We had to traverse California to get from King's Canyon to Pinnacles National Monument. We bought the most enormous, luscious peaches - and grapes - 
at a roadside stall to munch on as we drove - and drove. We traversed some completely over-worked agricultural areas, hot, dry and the wind was whipping up huge dust-storms. As if this wasn't depressing enough, we then passed alongside Dairy feed lots, where all the poor animals are crowded into dusty, barren sheds, no grass to eat. They are fed out hay. These were really awful, enough to put you off dairy products for life. However, shortly thereafter we decided we needed a pick-me-up and chose icecream! Well, we picked the wrong place. The staff were sullen, the place dirty - and of course the icecream wasn't up to NZ standards.
Next, my navigational skills were sorely tested. The road I had been following suddenly disappeared completely, all we could see were notices indicating the area ahead was closed. The people we stopped to ask the way couldn't understand English, so in the end we had to back-track several miles, and I almost sent Rob south on a huge interstate road instead of north! Arrggh.
After a long, taxing day we finally arrived at our campground as the sun went down, but we couldn't understand the system. All the sites seemed vacant, but they had reserved signs on them - all except the ones coverd in thistles!! In the end we thought too bad, and just put the tent up on a choice site, ignoring the reserved sign. Thank goodness no-one came and booted us out in the middle of the night.
The next day made up for everything. Pinnacles was a fascinating area, and our hike started off through a cave where we saw bats up on the ceiling. We climbed up through formidable rock formations and had to cope with some scarily steep stretches. Our efforts were rewarded by seeing the extremely rare Condor - he even flew right over our heads. We only saw two other people - it seems to us that every hiking area in the States is deserted in the autumn.
at a roadside stall to munch on as we drove - and drove. We traversed some completely over-worked agricultural areas, hot, dry and the wind was whipping up huge dust-storms. As if this wasn't depressing enough, we then passed alongside Dairy feed lots, where all the poor animals are crowded into dusty, barren sheds, no grass to eat. They are fed out hay. These were really awful, enough to put you off dairy products for life. However, shortly thereafter we decided we needed a pick-me-up and chose icecream! Well, we picked the wrong place. The staff were sullen, the place dirty - and of course the icecream wasn't up to NZ standards.Next, my navigational skills were sorely tested. The road I had been following suddenly disappeared completely, all we could see were notices indicating the area ahead was closed. The people we stopped to ask the way couldn't understand English, so in the end we had to back-track several miles, and I almost sent Rob south on a huge interstate road instead of north! Arrggh.
After a long, taxing day we finally arrived at our campground as the sun went down, but we couldn't understand the system. All the sites seemed vacant, but they had reserved signs on them - all except the ones coverd in thistles!! In the end we thought too bad, and just put the tent up on a choice site, ignoring the reserved sign. Thank goodness no-one came and booted us out in the middle of the night.
The next day made up for everything. Pinnacles was a fascinating area, and our hike started off through a cave where we saw bats up on the ceiling. We climbed up through formidable rock formations and had to cope with some scarily steep stretches. Our efforts were rewarded by seeing the extremely rare Condor - he even flew right over our heads. We only saw two other people - it seems to us that every hiking area in the States is deserted in the autumn.
