Day 8 & 9 Three Rivers and Big Trees

Lone Pine sits at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It has a film museum, commemorating a quite sizable list of movies made in the area. We had been discussing going to Yosemite by way of Tioga Pass. This would drive us past Mammoth Lakes. After talking with locals and doing a bit of research, we decided against this. We did not feel comfortable driving the RV with tow over the pass.

Our decision to go around the mountains took us South to Bakersfield, CA and up California's Hwy 99 through Fresno and Merced. This was city driving, not beautiful but fast. Our destination was Sequoia National Park. We spent two nights at Three Rivers Hideaway RV Park. It claims to be the closets campground to the park. We took the jeep to Sequoia. If you have a larger RV you definitely need a tow vehicle. We almost left without one, because I was trying to save money. We bought a hitch plate, Blue Ox tow bar, light harness, drop hitch and Patriot 3 brake system (bot).

The brake bot makes me angry every time I hook it up. It looks and feels cheap, and for the price seems like a rip off. However, brakes are important and it serves as an emergency brake in case you lose your tow.

Sequoia National Park was ok, not our favorite. There was no wildlife and most views were obstructed by tall brush. You go here for the trees and they did not disappoint. It takes a while to reach them. When you finally do you are transported to different world. It feels like you are in a Jurassic Park. They are enormous at 260 feet tall, 3000 years old.  We just wish there were more of them to view. We imagined a huge forest filled with the giant trees.

We ate dinner, played some games and got ready for the trek north to Yosemite.