Sunday November 1, 2020
El Granada to Upper Pines 19
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Monday November 2, 2020
Upper Pines 19 to Upper Pines 59
2020/11/01 13:13
I arrived at Upper Pines shortly after checkin time of noon.
When I checked in at the campground the Ranger told me they had just
started to allow campfires again after much of NorCal burned to the
ground during the fall of 2020 (as it also has each of the previous
several years thanks to the criminals at PG&E).
I'd brought a bag of charcoal but no wood.
She told me they sold firewood at the store.
I didn't bother verifying which store was open, I wanted to see Curry Village regardless.
I set up my campsite and noticed that the sun had set behind Glacier Point at the very early hour of 12:45pm.
I knew it would be chilly, but I hadn't counted on dark and chilly.
Four hours of sun per day in Upper Pines in the winter is not exactly what I'd counted on.
I drove over to Curry Village, which was earily silent.
2020/11/01 13:13
2020/11/01 13:23
2020/11/01 13:23
There were only a few folks in line for the grocery store when I arrived, but the line quickly grew behind me.
I was in and out of the store in a minute - I only needed two boxes of firewood.
2020/11/01 13:57
2020/11/01 15:04
2020/11/01 15:05
2020/11/01 15:52
Even on a bike, its a bit of a jaunt over to El Cap from Upper Pines.
2020/11/01 15:53
2020/11/01 16:06
2020/11/01 16:13
2020/11/01 17:09
Once the sun really went down, it started to get cold fast.
The forecast was for lows in the 30s and highs in the 50s.
I cannot imagine camping out in cold weather without a campfire.
It would have been fairly unpleasant.
2020/11/01 17:09
2020/11/01 17:55
2020/11/01 18:43
The grate in Upper Pines firepits drop to a low of maybe 10" above the pit,
which is way too high for charcoal to work, unless I suppose I used the
whole damn bag, but Im still not sure that would have worked.
I was a chilly before the fire finally took off, I designed it poorly
but it is finally cooking my fillet mignon and keeping me warm
