very popular iconic (and crowded) Joshua Tree Saloon. Dining outdoors was a real challenge with the gusting afternoon winds blowing through the patio. But it was a great way to finish the day and worth the wait.
It should have been no surprise to us that Joshua Tree National Park on President’s Day weekend would be crowded. But the number of cars & people was insane – I know national parks are more popular than ever but today was nuts. Even the north entrance had a queue of 20 cars. We have a lifetime pass and fortunately they opened a 2nd lane & waved us through. We got into the Split Rock Loop Trail parking area around noon. It was full but we were able to park on the side of the road that fed into the parking area. It was busy but with everyone dispersed, we had a nice hike. The weather was great, not hot, so hiking conditions were perfect.
Since we were staying in 29Palms, close to the north entrance, we should have got an earlier start. By 2pm all the landmark destinations were packed, with cars overflowing along the road. We tried to stop at Keys View at 3pm and ended up just turning around. We decided to get an earlier start tomorrow, hoping Monday, even though it was still a holiday, would be less crowded.
Anza-Borrego State Park is the largest state park in California so the drive to The Slot actually leaves the park then re-enters. From Borrego Palm Canyon Campground it’s ~17mi 27mins. The dirt road ‘entrance’ (Borrego Mountain Wash on Google Maps) is pretty easy to miss since it’s not marked. Our navigation app said to park on the CA-78. But do not do that since the trailhead & parking lot is ~0.8mi up the wash. This road is not paved and has some soft spots but a 4×4 isn’t required unless muddy. The day-use (fee required) parking area near the trailhead has minimal facilities, just directional signs & a vault toilet restroom. Be sure to bring drinking water since there isn’t any running water.
Google Street View of The Slot entrance, Borrego Mountain Wash ‘Road’
Alltrails describes the trail as a loop but we hiked to the”Drop Off’ then back. The Slot is a canyon with some VERY narrow passages ie you have to slip through sideways or scramble over. Some canyon walls look like dirt/mud with layers of sedimentary rock and others are sandstone. A couple spots require scrambling over fallen rocks & cliff-side that block the trail. Otherwise it’s fairly flat & has wider areas amongst the narrow sections. These wider areas are a good place to stop if you hear people approaching from the narrows so there’s room for them to pass. Although it feels claustrophobic in the very narrow sections, the trail opens into wider canyon frequently. This isn’t nearly as breathtaking as Antelope Canyon or Buckskin Gulch. But it is a beautiful, worth-while, unique hike if you are in Anza-Borrego.
Since we were staying in Borrego Palm Canyon Campground. The trailhead was just a feet hundred feet from our campsite. On Thursday, there were fewer hikers especially at 9:30am. This trail can get pretty busy especially on the weekends. Plus it is a popular trail for school & nature tours with a day-use, fee-based parking lot on the north side of the campground. The reason it’s a popular hike is it an easy well-maintained trail with a creek & waterfall. Plus Bighorn Sheep are often in the area and spotted on or close to the trail. Seeing and photographing Bighorn Sheep was my main goal when booking this campground. But they are wild and unpredictable so we did not see any this day. The Palm Grove Oasis area at the end of the trail is off-limits so the trail ends in a rocky overlook. Charring of the palm trunks is visible on most of the tall palms. New growth is flourishing and hopefully they’ll be able to open the area up again in a few more years. Since this is our first trip here, we do not have any idea what it was like before the fire.
No Bighorn Sheep spotted during our hike this morning so after grabbing lunch at Carlee’s Place in Borrego Springs. We headed up Montezuma Valley Rd since Bighorn Sheep are often spotted along that stretch of Anza-Borrego. Along the way, we drove by the DeAnza Country Club where other hikers mentioned seeing sheep – no luck there either. Their website has a photo of several Bighorns drinking from the golf course water hazard – pretty funny. So they do visit there during the drier time of the year. The drive up Montezuma Valley Rd is scenic, with a beautiful panoramic vista at the lookout, but no sheep were spotted. It’s actually an alternate route to San Diego and we passed several RVs as we drove to the summit before turning around. So I settled on metal ‘animals’, photographing some of the sculptures we missed during our Jan Anza-Borrego day-trip. Photographing wildlife is very much like fishing or going whale watching.
After a lot of driving to Anza-Borrego & Fonts Point yesterday, another long drive into Joshua Tree will wait till next trip. So while Carol visited family, I did a shorter drive to the Salton Sea. I’ve seen photos of this area and thought it looked interesting photographically. It was still windy and there were great clouds that made for beautiful light.
