Day 157, Tuesday, November 08

Last night sucked…and not just because of the rain and cold.. At about 10:00 two RVs pulled in at the same time. Both families were out talking in super loud voices as they maneuvered their damn trucks in and out and in and out of the spots so many times I lost count. Of course, with several dozen or more campsites to choose from they had to choose the ones just across from me. Yep their damn headlights lit up my tent for what felt like hours as they shouted over the loud motors and started and restarted their engines. But engines, headlights, and loud voices weren’t enough. They have a little kid who insisted in screaming for nearly an hour after they finally turned off their head lights and then once he stopped screaming, I had to listen to their generators and propane heaters cutting on and off all night long. Unfortunately that wasn’t all for last night. Shortly after midnight, the rain turned into a big storm with strong gusty winds coming from all directions. The tarp over my tent was incredibly loud and finally ripped the stakes out of the ground all together so I had to get up at about 1:00 to re-stake it. I certainly hope tonight isn’t a repeat.
Pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast, made sandwiches and headed out for a hike to see the General Sherman tree and then some of the trails beyond. The trees are big beyond comprehension. What makes the Sequoias so different from the redwoods is their growth pattern. They spend their first hundred or so years growing up to a seemingly predetermined height with a trunk diameter that’s not particularly stunning. Then instead of growing up further, they grow outwards all the way up the trunk. It results in a trunk that’s super thick almost all the way to the top and then just before the top bows, the trunk tapers down rapidly. Looks like the trees out of Star Wars where the Ewoks had their tree villages. The forest smells good. I saw a herd of deer and a sow bear with its cub, lots of woodpeckers, and burned trees of interesting forms. The temperature was perfect for hiking. Views weren’t as good as yesterday because of cloud cover and light drizzle on and off all day. Got back to the motorcycle just before dark and it started raining on my ride back to the campsite. After a warm shower I had Ramen noodles and cream corn for dinner because I wanted to get to bed early. I plan to drive back to the coast tomorrow to just South of Monterey. Hopefully it’ll be warmer.