We’ve left the location where we were stationary while caring for family members and where we hunkered down during the COVID lockdown! Our first stop – Coarsegold, CA which is the gateway to Yosemite Natl Park.

Unfortunately we cannot visit Yosemite because they require reservations to limit the crowds entering the iconic national park and we didn’t make reservations far enough in advance for the timeframe we’ll be here. We’ve been to Yosemite before so it’s not too disappointing.

While in Coarsegold we took a day trip over to Bass Lake, a beautiful lake in the foothills not far away. We went on a Wednesday and there were more people there than we expected. But, we are in the middle of a heat wave so it does make sense.

The area around Coarsegold is rolling hills with lots of trees, mostly California oak. The hillsides are golden brown, usual for this time of year. There’s not too much underbrush so you can see the grasses, boulders dotting the hillsides and the trees themselves.

It’s a beautiful area! Here are a couple of pictures of Bass Lake.