Our next destination lay a few miles away, unfortunately most of them were on the edge of canyons with precipitous drops and hairpin bends. Grinding gears and squealing brakes were the norm. We arrived mid afternoon and were fortunate to find a space big enough for the beast although when we went to leave, we found that some kind soul had sandwiched us in. Still nothing that a small shunt and a well-written note wouldn’t fix for the future.
Anyway, we parked up and sashayed forth (good word as we were a quartet. Dan wanted to see the river so we did the old water divining trick – ask a Ranger. Soon we were on the banks of the gently flowing Merced River. Tourists floated by in rented inflatables. Dan said that this would be a shallow place to cross and so we did. It was here that Abby learnt to swim, quickly. I felt like Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones; similar age too although our waistlines might be different. Just then, around the bend, heading us off at the past canoed a pair of Rangers. Apparently Abby was a danger to the other visitors and had to be consigned to tarmaced paths. Reluctantly, she was forced to spend the day in the RV. Wet dogs in cramped, confined spaces tend to ferment as we were to find out. We walked for miles and miles, through wilderness and barely marked trails till we reached some form of civilization – Yosemite Village. We were saved. We replenished ourselves and bought the obligatory T shirts before planning the wearisome and long path back to the RV. Dan, looking at the map, thought that there could be a short cut and instead of turning right and covering teens of miles, we could turn left and be in the car park in less than five minutes. We let him go and how we laughed. We knew that he would be lost forever in the wilderness and in due respect to his mother, we resolved to follow his path and lead him to salvation. So we turned left and in a few minutes, found him sitting in the beast, waiting for us.
The way out of the Park follows the river right up until the landslide had wiped out the road. A diversion had been hastily formed and two single lane bridges erected. It was the most fantastic road which charted the journey of mountains to hills to plains. For me it was more rewarding than the GC as you could be part of the whole rather than being conveyor belted through it.
We ended up at a KOA camp ground at Midpines. We were lucky to get the last site. It had a pond with things that jumped as I walked Abby around in the dark. We all jumped in unison. Then there was a strange whirring sound which emanated from the trees at night. It was too regular to be natural, rather like someone circling a stringed toy around their head. We never found out the source but my red eyes will tell you that it continued through the night.
Anyway, we parked up and sashayed forth (good word as we were a quartet. Dan wanted to see the river so we did the old water divining trick – ask a Ranger. Soon we were on the banks of the gently flowing Merced River. Tourists floated by in rented inflatables. Dan said that this would be a shallow place to cross and so we did. It was here that Abby learnt to swim, quickly. I felt like Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones; similar age too although our waistlines might be different. Just then, around the bend, heading us off at the past canoed a pair of Rangers. Apparently Abby was a danger to the other visitors and had to be consigned to tarmaced paths. Reluctantly, she was forced to spend the day in the RV. Wet dogs in cramped, confined spaces tend to ferment as we were to find out. We walked for miles and miles, through wilderness and barely marked trails till we reached some form of civilization – Yosemite Village. We were saved. We replenished ourselves and bought the obligatory T shirts before planning the wearisome and long path back to the RV. Dan, looking at the map, thought that there could be a short cut and instead of turning right and covering teens of miles, we could turn left and be in the car park in less than five minutes. We let him go and how we laughed. We knew that he would be lost forever in the wilderness and in due respect to his mother, we resolved to follow his path and lead him to salvation. So we turned left and in a few minutes, found him sitting in the beast, waiting for us.
The way out of the Park follows the river right up until the landslide had wiped out the road. A diversion had been hastily formed and two single lane bridges erected. It was the most fantastic road which charted the journey of mountains to hills to plains. For me it was more rewarding than the GC as you could be part of the whole rather than being conveyor belted through it.
We ended up at a KOA camp ground at Midpines. We were lucky to get the last site. It had a pond with things that jumped as I walked Abby around in the dark. We all jumped in unison. Then there was a strange whirring sound which emanated from the trees at night. It was too regular to be natural, rather like someone circling a stringed toy around their head. We never found out the source but my red eyes will tell you that it continued through the night.
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