Day 2: July 2, Sun - LodgePole Campground

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who wake up early on a camping trip and those who need to be woken up. Shivanna & Prasanna definitely belong to the first category. They woke up early and went for an early morning walk. I didn't sleep very well and hence I was reluctant to wake up. Shivanna says that daylight kicks in as early as 4:30am! (That reminds me: there are two kinds of people in this world: those who go to bed wearing their watch and those who don't. Shivanna belongs to the first category)

Once everybody was up, we got the fire going again and made some coffee.



The view from our campsite was pretty nice.

(Right behind our campsite)

Here are a few snaps that I took before we got busy with cooking breakfast.

(Surya & Shivanna: Up early)

(Vaishu & Shruthi lounging in our tent)

(Vaishu sipping juice)

(Surya being adventurous)

(Venkatesh looking into the distance)

(Prasanna & Triveni figuring out breakfast logistics)

(Shruthi: Nice & Bright)

We had Dosas for breakfast. Veena had brought the hittu. It came out very nice.
Calci's stove that I had borrowed was indispensible throughout the trip. It worked wonderfully.

(Yes! Dosas for breakfast)

After breakfast, we packed our tents. We had the LodgePole campsite reserved for only one day since we couldn't get it for 2 days. We had another campsite reserved at Hume Lake for day two. Below you see us all ready to head out. Our plan was to hike to Tokopah falls - which was a 1.7 mile hike each way. It is along the marble fork of Kaweah river.

(Hiking to Tokopah Falls)
(Kaweah River in the background)

The ranger said that Tokopah Falls hike was fairly easy. All of us started hiking towards it. At the trailhead, we realized that we couldn't take Vaishu's stroller since the path was rocky. So we left it there by the wayside and continued. After a while, we went ahead of VVP. We walked for some more time and Surya was feeling tired by now. So it was just Shruth and me going ahead now. We decided to go all the way to the falls and were chugging along when Prasanna again caught up with us. By this time, we were at a point from where we could get a view of the falls. TSS also caught up with us here.

(Half way through the hike)

(You can see Tokopah Falls in the distance)

TSS decided to stop here since the path got very rocky from here onwards. Prasanna, Shruthi & I persisted and continued to the top.

(The climbers who made it to the top!)

(Tokopah: In All Its Glory)

(A Patel Shot To Please Ourselves :-)

The hike back took just 45 minutes. We were back at our cars by 1:30pm. By this time we were quite hungry. We wanted to take a shower and eat lunch. So we headed to the MarketPlace.
After we ordered food at the grill, we were waiting for our burgers'n'fries when the fire alarm went off. I have experienced fire alarms going off at home and at office. Never in a shop or a restaurant. This was funny in a way. They sent us all out of the building. We were waiting and wondering if we would get our food at all. Then they reopened the door and let us all in. A very tasty veggie burger was enjoyed by one and all (literally - since every one of us ordered a veggie burger!).

It was now time for some more patel-giri. We wanted to check out the Tunnel Log - which is a very huge tree through which we can drive our car.

(Why is this man so happy?)

(She took the road less travelled...)

(But decided to turn back)

(The Log Train)

(Teen Deviyan)

(Teen Deviyan: They are everywhere!)

(How did they get on top of this tree trunk?)

By the time we were done seeing Tunnel Log & Auto Log, it was almost 4:30pm. We decided to drive to the Hume Lake Campground which was 45 minutes away from LodgePole. Our plan was to be able to pitch tents and finish cooking before it got dark.

We drove past the Hume Lake Christian Camps(this is a private camp) and got to the Hume Lake Campground at about 6pm. Coffee was quickly made and slurped. Pitching tents less time today since we were experienced by now.

(Hume Lake Campsite)

(Dinner Preparation: What's in those glasses?)

(Why is she eyeing the special coke?)

We had a nice fire going after dinner. But I don't have any pictures. Shruthi narrated Ramayana to Vaishu & Surya. Surya attempted to americanize the story by introducing a cop car which raced to nab the villain Ravana :-) Prasanna touched upon astronomy and other matters. The concept of "Ding Dong" (a formal way to end a joke) was introduced to Vaishu & Surya and it seems to have caught on with them!

It was almost 11:30pm when we slept under the starry sky.