Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Sequoia - Kings Canyon and lodging

In this thread ( Talk about Snakes ), Bulldog34 wrote:
...for our family when we visit the western Sierra and do the Yosemite/Kings/Sequoia thing. We stay in Fresno (Hi Steve) and daytrip...

Bulldog34, you're driving a long way each day! Of course you also get access to Yosemite. But if you want to concentrate on Sequoia, Kings Canyon (and also the Mineral King area of Sequoia N.P.), try Googling bed and breakfast sequoia national park.

That will return a number of places in Three Rivers, a town just outside the south entrance to Sequoia. While it puts Yosemite out of reach, the closest spot there is only ten miles from points in Sequoia.

And then you could also day trip into Mineral King, a long winding road, but good to visit at least once.

Consider staying at Silver City. Silver City is located about 2 miles from the floor of Mineral King. They rent cabins..... have a nice restaurant. I've stayed there many times.

Paul

Thanks for the advice, Steve. Yes, we do drive a long way each day, but Yosemite is the main attraction, and we hit it 3 days out of a week spent in the area. Those are typical of our vacations though - fly in, get our rental car and put 2000 miles or so on it in a week tagging national parks for dayhikes.

A few years ago, when our daughter was four, we flew to SLC, and pretty much did the Grand Circle in 8 days. We spent 8 nights in 7 different locations and put almost 3000 miles on the rental car. We hit Zion, the Grand Canyon (north rim), Lake Powell, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef. A little extreme, but not that far from "typical" for one of our family vacations. We never hesitate to drive long distances to see/do something worthwhile.

On the lodging side, we've never stayed in a B&B 'cuz I have 25-plus years of service with Marriott. Free lodging benefit for life now. Free is good - and costs less. Throw in miles or Rewards points redemptions for airfare, and these things are dirt cheap for us. In Fresno, we typically stay at either the Courtyard or Residence Inn off of Shaw (?).

Remind me to tell you some day about how we got lost heading to Kings one morning on the Kings Canyon Highway while it was still under construction. The highway detoured, we ran off the map trying to find a direct shot to the park, and wound up in an incredibly lovely little place called Wonder Valley in the foothills. My wife was ready to call the movers that day . . .

I will add, though, that I am damn sick and tired of driving so much on vacations. Now that our daughter is ten, she's not as patient in the car as she was when she was four, six, eight. Next trip out there we may just follow your advice.

When you are in town, would you like to meet up SteveC & I at the Sequoia Microbrewery? Great pizza & beer.

Hey wagga, would love to! Never meet a beer I couldn't tame, with enough determination. Problem is, our vacation this year will be the east side. Of all the places I've taken my family out west over the years, particularly in California, my wife and daughter have never seen the eastern Sierra. You name it, anywhere else in the state, they've been (at least once), but never up that 395 corridor (Lee Vining/Mono Lake excepted, after several drives across Tioga from the valley). After years of me wandering off to Death Valley in the winter by myself, and then my trip to Whitney this past summer, my wife put her foot down and insisted that our summer vacation in 2010 would be built around my second Whitney attempt. As she put it, "You're taking us to the Sierra we can actually see when we're not in it, and that's all there is to it!". Central Valley smog really pisses her off.

When I was in Lone Pine in August for Whitney, I acclimated 3 days hiking the Cottonwood Lakes and Pass trails, but I shot up to Yosemite for one day to hike Mono Pass (see Steve, no problemo driving 220 miles RT to spend a few hours hiking 10 miles!). When my wife found out that I had gone to Yosemite without her - even though it was only 4 miles into the park - she damn near disowned me. I got gentle (and not-so-gentle) jabs about it for weeks after I got back.

Any-who, we'll see what happens in July. I wouldn't necessarily say no to driving up 395, across Tioga and down the General's Highway for a pizza, a brew and good company. Going back would be another matter.

Quillansculpture and I are tentatively planning to meet up in Death Valley in February for a couple of days hiking (Corkscrew Peak!), so maybe we can work something out then. I know with Tioga closed, it's a bear trying to get from one side of the Sierra to the other. It will be the last week of Feb (in on the 23rd, out on 3/3 - I just booked air and car today).

Jacob Marley Barleywine at 12%ABV.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9914/34171

I do have a bottle of '94 Sam Adams Triple Bock unopened.

Bulldog34 wrote:
> On the lodging side, we've never stayed in a B&B 'cuz I have 25-plus years of service with Marriott. Free lodging benefit for life now. Free is good - and costs less.

and:
> Problem is, our vacation this year will be the east side.

Ummm... Marriott doesn't have a hotel on the east side. Or are you gonna drive from Reno every day.

Well Steve, see, that's the problem. That's why I stayed at the Dow in August (and commented about it at length somewhere on this site, but damned if I can recall what thread it was - you know how they morph).

No, the plan next summer is camping at Horseshoe Meadows and on Whitney (assuming I can snag a 2-night permit). We'll probably also spend a night or two at the Hostel before calling it a vacation. Shipping the camping gear out is going to be fun - assuming the ridiculous airline baggage charges still apply, it's cheaper.

And we'll fly in/out of Vegas, not Reno. Atlanta-Vegas is cheap; Atlanta-Reno not. That, and our 10 year-old daughter just loves Vegas. Can't wait to see what the future holds for her . . .

And we do have a Springhill Suites in Ridgecrest - don't think I didn't consider it, vs paying $600 for a week at the Dow.