Sequoia National Park: A Trip Report

[Paul & Deb]

We just returned from 6 days to Sequoia National Park. It was a spectacular trip in a most special place. We've tent camped and "cabined" here before but it's been many years and never with our RV. I was a bit nervous as my research did not turn up many sites for trailers of 36 feet and over.

First was the drive up. There are 2 highways leading in to the Sequoias, Hwy 198 east out of Visalia and Hwy 180 east from Fresno. The 198 is a no-no for anything over 22 ft long! Yikes! We did drive a section of it in just the truck and it's no wonder it is not recommended. Way to tight and narrow. We would never had been able to stay in the lines. The highway is literally posted as warning drivers that accidents from ignoring the length rule are your sole responsibility. Okay, we took the 180. It still has plenty of steep winding roads often with no guard rail so drivers beware. We had no trouble with the drive other than our friends POS Itasca motor home, which always seems to have something wrong with it, had the automatic electric entry stairs mysteriously open while driving and it caught the road on a tight turn and totally destroyed them. A ratchet strap on the side of the road and we were underway again.

We stayed at Lodgepole Campground, about 6,200 ft elevation. The highest elevation on the road in was a little over 8,000 ft. Finding our site was easy, getting in, well, not too bad but after looking over the entire CG I can't honestly say there are many sites for trailers over 35 or 36 feet. As usual it's not so much the site itself, it's maneuvering on the narrow, boulder and tree lined park roads. We were lucky and my research paid off with our site (027 BTW).

Our arrival was a bit of a calamity though as we were so excited we got into our spots after some careful maneuvering and got the rigs all leveled and opened when we realized we had forgotten to stop and fill our fresh water tanks! Yikes, we have to do this again? So we pulled out and wen to the area where the potable water (and dump station) were. Guess what we found? No threaded hose, just a cut off 12 section of hose attached in a way that it could not be removed to add my water hose. CRAP! My buddies MH at least had a traditional gravity fill inlet but I had no way to add water. I drove back to the ranger station and was told to try pulling up to the last loop and she believed there were a few water spigots in that loop that still had threaded fittings. Okay, off we go. We drove into this crazy tight narrow loop where all the RVs were little Class C rental units and some pop-up trailers and I'm thinking, this doesn't look good. But hey, we needed water and let's just get it done. This is getting long so let me say we found a spigot we could use but it was in a small pull through site. I pulled in and we filled but I couldn't pull through because of a tree so we backed out about 50 feet and started to go around the loop to get out. I nearly got stuck on a tight turn between a grouping of boulders on the passenger side and a huge tree on the drivers side.I honestly thought I had gotten myself into an unsolvable predicament. You know, kind of like when a kid sticks his head through a railing and then can't get it back out and you have to cut the banister? Anyway, after 10 minutes or so of maneuvering with Deb walking on the right side and me watching the tree on my side and an entire campground full of people, mostly foreigners, I managed to make it through without harm.

Finally back to our site and all setup and beer time.

The first couple days the temps were in the high 60s in the day and low 30s overnight including 26 the first night. No problems though. The trailer remained very comfortable using the furnace each morning for an hours to take the chill off. I love the generator hours at this CG. 8 to 11 and 5 to 8. Nice quiet mid-days and you can use your coffee maker in the morning. Most State and National CG we visit are 10 to 8. I like this much better.

On that first cold morning my furnace did have a little trouble getting lit but after 15 minutes or so it was fine. I had the same trouble on the Eastern Sierras last spring but after that first time it seemed to work fine. I have not tried to get the upgrade intake others have spoken of for the altitude.

We ended up with over a third tank of fresh water and plenty of space left in our holding tanks even though we both showered every day, etc. The oxygenetics shower head and the residential kitchen faucet which allows a fine spray even when turned on very low, really helped us conserve water and storage.

I was super pleased with my solar system and generator. I never had to run the generator to charge my batteries only to run appliances, coffee maker, toaster, hair dryer, etc.. Even in the trees, with nice sunny days I was seeing times of 200 watts of charging and every afternoon we would return from hiking to find our batteries fully charged. We watched TV for a few hours at night after our campfires and ran the furnace evening and mornings, etc.. and our batteries would go down to about 70% by morning but come right back up. i was more than happy with this mod. If I hadn't needed the gen for appliances, etc., I would have never needed to even start it.

