2019 - September in California

2019 • September Trip to California

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Click on the pics below to see more photos and videos

Flight to LA

9/12/2019 • Flight to LA
• Early morning flight into Los Angeles to begin our adventure.

Dehy Park

9/13/2019 • Dehy Park
• 1st stop today - Dehy Park. Great place to stretch your legs and enjoy a wild place in the center of a city.

Big Pine Creek

9/13/2019 • Big Pine Creek
• Hiked along the river from the trailhead to just past the sign for the split for the North Fork river trail. A little past the bridge. It was a nice hike.

Pine Creek

9/13/2019 • Pine Creek
• We drove back into this canyon which starts at the bottom of the Sherwin Grade. There's actually a mine at the trailhead. The trail here goes up to the back side of Little Lakes Valley, which is above Rock Creek Lake.

Virginia Lakes

9/13/2019 • Virginia Lakes
• Drove up to Virgina Lakes, which are at the top of Conway Summit, above Mono Lake.

Twin Lakes

9/13/2019 • Twin Lakes
• Checked into our hotel - Bridgeport Inn - and then headed up to Twin Lakes. The naming has always confused me. These lakes are just south of Bridgeport. There is another set of lakes (3 of them actually) that are also called Twin Lakes, in the Mammoth Lakes area. We ate dinner at a little diner at the upstream end of the higher of the two lakes. It was a great end to our day.

Leavitt Falls

9/14/2019 • Leavitt Falls
• Turning off of US-395 onto CA-108 at Sonora Junction, we headed into Sonora Pass. First stop, Leavitt Falls, which we were able to get a great view of from the vista point.

Pacific Crest Trail

9/14/2019 • Pacific Crest Trail
• The PCT crosses CA-108 right at the high point of Sonora Pass. I hiked for about a mile and then back again. The elevation here is about 9,624ft.

Kennedy Meadow North

9/14/2019 • Overlooking Kennedy Meadows
• This is another confusing naming scenario. This Kennedy Meadows is along highway 108 north of Yosemite. There is another Kennedy Meadows, which is north of highway 178 near Lake Isabella. This is farther south, but also in the Sierras. In fact, the southern Kennedy Meadows is also thought to be at the southern end of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The Pacific Crest Trail goes through the southern one.

Donnell Lake

9/14/2019 • Donnell Lake
• Donnell Lake runs below the highway on the north side of the road, and is on the western face of the Sierras. Once we were down in the San Joaquin Valley, we kept going west to the town of Ukiah, where we spent the night. We would head out to the coast the next day.

Drive to the ocean

9/15/2019 • Drive to the Ocean
• Leaving Ukiah the next morning, driving toward Ft. Bragg, we passed through the Jackson Demonstration State Forest. Had to look it up, but it's called "Demonstration" because it is considered a "living laboratory".

Mackerricher State Beach

9/15/2019 • Mackerricher State Beach
• The 1st of several beaches we will stop at on the Northern California coast.

Point Arena Lighthouse

9/15/2019 • Point Arena Lighthouse
• 2nd beach we stopped at. We didn't go into the lighthouse as it was busy and we had a lot of ground to cover.

Gualala Point

9/15/2019 • Gualala Point Regional Park
• The 3rd beach we stopped at. Couldn't have asked for better weather.

Point Reyes

9/15/2019 • Point Reyes Lighthouse
• While this is one lighthouse I would have really liked to go into, unfortunately it was closed for construction. North of San Francisco, this point goes way out into the ocean. About 8 miles out from the main part of the coast line. We did though, go down to the beaches north of us on our way back out. After this, we drove east to the bay area, crossing the bay on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and spending the night in Pinole, CA.

Sierra Vista Scenic Byway

9/16/2019 • Sierra Vista Scenic Byway
• The next morning, we drove back east across the San Joaquin Valley and climbed back into the Western Sierra, to the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway. This loop route runs north of the San Joaquin River. From this vista point, we could see the western face of Mammoth Mountain. We spent the night in Fresno, CA.

Kings Canyon

9/17/2019 • Kings Canyon
• The next morning we headed up into Kings Canyon, and specifically into Cedar Grove. Did a little bit of hiking. Once we were done, we drove back to Los Angeles.

2019 • September Trip to California

Click on the pics below to see more photos and videos

9/12/2019 • Flight to LA • Early morning flight into Los Angeles to begin our adventure.

9/13/2019 • Dehy Park • 1st stop today - Dehy Park. Great place to stretch your legs and enjoy a wild place in the center of a city.

9/13/2019 • Big Pine Creek • Hiked along the river from the trailhead to just past the sign for the split for the North Fork river trail. A little past the bridge. It was a nice hike.

9/13/2019 • Pine Creek • We drove back into this canyon which starts at the bottom of the Sherwin Grade. There's actually a mine at the trailhead. The trail here goes up to the back side of Little Lakes Valley, which is above Rock Creek Lake.

9/13/2019 • Virginia Lakes • Drove up to Virgina Lakes, which are at the top of Conway Summit, above Mono Lake.

9/14/2019 • Leavitt Falls • Turning off of US-395 onto CA-108 at Sonora Junction, we headed into Sonora Pass. First stop, Leavitt Falls, which we were able to get a great view of from the vista point.

9/14/2019 • Pacific Crest Trail • The PCT crosses CA-108 right at the high point of Sonora Pass. I hiked for about a mile and then back again. The elevation here is about 9,624ft.

9/14/2019 • Donnell Lake • Donnell Lake runs below the highway on the north side of the road, and is on the western face of the Sierras. Once we were down in the San Joaquin Valley, we kept going west to the town of Ukiah, where we spent the night. We would head out to the coast the next day.

9/15/2019 • Drive to the Ocean • Leaving Ukiah the next morning, driving toward Ft. Bragg, we passed through the Jackson Demonstration State Forest. Had to look it up, but it's called "Demonstration" because it is considered a "living laboratory".

9/15/2019 • Mackerricher State Beach • The 1st of several beaches we will stop at on the Northern California coast.

9/15/2019 • Point Arena Lighthouse • 2nd beach we stopped at. We didn't go into the lighthouse as it was busy and we had a lot of ground to cover.

9/15/2019 • Gualala Point Regional Park • The 3rd beach we stopped at. Couldn't have asked for better weather.

9/17/2019 • Kings Canyon • The next morning we headed up into Kings Canyon, and specifically into Cedar Grove. Did a little bit of hiking. Once we were done, we drove back to Los Angeles.