The Generosity of Strangers and a Hard Right Turn

The Opps Odyssey rolled back into motion with a trip to Yosemite National Park in Central California. As expected, the park was crawling with visitors, so we made it brief and memorable. We spent our one full day in the park hiking up the iconic Half Dome in Yosemite Valley. The bulk of the ~16 mile hike was easy going, with reasonable climbs and gorgeous waterfalls. The dicey part comes when you make the last stab at the summit and ascend a “ladder” made of steel cables, rickety 2x4s, and metal rods drilled into the huge slab of rock. Heaving yourself up and down would not be too onerous by itself, but because of the intimidating nature of this portion of the climb it tends to get congested. On both our ascent and descent, we spent a lot of time just clinging to the cables and waiting for the tangle of bodies to clear. At least we were treated to some stunning views while we waited. (It appears that video is not pulling through for FaceBook users, so go to www.oppsodyssey.blogspot.com to see the video).











The next morning, we took a hike through the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias. These behemoths are the planet’s largest living things, which was easy to believe as we stared up at them slack jawed. This grove was the first parcel of land in the U.S. set aside as a national park. The fact that President Lincoln saw the value in protecting these trees made them all the more impressive.






From Yosemite, we headed to Lake Tahoe, where we found beauty and lots of hospitality. Tahoe was merely a curiosity to us, since we hadn’t been there before. The lake itself was a startling blue and wreathed by mountains on all sides. We took a great hike on Mt. Tallac in the Desolation Wilderness (thanks for the recommendation Charlie and Stephanie!) to stretch out our tired legs. This was all well and good, but the real gems of Tahoe were our neighbors. Over the course of our two nights there, we met three great families who entertained us and plied us with luxuries like steak and corn on the cob from the grill, salad with fresh veggies, and campfire s’mores. Thanks to Mike, Don, Brian, Heather and your families for the generosity – Ben can’t remember ever being full two nights in a row while camping!



















































Our next destination was the little visited Lassen Volcanic National Park. The park is an active volcanic area, which is evident in the numerous steaming fumaroles and gurgling mudpots heated by underground magma. We also had our first opportunity to climb an active volcano, hiking to the highest point in the park, Lassen Peak. This delivered stunning views of the surrounding wilderness, including Mt. Shasta in the distance.































After Lassen, we bolted for the coast and turned a literal and figurative corner. We cheered when we reached the Pacific. At that point, we took a hard right turn and the overriding direction of our trip changed from westbound to northbound. We camped near the beach for the next three nights and were treated to the West Coast’s renowned picture-perfect sunsets and notorious morning fog. With sand in every crevasse, we strayed from the coast long enough for a hike through the towering trees in Redwoods National Park. Walking under the tallest living things on the planet challenges any conception that you have perspective, as it takes three different neck cranes to take in the full height of the mature trees. This must be what trekking on the forest moon of Endor is like, though we didn’t see any ewoks.






















Yesterday, we reached Oregon and jumped up and down on its celebrated craggy coastline. Carolyn has never been here before and lots of adventures beckon!