Which brings me to my propane usage. i was concerned I would need to run the generator to charge my batteries each day and there is no place to get propane up there (even the one gas station in the park has no propane!) so I even brought an extra 5 gallon tank. After 6 days of fridge, water heater, furnace and generator I never had to even turn on my second bottle! Of course if my solar had not been so efficient at charging my batteries I would have had to run the generator much more burning through the propane.

All of my mods to this trailer really shined bright on this trip. From the disc brakes driving though the mountains to the generator, inverter and solar system. We were the envy of many; living in ridiculous comfort and luxury while in the remote wilds of the gorgeous and rustic mountains.

Now a few pictures starting with the obligatory campsite pictures:



In this picture you might be able to make out my tilt mounts in use on my panels. After studying the suns travel on the first day I was able to maximize my sun exposure.


Of course Maddie enjoying the sun

[Paul & Deb]

I love these Giant Sequoias flanking the highway:


Deb and I lost in the tall ferns:


This is a cabin made out of a fallen Sequoia. This fellow, Tharp, was the first white settler in the area. He came to run cattle and built this 'cabin" in the tree in 1860 and it still exists today! That's remarkable.

[wandering_pony]

Great read!

I am curious if anybody else has come up with a solution for the cut hoses if there is no threaded water spigot available. I see more cut hoses these days.




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[Paul & Deb]

Great read!

I am curious if anybody else has come up with a solution for the cut hoses if there is no threaded water spigot available. I see more cut hoses these days.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I carry a "water thief" ( http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...ter-thief/4690 ) but that won't work on a hose end, just a non-threaded spigot. I think I'm going to start carrying a couple different size quick change hose ends ( https://www.amazon.com/Orbit-Thread-...s=hose+fix+kit ), that way I can just add the threaded end to the hose and then remove it when I'm done. The hose in question was a 1/2" hose, so very small.

[wyodan]

I carry a 5 gal collapsible water jug and use the on board water pump to sucks the water into the fresh water tank as if I were winterizing. Have had to do this several times in Montana and in Alaska at campgrounds that have hand pumps.

Dan & Suzanne Gray 2014 Solitude 305RE/2011 F250 Super Duty Diesel

[Paul & Deb]

I carry a 5 gal collapsible water jug and use the on board water pump to sucks the water into the fresh water tank as if I were winterizing. Have had to do this several times in Montana and in Alaska at campgrounds that have hand pumps.

Dan & Suzanne Gray 2014 Solitude 305RE/2011 F250 Super Duty Diesel

I think that's great for a "top off" but I wouldn't want to fill my 60 gallon tank that way. I was planning to eventually get a bladder but now I don't think I will every really need one. A collapsible 5 gallon as you suggest would work great just to add for a day or so.

BTW, I have been carrying a large grey tote for years. It has never been used! I'm going to make a decision to stop lugging that dang thong around any more. Deb keeps trying to tell me to leave it at home but I always want to be prepared. I don't train well

[TahoeTrekker]

Great trip report...... we have been thinking of a trip there and now you have done my scouting for me...... Thanks Paul.

[Canyonlight]

Paul--awesome pictures....thanks for sharing them and your narrative too. We too love the sequoias but only saw them once on a trip to the central/northern left coast in one of our mini motorhomes several years ago......have to go back in next few years. Good to hear everything worked well.....you were in for a good run after your electrical challenges.

When we moved from a Rockies front range campground in Loveland, CO to Golden Gate Canyon State Park in July, I too forgot to fill my fresh water. I blamed it on my 60th BD that day and maybe excited to have a beverage or two with family to celebrate. We were already set up in a tight spot so I used a five gallon bucket filled at the bathhouse a few hundred feet away 3 or 4 times and sucked into the tank......worked like a charm and fairly quickly too. This water along with the 1/3 tank we had when we got there lasted just fine for 3 days.

Dan

[kevinpo]

Hello Paul,
Great write-up and the pictures sure brought back fantastic memories. I need to go back there soon (my last visit was the late 80's). Thankfully you were able to have some "beer time".

Cheers,
Kevin

[MountainFolk]

Went car camping (before Kamper) with small utility trailer to Mountain Home State Forest.
Nice rustic state campgrounds. Have to check on getting a trailer or 5th Wheel up there.

Great area, family really enjoyed it. Have been to Kings Canyon a couple of times also.