LEAVING THE SIERRAS

Sequoias at Giant Forest

HOME: Lemon Grove, Ca.  Plantation B&B
DISTANCE: 40 miles
ALTITUDE: Descended 7200 ft., ascended 1,000.  We’re 6200ft. lower than yesterday
WEATHER: Perfect
NARRATIVE:

Greening the desert thanks to Kaweah Dam.

Today we left the Sierras and the Sequoia groves for the desert and palm trees in one dramatic drop.  A fascinating descent where we began in the morning with the temperature at 38 degrees, and ending at our B&B with a temp of 72.  One amazing ride going through the vegetation zones of the big trees to the foothills of oak, Manzanita, maples, and buckeyes to the bare desert hills.  We had lunch in Three Rivers, a scenic town made up mostly of motels, and aptly named three rivers – the North Kaweah, Middle Kaweah, and South Kawea all merge here to form The Kaweah River, which is dammed just below Three Rivers and “greens” the desert.

Our B&B, in Lemon Grove (named in late 1800’s when they did grow lemons.  No one wanted lemons in LA, they liked oranges, so the owners ripped out the lemon trees and planted orange trees.  The name stuck).  The theme of the B%B is Gone with the Wind, we are in the Scarlet O’Hara Room, and the large back yard, with it’s palm trees and grass gives the feel of an Oasis in the desert. We spent the last few hours of daylight under the palm trees soaking up the sun. Our room looks to the surrounding hills, which are lovely in the late afternoon light.  The owners have been in business for 15 years, and it is a lovely place.

We encountered our first bicyclist in quite awhile today – a 22 year old German guy who was heading uphill to Sherman Tree in Sequoia.  The remarkable thing about his journey is that we met him at the bottom of our descent at around 2:00 and it is dark at 6:30, and he had no idea it was 6,500ft. of climbing and 38 miles to Sherman tree, and thought he could make it today. We told him the situation; there are few services beyond Three Rivers – he seemed undaunted – I guess it has something to do with being only 22:).

A NOTE ABOUT OUR CHANGE OF PLANS:  As it turns out we are both ending the trip in Bakersfield in 4 or 5 days.  The logistics of getting through the remote desert mountain areas below Kernville were getting difficult.  There’s lots of climbing and great distances between services, even camping, and the days are getting very short (dark by 6:30).  We’ll rent a car in Bakersfield, check out some of the areas on this last section to see if we want to do it another time.  My thought is that it would be beautiful in the Spring, combined with a trip through Anza Borrega and Joshua Tree.  There’s nothing more beautiful than the desert in the Spring.