While I've been to San Francisco 3 times so far, I did not see much of California outside of it. I won't talk about San Francisco right now, since the city deserves a separate article just for itself. But this time I was really aching to see more of the wild side of The Golden State. And while I didn't get to Yosemite, I did make it to Muir Woods for half a day to see the monumental Redwood trees and I also took another half a day to do a little beach hopping around the Half Moon Bay. And after I was done with San Francisco and surroundings, I rented a car and took a longer road-trip that went in and out of California and Nevada. In just a few days, I experienced everything from snow and rain to scorching heat, and an itinerary passing through mountains, hills, desert and coast areas.
1. Eastern Sierra Road Left San Francisco early in the morning, heading to Lake Tahoe. As soon as we left Sacramento, the mountains started peaking up, the temperatures fell down and a fresh layer of snow was covering the forest floor. Stopped for lunch in Tahoe City, right by the lake and after Tahoe, we headed down to Mono Lake and Inyo Forest, where it started snowing for real. We were considering entering Yosemite from the eat side, but Tioga Road was closed due to heavy snowfall (and that was late May!). We were able to catch a glimpse of the beautiful Sierra Nevada peaks nonetheless, and even to hug a sequoia tree. We only did half of the Eastern Sierra and stopped in Bishop for the night, as we also wanted to see Death Valley National Park.
2. Death Valley The second point of interest for our trip was the hottest, driest and lowest national park of North America. From Bishop, a mountain town, we turned East, crossed into Nevada again and slowly made our way into drier and drier lands. We soon entered Rhyolite, a former Gold Rush era mining settlement, now a ghost town at the entrance of Death Valley. It used to be flourishing, but short-lived. After 4 years it was abandoned and it is now mostly inhabited by ruins and a few art installations (like the mortar ghosts that really fit the scenery). When we left Bishop, it was somewhere around 12 degrees Celsius (53 F). When we got to Death Valley, a few hours later, it was 34 C (93 F). Since Death Valley has the lowest point in North America ( 85.5m / 282 ft below sea level), you keep driving down and down, until you reach the bottom of what used to be an immense lake. The temperatures here rise by the minute. The wind velocity as well (as you can see below). Volcanic minerals are constantly shaped and eroded by heat, water and wind. Iron, aluminum, magnesium and titanium give this landscape a multitude of colors.
3. Isabella Lake and Kern Canyon Exiting Death Valley in a little sand storm, we turned again towards the Sierra Nevada mountains and started seeing more and more Joshua trees. Passing small towns around Sequoia National Forest, I had no idea what to expect. But I must admit, it was probably my favorite part of the trip: the sunny mountain crests in the background opened up to reveal Lake Isabella in the rain, with the fog creeping in. And after leaving this incredible view, we went on to cross Kern River Canyon. And from there on, the pouring rain chaperoned us for the entire rest of the day.
4. Big Sur The next day, leaving the mountains behind, we entered the coast road CA-1 in Morro Bay and from there on we made our way up to Big Sur. The winding road is bordered to the West by the Pacific and to the East by Santa Lucia Mountains. You literally drive along the ocean line for hours. We stopped like every 10 minutes to take photos or just a deep breath and to enjoy the view. Had a great lunch at Ragged Point Inn, lovely encounters with the local fauna and took so many photos I hardly know what to add here.
5. The 17 Mile Drive Continuing to drive up from the Big Sur, we reached Carmel-by-the-Sea. Which in itself looks like a piece of heaven. From there, you can enter the 17-mile drive, a private scenic road (the fee is around 10$ per vehicle), that goes through residential areas of Pebble Beach and has many vista points and beautiful beaches. You pass the Lone Cypress, Bird Rock, the Seal Island and beautiful mansions with an ocean view. The 17 Mile Drive ends in Pacific Grove, a lovely resort, where deer literally stroll down the street. And the sunset was just perfect - a great end to this trip. The next day we woke up to drive to the airport, and it rained the entire time.
As a bonus, you can watch a one minute version of the almost 2000 km trip here: