Well, unexpectedly the trip turned more interesting after just one day. For the first day we visited Alabama Hills and stayed at Lone Pine CG. What a beautiful place! It was full moon that night and Mt Whitney was visible at night. Next day we stopped at Manzanar, had lunch at Schat's in Bishop, and finally camped at June Lake. On the way near Crowley Lake outside Mammoth Lakes, we saw a wild fire that just started that day. Owens River Fire, as is known, changed our plan abruptly. The fire got ten times bigger overnight and, by morning, the choking smoke covered the entire valley. We went to Mono Lake just to talk to rangers about the situation and were told Yosemite on the other side of Sierra was fine. Thankfully we did not reserve any CG on 395 so we immediately turned west. We camped for two nights at Tuolumne, one night in the valley. Then we decided to make this a national park trip and continued on to King's canyon and Sequoia national parks, and spent another 3 nights there. We had a fabulous time! It's probably the best time to visit these popular parks as they were not crowded and weather was just perfect.
Owens River Fire near Crowley Lake
Smoke covered Mono Lake
Tuolumne Meadow with Cathedral Peak in the background
El Capitan in the Yosemite Valley
At Cedar Grove, King's Canyon NP
Giant sequoia at Sequoia NP
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