Saturday Sep 9, 2023 - Silver Lake Resort to Big Bend Campground

The RV Resort was a good one. We have stayed at some that are kind of iffy but this one is 100+ years old and they take good care of everything. The people we met who stay there come every year and speak highly of the owners. And the general store next door is super cute and we gave their restaurant attached to the general store two thumbs up this morning with good diner breakfast, nice folks, and knotty pine everywhere with giant stuffed fish hanging on all the walls. We got to breakfast just as the doors opened at 7am and there were already 6 guys in line to get in. They filled the bar stools before we could get to them. Obviously this is their morning ritual.

Chatted with a couple, Mike (female Michaela) and her husband Joe from Flagstaff. Very chatty and very fun folks. It rained the first time just as we finished breakfast and it would rain off and on all day, though not very hard.

So goodbye Silver Lake and north on June Lake Loop until we got back out to Rt 395. Then a short hop to turn west on Rt 120, aka Tigoa Pass Road. But first we had to stop at Whoa Nellie Deli (aka Mobil station) to get a sandwich for lunch. We found a roast beast sandwich and I found pretty good coffee. A lot of younger people around here we assume for all the hiking, biking, and kayaking opportunities. We left just as a giant bus full of Japanese women tourists arrived which swamped the place.

The climb up to 9,900 ft is steady and two lane and crooked and beautiful. Lots of “wow”, just “wow” moments. We noted all of the Forest Service campgrounds on the way up where we hoped to snag a site this afternoon. The Yosemite Park east entrance is at the top of the pass and there was a short line of 6 or so cars, probably because we were early (9:00 ish). The senior pass got us in for free (getting old is like printing money) and we made the long descent down the other side into the park proper.

Coming in the east entrance is great because it is a long curvy beautiful road with very little traffic and lots of Yosemite sites. There is some snow left up on the mountains but nothing below. The lakes are all full and the meadows are all green and the conifer trees smell wonderful. The temperatures were in the 50 to 70 degree range. The road is good pavement with lots of pulloffs. Speed limit is 45 but it was the kind of road begging for you to drive slower (hence the pulloffs). 

We said we would continue until the traffic got yucky and we actually made it past Bridal Veil Falls and turned onto the Yosemite Village Loop. The traffic got yucky just as we hit the Half Dome part of the park so we did not see it. It became like a busy city with multiple lanes and pedestrians everywhere so we turned around and headed back out. We did get to go by El Capitain on our way out, which was awesome.

The trip back up Tioga Pass was very un-busy and we got all of the reverse views. We stopped at the Tioga Pass entrance and asked what time the park entrance opened and they said 24 hours. So next time, we could get up at the butt-crack of dawn and get down into the heart of the park before the toursts (that would be us) wake up. 

Next came the hunt for a campsite. This is a very busy area with Yosemite right here and there are 5 Forest Service campgrounds on this road that are first come first serve, which means no reservations ahead of time. You have to drive through and look for an empty site, and put your tag on the post in front of the site and it’s yours. The first two campgrounds were full but the third had a few sites, so we grabbed one next to a brook and decided to stay right there. It was a very rocky site so special care not to drag the oil pan on anything. At around 6:30 a young couple arrived saying that they had reserved this site. It appears they had paid for 2 nights earlier in the day but the tag had gone missing on the post, so we packed up and found an even better site just up the road at the fourth campground. So we are out the $7 for the first site. It all worked out. And bonus, there was a guy with a KTM 1090 camping next to us which Milo of course had to chat up. Nicer bathrooms (no smelly port-a-potties), the same brook, and fewer other campers. Things just work out.

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