Road Trip Chronicles-Day 3 Part II
Hope Valley, CA ➡️ Wishon, CA (Approx. 5.5 hours of driving)
Destination: Yosemite National Park, Bass Lake
Unceded land of: The Miwuk, Chukchansi & Mono
Stayed: Lupine Cedar Bluff Campground
As I left Yosemite Valley, I headed to a dispersed camping site in the Bass Lake area in the Sierra National Forest. The route had me, just like Lake Tahoe, driving right along the lake so it was easy to find a spot to pull over and go for a swim.
The water was amazingly warm, but still cooling somehow. Upon researching this lake after the trip, I found that this lake can get up to 80 degrees in the summer!
And to my heart's content, there were mountains looming in the background hugging the lake! It was a very rocky shore, but going in with my Tevas as water shoes made a real difference.
Also, a hack for loosening up stiffness from hours of driving is to be in the water and do exaggerated full range of motion movements with the lower body (e.g. Frog legs, circling the legs). This will open up the front of the hip, effectively stretching the hip flexors and activating the glutes. Plus, being in water is an incredible resource for safe low impact movements.
After my dip, I set off to find this dispersed camping spot. This ended up being quite a snafu. I drove back and forth on the road that supposedly had this site. After the third or fourth pass, I found the entrance with a gate up closing the road off. This was quite a dilemma. On the road I was on, there were several campsites that all said FULL. I went to each one trying to see if there was any chance they had anything available.
I was so nervous that this would be the first night I had to sleep in my car. I desperately wanted to lay down after my longest day of hiking. By the third campsite I went to, they, at first, told me no. Something in my disposition or facial expression must have conveyed how desperately I needed a spot. And suddenly, she checked her clipboard of sites and they apparently had one available that she missed before. But, it cost me $39 cash. This ended up being the priciest camping spot from the whole trip.
This whole experience just emphasizes how important it is to:
A,) Have cash on you at all times when you are adventuring in nature! (at least $50 in smaller denominations)
B.) Speak to people! Talk to camp hosts or go into local stores and appeal to people's compassion for finding lodging.
I was told by the camp host that this campground had already had several bears ransacking sites earlier that day from people leaving their food out. I was extra careful that night, but looked over to see the people next to me did not care one bit about food that was out and I just had to hope that that night would not be the night that a bear ripped open my tent.
The site I got was rather exposed, no trees, just a dirt lot with a picnic table on top of a hill. But, to my surprise, two beautiful deer came through the campground right next to my spot. Deer remained consistent there at every step of my journey and I was loving their majestic presence.
I reorganized my car pretty thoroughly that night, had my first sink shower of the trip, and went to bed feeling relaxed and refreshed. I was so exhausted from the previous night of difficulty sleeping that I conked right out.
I woke up extra early because I wanted to go for another swim, as I packed up my gear and quickly realized my keys were missing. I discovered that my keys were sitting on the dash in my locked car. In that moment, I had never been so grateful for having the foresight to get AAA. But, I barely had service and had to walk around the campsite to get a single bar to make the call. AAA was there in under 30 minutes and this barely affected my day.
I greatly enjoyed my early morning swim in the lake before traveling on to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. It was perfect weather and I had the whole beach to myself. The California part of the road trip was turning out to be magical.
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