My birthday camping trip to Sequoia National Park with the mighty Plotnick was pretty near perfect. Angst was unceremoniously dumped on the side of the road somewhere between Routes 5 and 99.

Speaking of 99, the incredible charm of the fading road signs and exotic/scary lure of the trucker lifestyle along that highway made for dawdling and pausing often for photographs. Tulare, Tagus, Bakersfield. Lord, I haven’t been around thataway for years and years.

And the Park. We could not have chosen a more perfect, dreamy, delicate time to visit. Flowers were in bloom, chill was in the air, and our campsite was dappled, quiet — but still exciting, as the threat of bears loomed. We cityfolk felt important as we busily stowed our food, our beer, our scented soaps in the bear box. Bear Management came by often to check up on us. I may have not seen a bear — for which I am grateful, as I would have shat myself — but I saw deer. Nibbling the grass on the oddly vertical meadows behind us.

The nearby river was crazy with the winter runoff. Carved, giant, smooth boulders and rocks everywhere. Flowers everywhere. Delicious food everywhere. I got me some cowboy recipes and made dump cake and biscuits in the dutch oven. Danny fried up a breakfast one morning that was so retro, I could feel my grandparents grinning in approval.

Although I’ve camped a fair amount in my adult life, being in the Sierras brought many ghosts, good ghosts, close to me. This is where my mom’s family is sunk down deep. My grandfather Reg rests, in ash form, in the foothills. This is where my mom and dad took me on adventures to the high and low country. It was on the shore of a lake next to a glacier in the High Sierras, that my mom and I saw a snake devouring a frog — while we ourselves were devoured by tiny black flies. That was the day after I threw myself backwards off the edge of an incredibly high cliff, and rappelled right down. I was all of ten years old. Who were those people? Who was that outdoorsy and utterly fearless girl?

A trip, that’s what this was. I feel very lucky.

see camping trip photos

Danny’s shots here

Photo: Sierra Mountains in background, originally uploaded by hambox.