Northern California

I didn’t properly relax and enjoy our holiday until the following morning! We took the scenic coastal route down to Monterey in our hire car. Unfortunately, the clouds hugged the mountains and the coastline for much of that time, only breaking occasionally to reveal the blue sky above. The highlight of the day was our stop at Ano Nuevo State Park. Along our walk we saw lizards, birds and a mass of Elephant Seals basking on the beaches and in the water.

The only excursion we'd pre-booked on the holiday was a whale watching boat trip. Although the weather was fairly dull, the water was pretty calm and flat, so for me, this was a definite bonus. On leaving the marina we saw lots of Sea Lions at the foot of the rockwall and one very large one balanced on a beam below a wharf. A pod of dolphins glided past and we could see Santa Cruz beyond them in the distance. We were very lucky and saw a few Humpback Whales, including a mother and calf and also two adults travelling alongside each other, periodically lunge feeding – bursting up out of the water with their massive jaws agape and engulfing a lot of fish in one go. I’d never seen it before, let along heard of it, so was impressed by the spectacle and their huge size. Getting a good shot was tricky though as you never knew exactly when or where they would emerge.

After our boat trip we walked around the harbour and spent ages watching more Sea Lions sleeping, playing and swimming in the sea. They have so much character. We were mesmerised! We also spotted a few Sea Otters further away. I was thrilled, as they were the creatures I most wanted to see on the holiday, but I was hoping for closer views. Luckily, we got chatting to a local who recommended Moss Landing as a place where we could see a large number of them, so we drove north. He wasn’t wrong. There were about 20 of them mostly sleeping, floating on their back. There were a few mischievous ones disturing others and it was wonderful to watch them interact with each other. I could've stayed there for hours and would've gone back when there was better light, had the opportunity arisen, but sadly, that was not to be!

On our last day in the area we drove to Felton, just north of Santa Cruz, to see a couple of the wooden covered bridges and enjoy a ride on the Roaring Camp steam train, which trundled up the mountain through the giant redwood forests. It was a glorious sunny day and perfect for doing the 17 Mile Drive around the Monterey Peninsula in the afternoon, stopping off at many of the scenic coastal lookouts. Once again, it was the wildlife that captured my attention. At one lookout there was a mass of brown pelicans on one of the large rocks just off the coast, a raft of sea otters in the water and playing almost at our feet were ground squirrels aplenty, darting around the rocks and rolling around in the sand. Gorgeous! From Carmel we drove south along the Big Sur coast, but unfortunately the day was running away from us and soon enough we were driving in the dark unable to appreciate the dramatic coastline.

Instead of driving directly to Yosemite we'd decided upon a lengthy detour further south to Sequoia National Park to see some of the largest trees in the world. There was one we could walk through, another we could drive through, we even tried to hold hands round the base of one and didn’t even stretch around half of it! One of the highlights was walking up to the top of Moro Rock to enjoy the fabulous view.

Yosemite National Park was our next main stay. We had five nights in El Portal, just near one of the entrances to the park. It was more affordable, had good facilities and it never took us long to get into the park. It was peak season, so the park was busy, but we managed to get around fairly well all the same, since we either walked or used the free shuttle bus. We did all the accessible walks and a few of the more moderate to strenuous ones, which gave us the chance to really explore a lot of the main parts of the valley. I particularly liked Glacier Point, which overlooks a lot of the main waterfalls - Lower and Upper Yosemite Falls, Vernal and Nevada Falls - and the impressive Half Dome, which is a full day hike (not on our agenda). We returned one evening just in time to see the last of the evening light shine upon half dome’s flat edge and then stayed on to listen to the warden’s free star-gazing talk, which was fascinating and very educational.

One of the more memorable hikes was around Mirror Lake. We were almost half way around when we were warned, by others walking in the opposite direction, that the path was covered in water and we’d get wet if we didn’t detour and take a higher route. When we reached the flooded area we ended up scaling the slopes, clambering up over rocks and under a few branches. It turned out to be more of an epic adventure that either one of us had counted on, and there were times I was wondering where on earth we were going, which wasn’t good considering I was leading the way. I tried to follow where others had clearly walked but there were times it wasn’t very obvious at all. We kept edging higher and higher. If ever there were a time I didn’t want to see a bear, that was one of them! As it turned out, I never saw a bear for the duration of our trip, which was a little disappointing!

