I have heard many people saying that you should try sky-diving, scuba-diving, para sailing, bungee jumping, snorkeling and rock climbing. These are once in a life time experiences but if you ask me, I would rather say 'Camping'. Camping is the best thing I have ever experienced in my life. But the question is why do I love camping so much? Let me try to put my reasons forward for it: - Camping is something which one can directly relate to nature.
- It is something which one will enjoy in any circumstances; whether you are going alone or with a group of friends.
- When you wake up at the morning, the chirping sound of the birds greet you unlike the alarm clock, of everyday routine. In other words, you come face to face with the nature.
Yosemite and Sequoia are the best places where you can take a break from routine life and go camping, especially during the summers.
I'll start with my experiences at Sequoia camping which I would always cherish for life. We started late in the afternoon from our places and reached there at round about midnight. It was pitch dark and damn cold, when we reached there. To add to this, the sound coming from the river was terrifying. I and my friend stayed near by our car and our husbands went to look for the 'Kings Canyon' campsite which was allotted to us, with a torch light. As it was damn cold outside, we were shivering and also, the very thought of BEARS, which I had read/heard a lot about, was not helping us. That day, I ended up offering prayers to almost all the Gods to keep us safe. Luckily we didn't see any bear that night and I thank God for that, till this day.
After identifying the campsite, our husbands came back to offload all the things which were in our car trunk. We finally put everything (i.e. shampoo, deodorant, shaving kit, food, perfumes, soap etc) in the bear proof container of our campsite, which the ranger had asked not to put outside. There was a big container in every campsite so that people could put their things in the container. Now was the time to put our tents. It took us close to an hour to put up our tent even though this was not our first time, because the surface was really rocky and the climate was really cold. It was well past 1 am and finally we had put two tents. Luckily, we were surrounded by a group of students. From time to time, they came to us for checking if we needed some help and offered us some valuable tips like what to do if a bear came near you. Believe me, these were really very useful tips for us. They also provided us woods for the campfire. Nearby park facilities included toilets, camping, a snacks bar and a store. After all this, when we went inside the tent, it was so relaxing. When we came out of our tents, the next day morning, the first word which struck our mind was WOW!! Do you know the reason why?
Picture this:
I'll start with my experiences at Sequoia camping which I would always cherish for life. We started late in the afternoon from our places and reached there at round about midnight. It was pitch dark and damn cold, when we reached there. To add to this, the sound coming from the river was terrifying. I and my friend stayed near by our car and our husbands went to look for the 'Kings Canyon' campsite which was allotted to us, with a torch light. As it was damn cold outside, we were shivering and also, the very thought of BEARS, which I had read/heard a lot about, was not helping us. That day, I ended up offering prayers to almost all the Gods to keep us safe. Luckily we didn't see any bear that night and I thank God for that, till this day.
After identifying the campsite, our husbands came back to offload all the things which were in our car trunk. We finally put everything (i.e. shampoo, deodorant, shaving kit, food, perfumes, soap etc) in the bear proof container of our campsite, which the ranger had asked not to put outside. There was a big container in every campsite so that people could put their things in the container. Now was the time to put our tents. It took us close to an hour to put up our tent even though this was not our first time, because the surface was really rocky and the climate was really cold. It was well past 1 am and finally we had put two tents. Luckily, we were surrounded by a group of students. From time to time, they came to us for checking if we needed some help and offered us some valuable tips like what to do if a bear came near you. Believe me, these were really very useful tips for us. They also provided us woods for the campfire. Nearby park facilities included toilets, camping, a snacks bar and a store. After all this, when we went inside the tent, it was so relaxing. When we came out of our tents, the next day morning, the first word which struck our mind was WOW!! Do you know the reason why?
Picture this:
2 deers drinking water from the river side and your tent is just on the opposite side.
Then, we understood why the river water sound was so deafening, when we arrived at night. As my husband loved photography, he started taking pictures of those deer. Meanwhile myself and my friend started making tea and breakfast. After eating our breakfast, we went deep into jungle for hiking. After walking for couple of hours, we saw a waterfall. We spent couple of hours there and refreshed ourselves. We took lot of pictures there and came back to our campsite. We then prepared chicken barbecue, for our lunch.
Everything was going so perfect, starting from deers, exploring the nature to having a barbecue. During the evening hours, our husbands had put campfire and we all sat around the campfire to play dumb sherads. We played for an hour or so and then we prepared our dinner which was "ready to eat" food. We ate sitting around the campfire and talked. That was the perfect day one could have ever wished. We went to sleep that day little early so that we could explore more the next day.
Next day after having our breakfast, we went to see the sequoia tree, which is also known as giant California redwoods.These trees grow to a height of nearly 100 meters. The Sequoia, however, develops immense bulk. The trunks are often 4 to 6 meters in diameter. Even at 100 meter above the ground the trunk can be 4 or 5 meters in diameter.Many of the Sequoia trees have survived for over one thousand years. Ancient forest fires have hollowed some, and one can walk through their cavernous interiors. You can even drive through a few. Others have fallen and lied on the forest floor. We roamed there for many hours. By the evening time, the weather started getting worse. The cold had also worsen and all of a sudden, it started drizzling. We decided to wrap up our tents and come back, sometime time later. All of us were not interested to stay back because of the weather, except for my husband who tried his level best to make us understand that the rains will go away and we could stay for one more night. But nobody agreed to his idea and we wrapped up everything and came back.
Thus, ended my Sequoia camping. To this day, I remember each and every moment spent there. It was the time when I felt being so close to nature and hence, I loved every moment of my stay there.
Then, we understood why the river water sound was so deafening, when we arrived at night. As my husband loved photography, he started taking pictures of those deer. Meanwhile myself and my friend started making tea and breakfast. After eating our breakfast, we went deep into jungle for hiking. After walking for couple of hours, we saw a waterfall. We spent couple of hours there and refreshed ourselves. We took lot of pictures there and came back to our campsite. We then prepared chicken barbecue, for our lunch.
Everything was going so perfect, starting from deers, exploring the nature to having a barbecue. During the evening hours, our husbands had put campfire and we all sat around the campfire to play dumb sherads. We played for an hour or so and then we prepared our dinner which was "ready to eat" food. We ate sitting around the campfire and talked. That was the perfect day one could have ever wished. We went to sleep that day little early so that we could explore more the next day.
Next day after having our breakfast, we went to see the sequoia tree, which is also known as giant California redwoods.These trees grow to a height of nearly 100 meters. The Sequoia, however, develops immense bulk. The trunks are often 4 to 6 meters in diameter. Even at 100 meter above the ground the trunk can be 4 or 5 meters in diameter.Many of the Sequoia trees have survived for over one thousand years. Ancient forest fires have hollowed some, and one can walk through their cavernous interiors. You can even drive through a few. Others have fallen and lied on the forest floor. We roamed there for many hours. By the evening time, the weather started getting worse. The cold had also worsen and all of a sudden, it started drizzling. We decided to wrap up our tents and come back, sometime time later. All of us were not interested to stay back because of the weather, except for my husband who tried his level best to make us understand that the rains will go away and we could stay for one more night. But nobody agreed to his idea and we wrapped up everything and came back.
Thus, ended my Sequoia camping. To this day, I remember each and every moment spent there. It was the time when I felt being so close to nature and hence, I loved every moment of my stay there.
