Going Off-the-Grid: Tales of a Mancunian Lost in the City of Angels

By David Sustana, University of Southern California, United States

Hey again from the other side of the world! I just wanted to share with everyone about my once-in-a-lifetime trip to two of America’s national parks during my time abroad.

Don’t be fooled … the water is FREEZING!

Now, as you may have heard others say before, the national parks of the United States are arguably unique in their expanse, seclusion, and grandeur. In other words, they are the ultimate bucket-list destinations for a student abroad.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to get to them without a car (seeing a recurring theme here?), so my friends and I split the money to hire a car and packed the boot with more than we needed, but we did make sure to include the essentials: bottled water, sunscreen, plenty of changes of clothes, etc. Everything except food. Food is a mistake. I repeat, DO NOT BRING ANY FOOD INTO THE PARK(S)! Every park authority will tell you to dispose of it since any curious and hungry bears in the vicinity will quite literally rip your car apart trying to find it.

Anyway, I was expecting, and prepared for, it to be a hectic weekend since we decided to cram both parks into one trip.

Yosemite National Park

Our first leg of the journey, to famous Yosemite National Park, was a little more than a five-hour drive through (hot!) inland central California (see my previous blog posts for some examples of these scenes!). It’s hard to articulate how remote and desolate the States’ national parks are, and Yosemite is no exception.

Some quick googling reveals that the population of Yosemite Valley (its census-designated boundary) was 337 people in 2020. In comparison, the population of the Lake District was 40,478 in 2018. And yet both parks have (somewhat) comparable areas (3,027 vs. 2,362 square kilometres, respectively (though Yosemite is not nearly America’s biggest national park)), so it’s not like census boundaries are arbitrarily skewing the population densities of the parks.

Thousands reside in or near Britain’s national parks; virtually none do so in the States’, besides park rangers and Native Americans. My point in relaying this information is to communicate the sheer and utter sense of isolation that you will experience once in the park. It’s a unique experience, and one that you really can’t replicate in the UK or Europe, in my opinion.

Further to this, the complexity of the landscapes, complete absence of cell service, and barrenness of facilities compound the isolation that you will experience (and yes, you will be price-gouged on what little options you have for food inside the park). You are truly in the wilderness, and it is such a thrill.

So, for both your safety AND sanity, I wouldn’t recommend going without friends. And I would recommend splurging for the satellite radio upgrade when you’re hiring a car; it’s a long and quiet drive without cell service and FM radio.

Am I selling the experience? Anyway, enough with the geography lesson.

After much research, we decided to stay at Curry Village. It is the most quaint, most centrally located, (arguably) most authentic, and easily most affordable option in the park (the Aramark corporation appears to have a questionable monopoly on property in Yosemite, but I digress).

An entrance sign to the Camp Curry campgrounds. One of the very few sources of ambient light in the park…

We settled on the cabin option, which we felt was a nice middle ground between the higher-end, hotel-style cottages and the, well, tents (electricity and bear-proof walls were necessities). Anyway, after settling in and exploring the facilities of Curry Village, we decided to go exploring on some trails.

This was our cabin! Isn’t it quaint? We had plenty of neighbors nearby to feel a sense of community (the darkness is deceiving; the cabins are packed together like sardines), and the toilet and shower facilities were conveniently close.

Now, as I mentioned, there is absolutely no cell service within the park, so I strongly urge you to use Google Maps and download an offline map to use to guide your exploration. The GPS sensor in your phone will work without cell service (it uses satellites), but it needs an already downloaded map on which to display the blue dot (which the satellites cannot provide).

Also, I would try to arrive at the park with plenty of daylight to spare, because once the sun goes down, you have only the meagre moonlight to guide you around the campgrounds. You’ll want to have plenty of time to familiarise yourself with the route from the facilities/trails to your lodging while the sun is still up.

The following morning, we set off on some more of the trails before check-out time.

I should say that, while it is a car-bound part of the experience, Tunnel View was easily the most iconic and memorable landmark of Yosemite that we witnessed.

