braindump

I love going on road trips, but the kind of trips I take are planned down to the day; I’ll leave the spontaneity to the younger folk.  And considering the trouble I had getting accommodation in Yosemite, it’s just as well I planned several months ahead.  Here’s the route (click through for the full details on Google Maps):

Las Vegas to San Francisco

Here’s the rough itinerary:

• Pick up a car at the airport, and leave Las Vegas immediately.
• Drive to Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park, and explore the surrounding area, including Badwater Basin, at 86 metres below sea level, the lowest elevation in the United States.
• Stay one night at Stovepipe Wells.
• Explore the northern part of the park, including the Ubehebe Crater and Scotty’s Castle.
• Leave the Death Valley area and head towards the Sierra Nevada (which is Spanish for “snowy mountains”)
• Drive to Lone Pine for views of Mt Whitney, at 4,421 metres, the highest point in the lower 48 states. It’s just 122 km from Badwater, the lowest point.
• Drive to Bishop; visit the gallery of Galen and Barbara Rowell. I discovered the gallery was here in Bishop by accident last year, as I was driving through.
• Stay one night in Bishop.
• Drive north, stopping at Lee Vining for a quick look at Mono Lake, before heading over Tioga Pass to May Lake.
• Continue along the Tioga Road to Yosemite Valley.
• Stay three nights at Curry Village in Yosemite National Park; I’m still working out what I’ll do on each of my days in the valley.
• Drive to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, either via Fresno as shown, or more interesting back roads.
• Stay two nights at Grant Grove Village; again, I’m still working out what to do here.
• Drive to San Francisco.

I’m packing a lot into the time, but there’s so much to see, it’s hard to resist trying to see just a little bit more. As a list of bullet points, it may not be that exciting, but once I have photos from these places, I hope to make a more persuasive case.