Yosemite/Sequoia in November – Intro

Next: Sequoia and Kings Canyon – Day 1

For Thanksgiving 2022 we planned to visit travel buddies from our Backroads hiking trips.  We would spend a few days, including Thanksgiving with Ann in San Rafael, California (just north of San Francisco), then we would drive to Yosemite National Park and Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks for four nights, and then end our trip with two days at our friend John’s condo along Lake Tahoe, in Tahoe City, California.

The itinerary was:

Mount Tam and Sonoma County Wineries

November 22-24

While in San Rafael for a few days, the highlights were:

Visiting two excellent but very different Sonoma County wineries: the elegant Ridge Vineyards in Lytton Springs,

and the earthy Preston Farm and Winery in Healdsburg;

Finding lunch to-go in the artsy, funky, frontier town of Geyserville near the wineries;

Eating really good Chinese food in downtown San Francisco (no pics….too busy trying to figure out what we were eating);

And, hiking around the East Peak at Mt. Tamalpais State Park (Mt. Tam).  After paying $8 to park in the small upper lot, we set out on the easy but highly rewarding .7-mile Verna Dunshee Loop Trail. This highly accessible trail is where we were treated to constant, spectacular views of the Bay area from 2,500’ up. Emilie and I took a 400′ spur trail to an overlook that probably wasn’t necessary, but with these spurs we are like moths to the flame.  Driving here from San Rafael was far more challending than hiking the loop trail.  We drove miles and miles of very windy, heavily wooded expensive neighborhoods at a steady incline for over half an hour. We were actually hurrying a bit to be sure we could drive down with the daylight.

Next: Sequoia and Kings Canyon – Day 1