May 15 -- Lake Kaweah

Paul and Sonya stayed with me for the day. It was really cold in the morning, so we packed up and headed out in search of hot coffee at one of the lodges in Sequoia NP. We were all disappointed to learn the all the of the trails in Kings Canyon are under snow, and thus not passable. So we headed south to Sequoia and lower altitudes. First, we walked two miles to Moro Rock, which is a huge rock outcrop from which we were able to have a panoramic view of the Sierra Nevada mountains -- at least some of them -- and of the valley west. Nearly 400 steps took us to the top of the rock, but it was worth every step. The view was breathtaking.

From there, we had a nice picnic lunch and then set off in search of a campsite for the night. Unfortunately, it was Saturday and, by the time we got to the campgrounds, they were full. We were very disappointed. Having been to this part of Sequoia NP earlier in the week, I remembered that there was a lovely campground on Lake Kaweah, which was about 10 miles outside the park. Though it was 5:00 pm when we got there, we managed to get one of the last few sites. The campground host then told us that we had to be gone by 2:00 pm the next day, as they were going to close the campground for two months. The snow melt was feeding the lake and would soon raise the water level five or six feet, totally submerging the campground. How crazy is that?

We had a beautiful view of the lake from our campsite, but unfortunately the campground was very, very noisy, being on the road. The other campers were very loud, as well, with their party boats and such.

I was slightly sad when I went to bed. This was my last night camping -- my last night on the road, exploring the west. Tomorrow, I will be back in San Diego, getting ready to fly back home. I've had an amazing time and will never forget this time in my life. I've seen some incredible things. But now it's time to go home and get back to work -- back to life.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone