Camping Trip - Big Sandy Campground July 10, 2009

So we had been planning on camping this particular weekend for a while. This would be our second camping trip of the year, the second in the new ('82) VW camper, and our first one alone without the kids this year. We have camped all over the Sierras south of Yosemite and the area between Mammoth Pool, Bass Lake and the Ansel Adams Wilderness and were looking for a place we haven't been yet. Consulting our trusty forest service map, we spotted Big Sandy which is near Fish Camp and decided to give it a try.

Being very close to Yosemite we decided that Nicole would go up early Friday and reserve a spot for us, and this turned out to be a really good idea. She located an empty spot right on Big Creek with a beautiful horseshoe of aspen and pine shade trees. It even had grass in the campsite, a welcome change from the usual silty dirt. This was spot #20. She had to go over to Fresno Dome to find the campground host, four miles of really terrible road. We met back up in Oakhurst and after stopping for supplies, we got to the campground around 5:00 only to find that someone was in our spot! They hadn't noticed the "reserved" tag, and while clearly disappointed they very kindly moved to another site.

We camp a lot and are pretty efficient at getting set up, especially without the kids and now that we have the VW camper. So about 20 minutes after we started unpacking we were sitting comfortably and contemplating dinner. We made some really really good cheesburgers and then spent the rest of the evening with a nice fire, some wine, a little music and a couple of board games we brought along.

Saturday we slept in (no kids) and then got up for breakfast. Our usual agenda is to put on swim suits and water shoes and go river hiking in search of a good swimming hole, but we actually spent the day relaxing at the campsite, reading, napping a bit and just generally enjoying the day and each others' company. Nicole grilled up some shrimp and veggies for lunch and we had a big bowl of spicy chili with grilled bread for dinner and were probably asleep by 9:00.

Sunday, after a quick fire, breakfast and coffee, we put on the water shoes and headed downstream in search of swimming. We found a great spot where Big Creek starts to descend into a gorge about 1/4 mile downstream from the campground. The water was pretty deep, extremely cold and there was a big flat rock for sunning and drying off. Good times. We headed back to camp, had some lox and bagels for lunch and then packed up and started for home. We stopped for a short hike out to a waterfall and then made for Oakhurst and El Cid, our traditional post-camping/backpacking Mexican meal stop. Mmm, chips and salsa. We've camped so many times but this was one of the best trips we have done.

Details:

Big Sandy Campground - 10 miles North of Oakhurst up Highway 41 to Forest Rd 6S07 (just before the Tenaya Lodge). Turn right and go approx. 6 miles.

Best campsites - #20 has great shade and is mostly grass. 18 and 19 are also pretty shady and grassy. There are other bigger, flatter sites but they aren't as close to water.

Swimming - Downstream approx 1/4 mile there are a number of nice pools with flat rocks for sunning. Also good spots upstream (take the road towards Little Sandy or river hike) but they are close to the road and seemed to be more crowded.

Camp Host/Fees - There is no campground host on site, they are located at Fresno Dome campground about 4 miles away (terrbile road). They came around once a day while we were there. Fee is $17 per night.