Going inland, again!

 
From Carmel and a night spent in Walmart (if you ever are driving up through California, no it is the most difficult place we have ever had finding free places to sleep) we headed to Fresno to visit Jake's aunt and uncle Jackie and Mike. It was great getting to know them better and hanging out with them. One of the hightlights was visiting Yosemite! A place every climber dreams of (or has nightmares about). Although it was not quite climbing season, and we couldn't see some of the upper areas, we were able to drive through and see El Cap and Half Dome, often talked about peaks (see pictures). We saw waterfalls, forest, deer (but no bears, sorry Mike), we had lunch at the old lodge and took in the history, we saw camp IV and heard some of the crazy stories of people come and gone.

After a couple of days with them, we drove south just to drive north again to go to Bishop (still winter, passes were closed) to meet up with Jake's cousin Sarah and husband Jimmy (daughter of Jackie and Mike) so we could meet them and spend a couple of days climbing in Bishop. It was beautiful. The sun shone, it was even too hot at times. The hike was epic (i couldn't move for a couple of days after) and the climbing was so fun. We met up with some of their friends, camped on some quiet BLM land, away from the masses, drove near the Happies and the Sads (and saw the mattress people) saw the remnants of a forest fire that we saw at it's beginning, had some stunning views of snow-capped mountains in the distance, while climbing in a gorge with a rushing river. All this finished with an evening in natural hot spring tubs, in the middle of a field, with views of snow capped mountains (see photo with this post). It was one of the best weekends of our trip so far. Jake and I even spent the night at said hot springs (for free) and went in again in the morning (while Jake took some stunning photos).

Then, we drove up through Mammoth (with a quick visit to the infamous Schatd's Bagel, and drove up through Lake Tahoe and north past Truckee (past some stunning scenery) to where Sarah and Jimmy have built a beautiful home in the forest. We went up in elevation, so there was snow and colder weather, but the next morning Jake and I went for a snowshoe just outside their house, and it was so hot, I was in my bra (while we were in the forest). It was so beautiful.

We spent a couple of days with them, enjoying the solitude of their homes, while Whipper played with their dog Kora and we enjoyed wonderful meals and evenings by the fire. It was great! A perfect week. Thanks Sarah and Jimmy.

http://picasaweb.google.ca/tjkuenzli/