When it’s a 3-day weekend and slated to be over 100 degrees, it’s almost mandatory to leave Los Angeles and seek cooler temperatures near the ocean or in the mountains. Since the mountains are much more accessible, we chose the latter, stopping at Classic Burgers in Inyokern to charge the truck, driving up through Kennedy Meadows and onto Smith Mountain Road in Sequoia National Forest.
Finding a dispersed camping site with a ring didn’t prove difficult even with the swaths of people crowding the area near the highway. Lucy was excited for smells the whole ride and in sentry mode once we got to camp, keeping an eye out for danger (only motorbikes were around) and digging herself a hole for comfort.
Since we didn’t arrive until about 4pm we relaxed for a bit, then took a short walk which I followed up with a quick run to explore the area. As the sun went down, we started the fire (thankfully still permitted above 5,000ft) and did the mandatory campfire hot dogs which Lucy was intensely interested in of course!
The next day after buttermilk pancakes and chicken sausage, we continued down the road and took a short 2.5mi hike connecting the dirt rode with a motorcycle path – Lucy was a big fan of jumping on all the logs and spinning, creating little dust storms that got Jacob nice and dirty.
After that, it was time to go home, where we were greeted by the nice 99 degree Valley heat, though with the benefit of air conditioning! All in all, a nice short microadventure – while it’s debatable if it’s worth the time and effort for such a quick trip, to some extent it makes it easier to justify leaving town.
- Trip type: Car Camping
- Distance: 2.5mi
- Altitude Gain: N/A (camped at 8,000ft)
- Length: 2 days, 1 night
Nice short getaway for Lucy (and you). She really was bounding around the trail. Nice you have the option of
heading for the cooler mountains when it’s so hot.
Lucy was bounding down the trail. She needed this as much as you and Jacob did. Lots of Lucy pics in this post- she really enjoys Jacob’s lap.
Lucy was really bounding down the trail. She really needed this as much as you and Jacob.