Yosemite And Sequoia: John Muir’s California

Depart the UK on your chosen scheduled flight to San Francisco. Upon arrival, transfer to your hotel The Westin St Francis, the elegant Grand Dame of Union Square, ideally located amidst the city’s attractions. This evening, enjoy a welcome cocktail reception and dinner.

This morning you cross the city for a visit to the Presidio, a former Army base and now a National Historic Landmark rich with history; the base was home to the “Buffalo Soldiers,” the African-American cavalry troops who earned their fighting reputation in the Indian Wars, and were among the U.S. troops who served as the earliest caretakers of the national parks. From here, a short drive over the Golden Gate Bridge brings you under the green canopy of Muir Woods, a coastal redwood forest preserved as a national monument. These towering ancient trees, some 20 stories high, are among the last remnants of a fog-shrouded primeval forest that once blanketed the northern coast. Following lunch in the picturesque town of Sausalito, you hop aboard a ferry for the return trip to San Francisco. After docking at the historic Ferry Building terminal with its famous clock tower and arcade of shops and cafés, the remainder of the day is free for you to explore the sights.

Before there was a National Park Service, the job of policing and protecting the national parks belonged to the U.S. Army. At Sequoia and Yosemite, the parks’ guardians were the Buffalo Soldiers, who rode out every spring from the Presidio, crossing 300 miles on horseback to the Sierra Nevada. Your route follows the Buffalo Soldiers’ path across the agricultural Central Valley. A stop for lunch is made in Fresno before making the 7,000-foot climb to Sequoia National Park. In the afternoon, an expert from the Sequoia Field Institute describes how John Muir found and documented the “Giant Forest” in 1875, offering a perfect introduction to the park. This evening at your lodge, a naturalist guides you through the spectacular constellations that fill the night skies.

Begin the day with privately guided walks among ancient giant sequoias, following the General Sherman Tree Trail to see redwoods and strolling through beautifully restored
Round Meadow with a naturalist guide. Travels inside Sequoia National Park are via small passenger vehicles, accompanied by a guide, with an option to walk if you
wish. Enjoy a BBQ-style Western lunch at your lodge and conditions permitting, take the opportunity to climb the steps up to the top of Moro Rock Enjoy a private narrated
guided tour of John Muir’s Giant Forest, followed by a choice of afternoon activities

Drive through a portion of Kings Canyon National Park en route to Yosemite National Park where you’ll enjoy views of some of Yosemite’s best-known sites including Half Dome and Yosemite Falls. Arrive at The Ahwahnee, a masterpiece of stone, timber, stained glass, and picture windows in the heart of the park. Dinner tonight is at your leisure in one of the most iconic National Park hotels.

‘Yosemite is the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter’ wrote Muir, who regarded such settings of awesome natural beauty as sacred places with restorative powers, ‘where the galling harness of civilization drops off and wounds heal, ere we are aware’. Today is yours to enjoy the park at your own pace, with optional activities including biking, a hike over the footbridge at Vernal Falls, and a visit to the Yosemite Indian Cultural Museum and Village.

This morning you depart Yosemite for the return to San Francisco, first visiting the Mariposa Museum and then driving across the populous Central Valley with a stop for lunch. Filmed narratives by Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan weave together the past seven days of history and nature, with insights you won’t get anywhere else. One of the stories you’ll hear relates to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, a glacial valley that Muir fought unsuccessfully to save. In the 1920s, the federal government allowed its river to be dammed, turning the valley into a reservoir for the city of San Francisco – a campaign continues today to restore the valley to its original state. This afternoon you arrive at The Fairmont San Francisco, a Beaux Arts-style, premier hotel on Nob Hill, listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. In the evening, celebrate your journey with a farewell cocktail reception and dinner.

Spend your final morning in San Francisco, perhaps shopping for souvenirs before taking your transfer to the airport for your flight back to the UK.