We both particularly enjoyed the more strenuous walk up to the top of Vernal Falls. We hadn’t planned to do it, but when we were standing on the bridge looking up to it, it didn’t seem too bad or too far and my friend was keen to give it a go. I was a bit apprehensive since I knew it involved lots of steps and I wasn’t sure my knees would appreciate the route back down again afterwards. However, we egged each other on and gave it a go. It wasn’t actually as strenuous but far busier than expected. Since the path was quite close to the waterfall there were times we got very wet from the spray and the rocks were slippery. But, it was worth all the effort as the view from the top was great and I enjoyed experimenting with the slow shutter speeds to capture the movement of the water over the rocks. Thankfully, coming down wasn't as bad as I’d anticipated and I was glad we'd made the effort.

The other thing of note worth mentioning was on the Taft Point hiking trail, when we unexpectedly saw a woman doing a tightrope across a small section of the canyon. There were actually three of them, but we arrived just in time to see the last one give it a go. Despite the fact she was wearing a harness, it still looked like a ridiculously crazy thing to want to do and my heart leapt into my mouth when she fell off. Her ability to get back up onto the line after falling was very impressive. Even if you paid me, I wouldn't try that!

On our final day in Yosemite we headed east along the Tioga Pass to exit the national park. It was 1^st July and it hadn't occurred to me the pass might not be open! Only a few days before it only opened for one hour in the morning and afternoon and you weren’t allowed to stop along the route at any of the lookouts. Thankfully, after a few days of warm sunshine, much of the snow had melted and it was no longer dangerous and the day we were due to leave was the first day the pass was fully open. It was probably one of the best days of the trip. There were lots of stunning small and larger lakes with great reflections of the forests and snow-capped mountains in the distance. At Olmsted Point there was another chance to see Half Dome in the distance, from the north side. I scrambled up a large mass of rock to enjoy the views from much higher up, away from all the people at the lookout. I was rewarded with a sighting of a Yellow-Bellied Marmot moving over the rocks not too far away from me!

Before heading north towards Lake Tahoe, we detoured to Mono Lake, a very old salt lake in the desert. What appealed to me were the unusual limestone tufa towers that originally lay below the surface of the water, but, as the water level dropped over the years, these unusual formations were revealed. We made another detour to Bodie, an old gold mining ghost town, which declined over the years from the closing of the railroad and gold mines and from a fire that engulfed much of the town. I walked along the dusty streets and peered through the windows of many of the town stores, church, jail and saloon. It was even possible to go inside a few houses. Abandoned old cars and machinery stood in the overgrown grass. It was a glimpse into a bygone era that was both fascinating and a bit eerie.

There wasn’t the opportunity to fully appreciate Lake Tahoe with only time for one overnight stay, however, in the morning we did visit Emerald Bay for a short walk. We had a morning stop at Truckee before reaching the old part of Sacramento, which was another step back in time. With a raised wooden boardwalk, large windows and several balconies made with either wood or iron, I half imagined some drunkard to come hurtling through the swing doors of the saloon as we walked past it. Filled with tourist shops and eateries it didn’t quite have the feel of Bodie, but was an enjoyable diversion.

For two people who aren’t great wine drinkers, spending our last days relaxing in the wine region might not have seemed an obvious choice. However, the decision was based on the appeal of the Calistoga 4^th July celebrations, which included a parade down the high street with lots of floats, old cars, horse riders and dancers, then a visit to the fun fair in the hot afternoon sun for a ride on the ferris wheel and walk around and a return trip in the evening to see the fireworks display, which was the highlight.

Aside from a visit to the old petrified forest (where ancient trees that were once covered in volcanic ash have now turned to stone) and the Old Faithful of California geyser (that intermittently jets hot water into the air) we pretty much chilled out on our last few days. The long days of sight-seeing and exploring were catching up with us. We didn’t quite get our picture perfect stay in Guerneville that I’d been so looking forward to. Sadly, we only discovered upon arrival, the hotel had been very badly flooded a few months prior and we weren’t going to get our deluxe spa suite overlooking the neighbouring vineyard. Despite the bank holiday weekend we were able to find somewhere else to stay - a nice swanky hotel in the city for not too dear a price.