Our 2007 vacation plans began with Yosemite National Park. After studying the park not only from the National Parks website but also www.yosemitefun.com, I truly got excited about hiking Half Dome, the signature feature of the park. Since the hike entails about 17 miles and a 4,800 ft incline, I saw it as challenge on the order of the Grand Canyon which Trevor and I tackled in May of 2007. (We hiked down the South Kaibab Trail along the Colorado River and up the Bright Angel Trail about 17 miles with a 5,200 ft decline and incline in about 10 hours. Temperatures exceeded 101 at the river since Indian Gardens reached 101. I drank 2 gals of Gatorade plus additional water.) After my wife and I planed the Yosemite adventure, I was emailed a special repositioning cruise on the NCL Sun, a 10 day cruise starting in Honolulu, visiting Kahuli, Maui, Hilo, Hawaii, Lahaina, Maui and Kawai before cruising back to Ensenada, MX (5 sea days). We had planned 5 days in Yosemite but "had" to stay a few extra in California before our $170 flight for Honolulu. What to do? Visit Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and drive the CA coast.
So here's a chronological log of our longest but in some ways our most frugal trip. We flew to Reno via SWA. I used www.gtahotels.com to obtain a $41 room at Circus Circus which included 2 breakfast buffets tickets. After breakfast we went to Walmart to stock up on groceries for the week. We drove towards Yosemite via Lake Tahoe's western shore. We arrived at our condo in Yosemite West (privately owned but within the park) around sunset. We raced up Glacier Point to see Half Dome at sunset but were a little late. We then came back to our condo, fixed supper on the provided grill and prepared our packs for the big day-hiking Half Dome.
Our hike first involved getting to the Valley floor where we took the shuttle to the Happy Isles stop (#16). This is the trailhead for Vernal and Nevada Falls that continues on to Half Dome. We made good time up and managed to put on another layer of clothing before making the final ascent up the well know cables. (The last 400 yards of the climb is up a granite cliff whose angle approaches 45 degrees. Without cables to hold on to, the climb would be dangerous for anyone but a serious rock climber.) I had decided to carry rope and a spring clip to latch onto the cable on our ascent. Derek had taught us how to make a safety harness by tying the rope around our waist and legs. No one else used such a safety device although some people were jealous. The safety equipment was prompted by a fatal fall of a 37 year old this season at Half Dome. The climb up was quite easy on the mind. In fact it was much easier than the final ascent to Angel's Landing in Zion NP. But the safety strap took away much of the fear. Once we got to the top we took the standard pictures. Unfortunately, smoke from the NPS prescribed burning obscured the amazing view of the valley floor. As we were ready to head back down we were asked to help take photos of a US flag that had been all over the world. We helped and then took our own photo as well.
On the way up we had taken the "short cut" by Misty Falls; the route is about a 1 mile shorter but much steeper. On the way back down we choose the longer but more gradual John Muir Trail to help our knees. This trail gave excellent views of Liberty Cap. We finished up well before sunset and took the shuttle around the valley back to our car.
The next day it rained/snowed so we went south the Mariposa Groove to see the Redwoods of Yosemite (Sequoia is yet farther south). After making the drive to the south end of the park, I sure was glad that I didn't get a hotel in Winona or even farther south outside the park. The road was very windy and lead to carsickness if traveled very fast. Living that far south would add about 2 hours of travel time to the Valley or Glacier Point. Other hikes included Panoramic, 4 mile, Taft Dome and meandering along the Merced River in the Valley. We had the best weather for Panoramic and 4 Mile both of which are "not to be missed."
We are already planning to go back with Trevor. We may hike to Half Dome by doing Panoramic from Glacier Point. The trail would be longer but more gentle on the knees and more scenic.
After five nights in Yosemite (2 of which we heard howling coyotes outside our window), we headed toward Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. We spent about 1 ½ days there and traveled to Moro Bay, California to begin our CA coastline travels heading north. The first day we traveled from Moro Bay through Pebble Beach. We then had to skirt San Francisco in order to get to our room in Santa Rosa. We drove north to Ft Brag the "fast" way and came south on Route 1 toward Oakland where our next hotel room was located since we would be flying to Honolulu the next day.
Once we arrived in Honolulu we got our rental car, stocked up on groceries for the next two days and headed toward the North Shore to watch the surfers. Along the way we stopped for the Dole Plantation tour. It was much like going to Huber's-ag tourism. As we finally came to Kaneohee, the city of our hotel, we at first were much dismayed at the location. I had decided not to get a room in Waikiki due to the parking problems. The area of our hotel appeared very local and somewhat rundown. After we checked in, the hostess invited us to follow her with our car. We carefully drove down a very steep driveway, parked and followed her to our room (#24). We had been searching for a perfect sunset and low and behold it was to be found from our front porch that overlooked the bay. When we opened the door, we were amazed at the size of the condo that included a full kitchen ($98 per night). While the area was definitely 1 or 2 star, the view and the kitchen more than made up for it. Schraders Resort not only provided an excellent breakfast, but also on Wednesdays and Saturdays they have a pot luck dinner for residents to meet. They also provide a free kayak with 24-hour notice. This was our home for 2 nights prior to boarding the NCL Sun. We spent much of the next day hiking and the following day driving to scenic spots before returning the car and embarking on the Sun.
The NCL Sun is a foreign flagged ship unlike the Pride of Aloha and America. Consequently the service and food was somewhat better than NCL's American flagged ships that only visit American ports (all in Hawaii). (Actually I've leaned that one ship does 11 day cruises going to Fanning Island. The only reason for that is to open the Casino, which wouldn't be allowed while in Hawaiian waters.) The food NCL is definitely a notch below Princess, Celebrity and Holland America; but is definitely good enough when you have only paid $340 per person for a 10 day cruise!
On our first port day, Kahuli, Maui we rented a car and drove to Hana spending most of our stopping time at Wainapanapa State Park. This has become my wife's favorite place. We stayed for over 2 hours watching the waves explode against the volcanic shore. We had hoped to drive all the way around the Island but last year's earthquake had put the road out of commission; we returned the way we had come.
The next stop was Hilo the Big Island. Our rented car took us to MacKenzie State Park and the Lava Tree State Monument. Our next stop was Lahaina, Maui where we snorkeled two beach access points. Our last stop was Lihue, Kauai. Here we had the least amount of time. We had to be back by 4:30 pm (8pm all other ports) and to top it off we couldn't disembark until about 9:30 am due to only one local pilot when there were two ships tendered. In spite of the lack of time we hiked part of the Napali Coast starting at Haena State Park. We hiked in and out 2 miles to the nearest beach. We hope to hike again by staying in Kauai on our next Hawaiian adventure. (We saw the Waimea Canyon and took the helicopter ride last year.)
For our Hawaii pictures click here:
The last 5 sea days went by quickly enough; we then had to bus to San Diego from Ensenada, MX to catch our SWA plane home.
We survived, our dog survived and we'd love to do it again. (Our dog, Shadow, died the evening of the March 2008 snow storm. His mom, Diane, has cried more over the dog than after the death of other relatives.) For our last picture of Shadow and our children click here:
This was the boy's Christmas present to Diane knowing that Shadow's time was short
