Forum Discussion
- cewillisExplorerVery nice. That's a special area.
- pnicholsExplorer IIDan ... great trip report ... as usual. Thanks.
I've always wanted to visit Kings Canyon but as of yet have not. - Wonderful photos, as usual. And that snake! I always forget how the rhyme goes. Is it "Red touch black, safe for Jack. Red touches yellow, kills a fellow?" Or the other way around?
Congratulations on your 40 years of adventures together and best wishes for many more to come. - profdant139Explorer IITiger, you have got the right rhyme. But I have recently discovered that it is not possible to recall the rhyme and recite it accurately when the snake is slithering toward your hiking boots.
My new rhyme is "see a snake, get out of the way till you are sure it is not poisonous."
It does not rhyme but is very easy to remember.
And Phil, there is some awesome geology in Kings and Sequoia -- on the Big Baldy hike, for example, at around 8000 feet the trail crosses the contact zone between the underlying granitic batholith and the metamorphic "country rock" that was pushed up out of the way by the rising Sierras. At the precise point of contact, the heat vitrified some of the metamorphic stuff. Very exciting for those of us who like rocks!
I have been told, however, that this is not so exciting for the spouse of the rock enthusiast who is a little tired of hearing about orogeny. She no longer finds it uplifting, so to speak. - LenSaticExplorerI grew up with an easier coral snake identifier: Nose black, stay back!
LS - profdant139Explorer IILen, this was definitely a king snake, not coral, and it had a black nose. I propose an alternate rule -- "if the snake has a nose, stay away from it." ;)
- pnicholsExplorer II
profdant139 wrote:
And Phil, there is some awesome geology in Kings and Sequoia -- on the Big Baldy hike, for example, at around 8000 feet the trail crosses the contact zone between the underlying granitic batholith and the metamorphic "country rock" that was pushed up out of the way by the rising Sierras. At the precise point of contact, the heat vitrified some of the metamorphic stuff. Very exciting for those of us who like rocks!
I have been told, however, that this is not so exciting for the spouse of the rock enthusiast who is a little tired of hearing about orogeny. She no longer finds it uplifting, so to speak.
Dan,
My DW is the rockhound - she studied it in college.
I fully support her in this, especially on RV trips. Some of the places where we have to go to do it make fantastic RV boondocking areas, with most times no other campers anywhere nearby. i.e. Remote, sometimes barren, and sometimes hot: - LenSaticExplorer
profdant139 wrote:
Len, this was definitely a king snake, not coral, and it had a black nose. I propose an alternate rule -- "if the snake has a nose, stay away from it." ;)
I should have enlarged the pic. Hmmm. Maybe my parents were trying to get rid of me. Could explain 3rd grade when they moved while I was at school. - Too_Young_to_ReExplorerThat looks like a great spot. I'm on the search for places that can accomodate a 35' 5'er. Do they exist?
- profdant139Explorer IIYes, but not in the Sierras. There is some good big-rig boondocking on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, way out in the Kaibab National Forest. Take it slow -- the potholes are deep -- but we did see a few big RVs out in the Rainbow Rim area.
The Rainbow Rim has a great mountain bike and hiking trail -- not too difficult, and some decent views. Nice and cool -- over 7000 feet. This was the view from our campsite at 5 am one morning -- this is why they call it the Rainbow Rim:
Click For Full-Size Image.
And there are areas in Utah that offer big-rig boondocking -- northwest of Bryce, for example. But the mountain roads in California tend to be narrow and rough, without decent places to turn around. We often have to do a three point turn with our little trailer, which is just 15 feet from the back to the coupler. (It's usually seventeen points by the time we're done, but you get the idea.)
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