I hiked through the High Sierra Mountains on the John Muir Trail with several friends in 2016. I sometimes describe life as Before John Muir and After John Muir. You can read of that backpacking trip at this link. A Few Steps in Paradise

Since 2016, I’ve wanted to share a trip to Yosemite with my wife so she can see firsthand why the High Sierras so impressed me. This May we finally took an organized tour with about twenty-five great folks who were truly interested in learning about the areas we visited. Our tour leader had a background as a park ranger and had grown up in the area. His knowledge was extensive, and his enthusiasm was something to behold.

I’ve been lax about posting on this blog lately but now that I’ve finished the second edition of Five Star Trails: The Ozarks, I want to get back to blogging about the beauty I see out in nature, so our California tour is a good place to start.

Note: This post is an overview of the trip. Due to space, I’ve left out many details and hardly mentioned the food which was very good!

Now back to California. This was my first ever Globus tour and I hope not my last. The smaller number of participants made it easier to connect with others as you share the learning and all logistics are simpler.

Jake, the tour leader, was excellent. His depth of knowledge brought locations to life and his handling of logistics gave us peace of mind. Our driver, JR, was excellent as well. He kept that bus clean and his driving was top-of-the line. 

The following illustration shows the general flow of our trip beginning and ending in San Francisco.

San Francisco is a great urban hiking location. We walked several miles our first morning just exploring a part of the bay not on our scheduled tour. We used Mission and Market Streets to access the Ferry Terminal Building and expansive views out across the bay. The large double deck Oakland Bay Bridge was in the area, and we were fascinated by the sculpture of a large human figure made from metal bracing and screen wire. 

Our organized tour included an exploration of the city of San Francisco and a walk on the Golden Gate Bridge as well as a boat ride that circled the long-abandoned Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay. Alcatraz Island was once a fort, then a military prison, and lastly, a maximum-security federal penitentiary. The prison closed in 1963 after 29 years in operation.

I must mention San Francisco’s historic Cole Hardware perched on a corner across the street from our hotel. Entering was like stepping back in time and their stock was impressive. We found the phone charger we were looking for.

We regularly saw driverless cars. I was impressed. After watching one driverless car easily flowing with the traffic, I saw an angry man gripping his steering wheel and driving erratically just a few cars later . Maybe driverless cars have the advantage where road rage is concerned.

Sonoma and Nappa Valley wowed me more than expected. Spending time at the Kunde Winery was a treat and we enjoyed the wine tasting even though most of us rarely tasted wine before noon. The young man who led our tour seemed knowledgeable beyond his years. We enjoyed visiting a series of caves the Kunde Winery constructed as their storage sellers. 

From Nappa Valley it was a short drive into Sacramento, the Capitol of California. The state capitol was memorable because of the huge Deodar Cedar campion tree on the front lawn. 

Old Town Sacramento was buzzing with activity. We found a second floor Mexican restaurant and had a good meal while the city noises buzzed away down below. 

I can’t walk past a young street musician without giving a listen and dropping something in the tip hat. Got more good drumming than I expected from this young man and his little brother. 

I enjoyed taking a few photos of a historic tower bridge over the Sacramento River close to our hotel. 

On to Yosemite!

We spent two nights at Tenaya Lodge on the edge of Yosemite National Park which was part of our reason for favoring this itinerary. We had an afternoon to explore waterfalls and the next morning we were able to take a tram ride and explore some more by foot.. At first the tram sounded touristy but it was worthwhile and gave us a better overview of the park than I got on my visit ten years ago. I’d recently read John Muir’s description of Yosemite and his words have stood the test of time. 

…no temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite. Every rock in its walls seems to glow with life.  … Awful in stern, immovable majesty, how softly these rocks are adorned, and how fine and reassuring the company they keep: their feet among beautiful groves and meadows, their brows in the sky, a thousand flowers leaning confidingly against their feet, bathed in floods of water, floods of light, while the snow and waterfalls… Down through the middle of the Valley flows the crystal Merced, River of Mercy, peacefully quiet, reflecting lilies and trees and the onlooking rocks; things frail and fleeting and types of endurance meeting here and blending in countless forms, as if into this one mountain mansion Nature had gathered her choicest treasures, to draw her lovers into close and confiding communion with her. From Yosemite, by John Muir, 1912

Sequoia and King’s Canyon 

We did a short walk at Grant Grove, home of General Grant Tree, the second largest is the world at 268 feet tall. We walked through a tree tunnel and enjoyed animated interpretations of the area by Jake. 

We made a lunch stop at Grant Grove Restaurant and Visitor Center.

We visited the General Sherman Tree, largest in the world at 275 feet. In 2021 during forest fires, foil quilts were placed around the bases of some of the largest Sequoias as a precaution. Controlled burns are done routinely since it was learned that fire is required to open the small, tight cones 

Shortly after arriving at Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia National Park, we got the bonus of snow at the end of May. It was a beautiful but didn’t interfere with driving.

After the amazing Sequoias, we took a turn toward history at Carmel by the Sea, Pebble Beach, and Cannery Row in Monterey. We loved getting our feet wet and seeing a historically significant lone Cypress before continuing to the Pebble Beach Golf Course. 

I’m not a golfer but visiting Pebble Beach with its rich history was a treat. Looking through the visitor center I wished that a former boss, Charles B. Dyer, was still alive because he would have enjoyed hearing my report of this stop. I would have been motivated to retrieve two golf balls I saw at the shore close to the eighth hole. Those would have made good souvenirs for Mr. Dyer.

We made a shopping and lunch stop in Carmel by the Sea, notable because Clint Eastwood served one term as major from1986-88.

I enjoyed stepping into a historic church that is still active and open to visitors.

After Carmel, we drove to Cannery Row. During the trip I was reading John Steinbeck’s book, Cannery Row. I liked the following passage where the character, Doc, is describing the rough and ready local workers. It still holds relevance today.

“It has always seemed strange to me,” said Doc, “the things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.” John Steinbeck, Cannery Row, 1945

A few reconditioned structures and footings from Cannery Row remain. The processing of sardines accelerated around 1915 (World War I) as a protein source for soldiers and peaked from 1941-45 during World War II. Due to overfishing and water temperature changes, the sardine population diminished and the last fishery closed in 1973. What remains is an active tourist destination and some beautiful shore lines.

We loved visiting California and meeting a great group of people and wished the trip could have lasted longer, especially in the Yosemite area. Still, we were glad to get back to the Ozarks and the beauty of Arkansas!