The Land of Giants
The last time I had been to
Unfortunately things book up quickly and after September you need snow gear in most high elevations so it would have to wait until the summer of 2008.
Oh and I suppose some new hiking shoes… a new sleeping bag seemed nice… hey what’s a new trip without some shopping ???!!! My friend who works at REI managed to get me a tent that had been returned and was being re sold for cheap. My old tent was still good but this one was a little bigger and could be used as a backpacking tent if I ever got into that. I also followed her to their once a year sale and got some nice hiking boots. After a trip to Target for a new air mattress and sleeping bag, (eh why not?) I was all set.
The day dawned and I got up at 5am, left my house by 5:30am and got to my friends house in Anaheim by 6am. We loaded up his truck with all our stuff we hit the road by 7am. It was a long drive but I was ready. I had packed everything really tight. We still had too much stuff but with 6 people and only two cars allowed in the park per campsite it was bound to be tight.
We made it to
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The bathrooms were clean and spaced such that you never had to walk to far to get to them. The showers were located up at the village market which also contained a public laundry, post office, market, deli and visitor's center. Unlike many campgrounds the collecting of downed wood is allowed. The fire pit which comes with a metal grill portion for easy grilling of food also has a half circle of flat low stones which make for convenient seating. I recommend bringing cushions as they can be cold at night even in the summer.
Each site contains a large bear box for all your food, trash and scented items like toothpaste and sunscreen. The trashes were located around the site making it easy to throw away your trash and thus not have to store it in the bear boxes with your food. Extra boxes are also easily accessed from any campsite and were rarely full much less used during our trip. Ash cans are also near the trashes for any excess ash in your fire pit. Check in and out times are noon each day.
The only thing to be careful to plan for is the number of people and tents. You may have no more than two tents and six people per site. If you are a group of adults I recommend getting two adjacent sites if you wish to bring anything more than two medium sized tents. Many of the sites are shaded (especially near the river) and have at least one parking spot right near the site. Overflow parking is located in the center of the campgrounds and only two cars per site are allowed. The free summer park shuttle makes stops every 20 minutes within the campground and at the entrance at the visitor center making it very easy to access the rest of the park.
Reservations open up 6 months in advance with many of the fully shaded spots being taken quickly for the summer months.
