From vegas we picked up a hire car to start our journey through Death valley and yosemite to get to San Francisco. This was a proper american road trip; blue skys and long roads with no-one else for miles. This was truly an amazing drive though the desert.
Our first night we slept in the back of the car in a free campsite called ‘wildrose’ which is in death Valley. This was a great free spot with toilets and there were a fair few other campers so it felt very safe. We were parked next to a nice guy called Alan who was taking pics of the moon and stars with a big zoom camera. It got really cold at night, be prepared if you’re going in winter.*
*Tip
Before commencing on this road trip make sure you’re really prepared and know your route well. We came across lots of road closures and had to keep changing plans! If your doing it in summer be careful as the temperatures reach so high a lot of car rentals don’t cover you and rescue trucks just won’t come out to you. Take plenty of fuel/water/food and spare if on a bike. There is not much around!
A few miles before wildrose there was one garage and saloon bar where we stopped for food, be warned the chicken burger came out cold and completely raw! And they still charged it to the bill.
The next morning we woke early to start the drive to Yosemite. As mentioned we hit a few road closures due to icy weather. The main pass through the park was closed so we had to use the Sonora pass which is a bit further north, adding on a good few hours to the trip. We then researched campsites to stay at but when we arrived it was closed for tree chopping. We had to park the car (sleeping in the car again) next to Heidi ‘ s (abandoned) ski shop. *
*Tip
We definitely would not recommend this, we probably could have been moved on and it was pretty scary. It looked like a scene from an American horror movie. Plan your journey well! It’s not all bad though, the drive is so beautiful and there are some nice spots along the way. One of them we’d recommend is pinecrest lake where you can have a good walk or swim if you like the cold water :).
The next morning we quickly started our journey to San Francisco. Carry on to the next page!
