Summary of our slightly epic trip visiting California's beauties with Scots Folks - the green part

(with thanks to that amazing tour operator gone astray as a geologist!)

Saturday March 14: GOLD COUNTRY

Google map of day 1: http://tinyurl.com/da3dp2

Visited Knights Ferry with its covered bridge and had a nice walk. Golden flowers dotting the landscape. Passed by Jamestown and Sonora, briefly discussed the Toppled Table Talus or the how and why of an inverted river valley.

Spent a lot of time in Columbia State Park - a restored / ghost gold mining town. Because they had a special event, the town was populated with rangers dressed up in traditional costumes telling us about life during the Gold Rush in the mid-nineteenth century. We visited the forge, the old schoolhouse, the graveyard (many nationalities there!), a sweets shop, the fire house with two antique human powered fire engines, the gold panning facilities and then went for a walk at the outskirts of the town where we caught sight of a bandit about to rob the stagecoach!

After our visit we went on to our destination for the night, the cosy Hotel Charlotte in Groveland, where we had a delicious evening meal.

Sunday March 15: YOSEMITE - Day 1

Google map for Yosemite day 1 & 2: http://tinyurl.com/a3ufeq

Finally Yosemite ... I was really looking forward to visiting the park and it sure didn't let us down!

After we hit the Park via the Big Oak Flat entrance, we first saw the Bridal Veil Falls tempting us to have a closer look. But our first destination would be the visitors center where we inquired about suitable walks. They recommended the White Mist trail which led us to Vernal Falls and then on to the Nevada Falls. Due to the snowy and icy conditions on the trail we didn't make it to the latter falls though. We did witness some impressive ice fall!

Luckily, since our walk was cut short, we had some time to go and see (and feel the spray of) the Bridal Veil Fall in all its glory and then - driving out of the park to our Bed and Breakfast for the night - had an amazing picture-postcard view over the park from the Tunnel Overlook!

As Moffat custom (established since 2007!) demanded it, that night we had dinner in a great Mexican restaurant in Oakhurst. Something worth mentioning was the cat of the Narrow Gauge Inn (our B&B): it had 6 toes on each of its paws! Apparently it is a mix of a regular house cat with a bobcat.

Monday March 16: YOSEMITE - Day 2

The next morning, we drove back into the park ready for a day-hike along Tenaya Creek and up the mountain between North & Half Dome. We set out from Curry village, walked the northern part of the Mist Trail and then the southern part of the loop around Tenaya Creek.

What started as a chilly day with freezing temperatures in the morning, turned into a sunny spring day along the Creek. We had an amazing view of the mountains mirrored in Mirror Lake (yet another of those picture postcard moments) and started our walk up the mountain with temperatures rising. Luckily a little stream coming down the mountain regularly crossed our path and provided us with some - if only mental - cooling. We made it all the way up to where the trail levelled out again and snowshoes or skies were necessary to continue on the trail.

Some deep bass noises temporarily upset Rachel and Will thinking it was a bear about to come out of its den, but we found out later that it was the sound of a male grouse trying to attract a specimen of the opposite sex ... ;-)

We did see a bear though, and that at the bottom of the valley (from the car - as Rachel had wished for!), crossing a busy street, totally ignoring all the cars driving by and stopping to get a better look!

That evening we drove out of Yosemite by yet another route, passing meadows coloured yellow by an enormous amount of flowers, witnessed a sunset colouring the sky bright blue and orange and spent the night in a Motel 6 in Fresno where we had our first In&Out burger, a truly American (Californian?) experience.

Tuesday March 17: KINGS CANYON

California also happens to be home to some of the largest living trees in the world: the giant sequoias. One of the best places to go and see them is in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park.

We stretched our necks looking at the General Grant tree in Grant Grove and then went for a long walk and some play in the snow. Saw some Chickarees, cute funny rodents that looked remarkably like squirrels, but somewhat smaller and darker. (For a fascinating story involving the sequoia, the cone beetle and the chickaree, read more at http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/science/hartesveldt/chap5.htm)

Driving through the park on Generals Highway, we then had a look at the General Sherman Tree, which is volume-wise the largest living tree in the world, unfortunately had to pass on climbing Moro Rock and then took the winding way down and out of the Park. We had a brief stop over in Mariposa, another town with a rich gold mining history and then went on to Bakersfield where we spent another night in a Motel 6 (not too bad!)