Best Camping Trip Ever Part 2: Walk on the Wild Side

(With apologies to Val for the delay!)


This is a great post. It has lots of pictures of animals. Just so you know.


After lunch, it was back in the baby truck to drive further into the park and take a hike with the Sequoias.


There were some roadworks, so we had to wait a little bit before they let us through. It's tough when you have to hang about surrounded by gorgeous scenery.

(No, these are not the animal photos. The animals are furry. And they're coming up. Promise.).

Then we stopped at the Auto Log. It's so huge that apparently you can drive on it. Here, however, is Mike sitting on it, for scale:

We also saw where woodpeckers had been busy on a nearby trunk. We could hear the woodpeckers drilling but they are shy and it's rare to spot them.

We continued to drive to the start of the trail, but were irritated by a bunch of people and vehicles taking up the road space.


Well, we were irritated until we saw what had grabbed their attention: a mother bear (first photo) with her two cubs following.

  

OMG!!!! I was busting out of my skin with excitement! The only time I've seen bears before (aside from the zoo) was in Yosemite, where they were being a bit feral breaking into rubbish bins (and cars - I've never seen an entire window literally peeled down and drivers' seat totally shredded. They're powerful, especially when they smell an esky in the boot! You don't want to mess with those shoulders or claws).


It was absolutely incredible to see them truly in the wild, just ambling along. Pinch me, I'm dreaming!


But I was seriously beating myself up that the Heh-Heh-I-Got-Close-To-Awesome-Wildlife telephoto lens was at home, albeit on Sean's list of things to pack. Not much use to me at that particular moment. Still, as you can see, I cropped a couple of the above for your viewing pleasure. The Nikon, she is a nice camera.


Next wildlife encounter was a robin!

And then more sequoia trunk. These trees are amazing. They don't die of anything - fire, disease, age. The only way they succumb is if they fall over - they have shallow root systems. They can also shoot off a horizontal branch that then becomes a secondary tree growing from the first one at the canopy level. Of course, sometimes the weight of this secondary tree can pull the parent over. Typical offspring accelerating the parents' demise!

We had driven as far as we could along the road to the start of the trail. Snow prevented us getting all the way to the carpark, so we set off on foot along the road. Even though it was May, there was still a heap of snow on the ground:

Next major excitement - a chipmunk! We'd only been walking for about 10 minutes and I was starting to feel like something out of a Winter Wonderland Christmas card.

I totally rate chipmunks for cuteness. They are just adorable, with their striped coat and bright black eyes.


It was another I-Want-My-Telephoto moment.


Here's the best I can do with the post-hoc cropping:

I was starting to think the animals were putting on a show for us, because next thing, we happened upon some deer in a clearing:

They looked a tad skinny after winter.


I couldn't help it with that "name" joke:


             Q: What do you call a deer with no eyes?
             A: No idea


             Q: What do you call a deer with no eyes and no legs?
             A: Still no idea

Sorry about that.

And just to cap it off, ......we actually SAW a woodpecker - and Yours Truly was quick enough to snap it (winning no awards for modesty, here).

Can you spot it in the middle of the trunk?

Oh, okay then:

After all that animal spotting, we'd barely begun our walk. So next post will be filled with stunning landscapes.


Sequoia sure knows how to put on a show!