A Bit of Luck in Kings Canyon

We got home by 9pm, picked up some dinner and ate. After doing 3 loads of laundry, dishes, and packing up items we’d forgotten, we got to bed by 1am then up again at 5:30am. We were on the road by 6:30am, an early start to Kings Canyon.

Dale drove our truck and pulled the RV while I drove Justin’s truck. The plan was that I’d drive faster and get a campsite while Dale drove more slowly up the hills. He also had Emilio along, who talked and sang loudly the entire time.

I got into Kings Canyon, looking for the campground we’d camped at last year. When I couldn’t find it I ended up driving to the end of the road. By then it was 11:30 am and I was quite upset, sure that it would be impossible to find a campsite. I drove the other way and realized that the campground we’d stayed at before was closed. Another campground was closed and a 3^rd campground was a tent only. That left 1 campground that was packed full of people.

I drove down to the Ranger Station down by the village store and stopped to inquire where we’d be likely to find a campsite and what we should do. I was also very concerned about Dale driving the truck and the possibility that he’d forget and shut down the motor after the long pass.

The Visitor’s Center/Ranger Station is very small, but a bunch of people had just exited so I was glad to find that I was the only one who needed to speak with the ranger. A couple of people were looking at the items for sale. I explained to the ranger that my husband was a bit behind me with our 5^th wheel, but we needed to camp and was there anywhere for overflow or anything.

The ranger told me that Sheep Camp was closed, but….. Sheep Camp was still closed but…… I asked if I should wait and she said I might want to. The ranger then gave me a map of Sheep Camp and pointed out pull-thru campsites that would work well for us.

I drove down to Sheep Camp and the gate was still closed. I then drove back to the open campground and it was packed with people. There wasn’t a single space for us. I then drove back to Sheep Camp, the gate was closed but a guy in a small truck was parked just off the road at the turn into Sheep Camp. I asked him if he was waiting for it to open and he said yes. He asked me if it was my impression that the campground would open and I told him that it was what I read into the ranger’s answer.

The guy in the small truck pulled up closer to the turn in and I parked right behind him. About 5 min later, rangers drove up from inside the campground and unlocked the gate. I drove right to the pull-thru site, by the river, where our slide out would face the river. I put 2 chairs out and drove up to secure the site. Fortunately, there were only the 2 of us in the campground so I didn’t need to worry about someone taking it.

Our Campsite

The empty campground

I pulled around and started to get out of the truck to get the payment envelope. The other guy was there and we were talking briefly. I’d just told him that I didn’t know the license plate # of my truck. I said that my husband should be coming up the road soon, I turned and looked at the road and there was Dale driving up the road.

Emilio is glad to get out of the truck

Our campsite is set up

I laid into the horn on Justin’s truck but couldn’t tell if Dale saw me or not. But within minutes, Dale had found a place to make a U-turn and he came into the campground. I led him to our campsite and we were feeling quite smug.