On your way to the centre of the park, you drive through the long Wawona Tunnel and emerge on the other side to a truthfully breathtaking scene of skyscraping mountains and a nestled waterfall whose mist is carried away by the winds before it even has a chance of reaching the ground far below. If you can believe it or not, our visit with this most magnificent sight was cut short by a rather abrupt and violent hailstorm. Thankfully our car hire (and of course, we) emerged unscathed.

Tunnel View… The picture really doesn’t do it justice. And truthfully, those clouds were probably ample warning of what was to come!

Here’s a freeze-frame in which you can (hopefully) see one of the hailstones striking the windshield of our car hire (gulp). Thankfully, our car didn’t sustain even a single paint chip or dent.

Yosemite was wonderful, although it was nice to return to civilization for a brief interval as part of our onward journey to our next destination, Sequoia National Park. Sequoia is home to the world’s largest tree, the General Sherman Tree!

Sequoia National Park

Sequoia felt much different than Yosemite upon entering and once inside the park. It seemed more arid and desert-like (possibly due to its closer proximity to some very real deserts, such as those of and surrounding Death Valley National Park directly to Sequoia’s east).

This was a powerful scene and reminded me of a lot of pieces of media that I’ve appreciated throughout the years, such as Bob Ross’ famous artwork and one of my favorite video games, Red Dead Redemption 2.

We arrived at our next accommodation in a couple of hours, and this time, we were not staying in a fairytale-like cabin in the heart of the woods, unfortunately. Please, trust the online reviews when you’re researching accommodation! If a place is rated two stars out of five, it’s for a reason! I’ll spare you the details of our stay.

Anyway, after a much needed night’s worth of rest, we set out for Sequoia in the morning. Unfortunately, lodging inside Sequoia National Park is not nearly as plentiful or reasonable as that of Yosemite was, so we were in for a bit of a drive.

But once we got there, the sights were incredible.

Yes, this magnificent sequoia was hollow.

Below is General Sherman, along Congress Trail, a trailhead surrounded by clusters of giant sequoias which have been named after figures of American history and government (e.g., there’s a group called “the Senate”). Talk about a history lesson!

Behold, General Sherman, the world’s largest tree!

To literally and metaphorically mark the finality of our trip, we stood on top of the world! Well, we stood on top of famous Moro Rock, which is basically the same thing.

Looming thousands of feet above the ground below and requiring 350 steps to climb, Moro Rock made me realise for the first time in my life that I do have a fear of heights. I’m telling you, this rock just juts out of the mountainside, with nothing but a waist-height handrail halfheartedly keeping you from plunging into the valley below. We saw plenty of daredevils testing fate for the cameras that day.

Seven of the 350 steps needed to reach the rock’s summit are shown in this picture. The rock extends faaaaaar outwards from the mountainside; you’re walking to the horizon as much as you’re climbing to the sky.

Again, the picture doesn’t do it justice; the handrail is very short, the the summit of the rock is very narrow. You could almost trip on one side and fall over the other.

On our way out of the park, the darkness that followed the setting sun was a stark reminder of the fact that we were deeply isolated in the middle of the wilderness. Do make sure that if you are driving (as we were in this second park) that you save some daylight for your exit from the park. You do not want to be navigating hairpin turns while at a 30° decline in the complete darkness. Unless your car has those fancy headlights that can bend to match your steering when turning, you’re basically driving with your eyes closed. Trust me, I can now say that I’ve done it.

And let me tell you, it is beyond spooky when the only other car you’ve seen in the last hour of driving is the car that appears out of nowhere to begin tailgating you until you both reach the park exit. It’s a situation that you think (and hope) only happens in films.

Our final night in our (questionable) lodging before the end of our trip was uneventful (thankfully!), and let me tell you, a weekend’s worth of off-the-grid living amongst nature was plenty for me for the foreseeable future. It was nice to return to civilization, and especially to the magnitude of what Los Angeles’ flavour of it has to offer!