California! Kings Canyon National Park

September 5, 2026: I didn't get to sleep until about 2am! Noise from the highway continued ALL NIGHT! I awoke early anyway and headed to Kings Canyon National Park hoping to beat the weekend crowds. The highway was fairly empty...then I got to the ticket gate and there is a line up of about ten vehicles. Behind me immediately pulled in ten more. OH! Not only is it the weekend, but it's LABOR DAY WEEKEND! OMG! I had no idea! What was I thinking?

Even with a holiday weekend the park wasn't bad at all. I was anticipating bumper-to-bumper traffic and it wasn't. The only horror are the Californians. Impatient, rude, thoughtless. I drive the speed limit, first because there are stupid people always milling about looking anywhere but at my van coming toward them. Second, there are bears and other wildlife. I would be horrified to run anything over that large and cute! Third, these park roads are very narrow and with Californians behind me riding my ass and Californians coming at me crossing the center stripe, it's dangerous especially with a drop off into the very deep canyon on one side. Last, I like looking at things. Why go to a national park just to be in a hurry? I hate people behind me, especially rude people, so I constantly have to pull off on the pullout to let them pass. I cuss them out when they do pass. Toward noon the parking lots were full. I avoid people so I don't bother stopping. The highways were still quite empty. I'm happy I'm here in September and not July or August!

Nice park. Not as beautiful as Yosemite, but lovely drive into the very deep canyon. It smells like the desert plant creosote. I love that smell as long as it's not strong or it gives me a headache.

I stopped and saw the General Grant Tree and a giant hollow log.

I love the giant logs that have been hollowed out. They are so huge!

Drove  the Kings Canyon Road with gorgeous views of the canyon. At the bottom of the canyon was Kings River with giant boulders and lots of rushing water. 

Continued to the Cedar Grove Visitors Center where they have a laundry ($3.00) and showers ($1.50 for a token for five minutes). The shower was hot and seemed to last longer than five minutes.

I kept noticing vans, trailers, and even a bus parked along side the park road. I always thought once you were beyond the national park gate camping was limited to official park campgrounds and no dispersed camping was allow. Then I saw a sign that said, "No Dispersed Camping Beyond This Point". WHAT?!! I stopped at the next national park information center. Kings and Sequoia National Parks are right next to each other but there are spaces in between and along the sides that are part of the Sequoia National Forest.  Dispersed camping is allowed in these locations!

Unfortunately, I don't have enough food to stay too long, but enough to survive the holiday weekend. I'll be famished by Tuesday morning. I plan to carefully use the food I have and then head to Fresno where there is a Whole Foods, maybe get an oil change while I'm there, and then come back to see Sequoia National Park.

Dispersed Camp Spot #1

I'm in a gorgeous camping location just south of Tenmile Campground in the woods which is in the Sequoia National Forest, on the side of the road to Hume Lake, but with enough sun to use Starlink and get solared. So relaxing and beautiful! Living my best life! I'm loving this!

September 6, 2026: Very quiet night. I usually go to bed hot because the sun has been beating down on the van all day. In the middle of the night I wake up freezing. It's hard getting out of bed in the cold, but it's intolerable to stay cold so unwrap my blankets, put a wool sweater and happiness sweats on over my pajamas, my red, oversized hoodie over everything, and put the wool blanket over all my other blankets. I really hate nights and look forward to the morning.

This camp spot is also anything but flat. I think I've moved the van ten times trying to find a spot that didn't tilt, then finding afternoon shade, and later sun to keep the solars charging. I pray I don't get stuck in the dirt. My constant fear. No rain in the forecast or I'd head to cement! It's raining all over Arizona...