**Edited: In light of recent events, go check out Alt National Park Service for hard facts about our land**
Hi, hello, are you still there? I’m baaaackkkk.
Blogging was becoming more of a chore than a thrill, so I took a break. But, I’m back and here to talk about the THIRTEEN national parks we were lucky enough to visit in 2016! I have already written about several of the parks, so I quickly reviewed those and added the links to my original post about each park/trip. The rest of this post will be allllll about Lassen Volcanic, Crater Lake, Yosemite, Sequoia, and King’s Canyon!
1. Our national park journey began in southern Florida, at beautiful Biscayne Bay.
2. The same day, we zipped on over to the Everglades, to enjoy the placid water and quiet charm.
3. Our third park together is one that is near and dear to my heart – Acadia. I had already been a few times with my parents and it was just as tranquil as I remembered. Tucked up in the woods and bordered by the ocean, Acadia is will always be one of my favorites.
4-8. In July, we drove 3,500 miles from New Hampshire to California, and checked five wonderful and diverse parks off our list: Cuyahoga Valley, Rocky Mountain, Arches, Canyonlands, Great Basin!
Okay, if you’re still with me THANK YOU! …and I’ll give a more in depth review of the remaining five below.
9. Lassen Volcanic
In August, we headed to Lassen Volcanic, our first park in California. This time we were accompanied by our new (…new at the time) friends Kelsey and Matt! As the name suggests, this park is known for its volcanic activity. Most popular is Lassen Peak, but there are also several different active hydrothermal areas.
We went the riskier route (for me at least) and didn’t book a campsite ahead of time. The only campsites left were at Warner Valley, which is in a less popular area of the park, but it actually suited our needs perfectly.
After checking in at the visitor center, we headed to our campsite, set up our tents, and then, hiking! The Pacific Crest Trail was directly adjacent to our campsite, which was pretty freaking cool.
We hiked first to boiling springs lake (pictured above) and then to terminal geyser. The weather was cooler and much more enjoyable than the 100+ temperatures we had been experiencing in Sacramento – everyone was thrilled.
The next day we set our eyes back on the main part of the park. There were several areas of interest including bubbling pots, sulfur springs, an Emerald Lake, and a view of Lassen Peak.
We decided to do the hike to King’s Creek Falls and we were greatly rewarded.
After our hike, we sat by Summit Lake South and ate lunch. Eventually, we finished wandering through the rest of the park, and headed back home.
10.Crater Lake
In September we headed north to Oregon, home to Crater Lake. Neither of us had been to Oregon before, and it was our first camping trip with Shay – we were SO excited!
To split up the drive, we stopped in Northern California the first night at Castle Crags State Park. We arrived after dark, but woke up to this beauty of a view!
After a quick breakfast, we set our sights on Oregon. We arrived mid-morning, before most of the weekend traffic, quickly checked in, and went to set up our tent.
As the name suggests, as the result of volcanic activity, there is now a crater filled with water, making it a lake. There is a road that follows the curve of the lake with many stopping points.
The unbelievably blue waters are out of this world!
After driving around the lake we headed back to our campsite for dinner, accompanied of course by some local beer and s’mores.
What we didn’t expect, was how terribly cold it would be. I do quite a bit of research before trips, but I had not anticipated below freezing temperatures. It felt extra cold coming from 90+ degree heat in Sacramento. Our original plan was to stay in Oregon for two nights, but after one night we decided we simply weren’t well enough prepared for the cold. We woke up in the morning to frost on our tent and frozen bodies. Luckily, as the sun came up (+Cody started a fire), our bodies started to thaw.
However, we still made the most of our second day before heading back to California! We zipped down to see the Pinnacles, which are an unexpected sight after spending the previous day in awe of the blue water.
Probably our favorite part of the trip was seeing the joy on our pup’s face throughout the entire trip. She adores camping and exploring – it couldn’t be a better fit. And for one of the funniest moments of our trip – Cody asked me to take a picture of the FJ, when all of the sudden Shay pops up and sticks her head out the window. We’re a little bias, but she is the cutest little nature dog.
Since we had already reserved the campsite for Sunday night, we utilized the fire pit for a little barbecue dinner before heading home. While not everything went according to plan, Oregon was still such a dream.
11. Yosemite
In the end of October, we made it to Yosemite, finally. After doing quite a bit of research online, some fellow adventurers mentioned the potential for snow, while others excitedly shared what they described as a golden season. Well! A golden weekend it was! We arrived late in the night, set up our tent, and awoke to the most awe-inspiring scene.
After a little campfire breakfast, which included spilled dog food, seven bold crows, and a barking dog at 7am, we went out to explore. (Also, please appreciate how we both unintentionally brought our Maine sweatshirts).
We spent most of our time in Yosemite Valley, since many of the roads at higher elevations are closed as soon as the weather gets cold.
Plain and simple, we were surrounded by beauty.
After reveling in sun-kissed fields of the valley, we drove toward glacier point, of course, stopping at Tunnel View. Of all of the beautiful views in the national park system, this must be one of the most famous. We stood off to the side away from the crowds of people for quite a while, just taking it all in.
The road to Glacier Point is beautiful, but nothing prepares you for the beauty when you arrive. There were three waterfalls within view, in addition to the magnificent half dome. We spent quite a while just enjoying the view before eventually heading back to our campsite for another meal around the campfire.
Sunday morning we woke up to the peaceful sound of rain pattering on the top of our tent. We packed up our wet camping gear and took our time driving back to Sacramento, stopping several times to admire the mountains surrounded by fog. Yosemite, despite the large crowds, lived up to my high expectations of serenity and beauty.
12 and 13. Sequoia and King’s Canyon
For Thanksgiving, we knew we wouldn’t be able to afford to fly home, so we planned a trip to Sequoia and King’s Canyon! What I hadn’t originally planned on, was Cody’s brother Barry being there to adventure with us! Our last two parks of the year came in a set – Sequoia and King’s Canyon.
We stayed at Kirk Creek Campground, outside of the parks and kind of in between the two. I would recommend staying in one of the parks (or national forest) if you can, but because the temperatures drop quite low in the winter months, our campsite fit our needs better because of the lower elevation.
After setting up camp, we set off first to Sequoia.
After stopping in at the visitor center we wound up the curvy roads and to the famous General Sherman tree. It is a short walk down a paved road, making is fairly easy to access. Which of course, meant it was super crowded. After admiring the tree, we wandered around, taking lots of photos for trees.
We were fortunate enough to see this beauty of a sunset as we left the park in the evening. California sunsets never disappoint!
…Shay also loves viewing a good sunset!
The next morning we took a rather desolate road from our campground to King’s Canyon.
Similar to Sequoia, there are areas in King’s Canyon that highlight the “most famous” aka biggest trees, as well as other interesting features.
To reach this view, it was only a short little hike, and much less crowded than the other parts of the park. SUCCESS!
We considered going down into the valley of the Canyon, but decided against it because of the waning sunlight.
Due to a prediction of multiple feet of snow Saturday night into Sunday, we decided to head out Saturday night after exploring Sequoia one more time.
*obligatory photo driving through a tree*
We stopped at Moro Rock and were not disappointed. There is a long and unexpectedly strenuous stairway up the side of this rock feature. You can see the winding roadway below, but because of the fog, not a whole lot else was visible.
It was so much fun having Barry along for these parks and another adventure, before he heads to help serve the people of Cambodia for the next year (more about that here)!
Our National Park journey is long from over, but we feel both thrilled and proud that we were able to make it to thirteen this year. Looking forward to what is to come, but hoping we never forget these sweet memories!
The Chatty Cassy 