Had a full, fun weekend of ziplines. Left late on Friday and got into Markleeville late. Next morning, up relatively early for a short drive to Kirkwood and their zip lines.
They run a series of 6 relatively short ziplines between sets of trees around Chair 7. We had a group of 12 (normally 10), plus 2 guides. Began with a short drive to the snowcat, which drove to the top of Chair 7. Then a short walk up some snow steps to the beginning, with the "beginner" zipline, which is the slowest one. The 2nd line is the fastest, and of course, they're all fun. The most interesting part was the split suspension bridge, which they purposely swung violently to make it more challenging to walk over. Of course, you're clipped in all the time, so no actual danger.
Afterwards, we ate a very nice lunch at the Kirkwood Inn. Great onion rings! We drove back to Markleville and had a nap and then bummed around town, such as it is -- it's very small! Spent some time at the art gallery talking with the owner. She has some nice landscape artists there.
The next day, after a good breakfast, we drove up Route 4, over Ebbett's Pass. It's the middle of June, but because this year had a huge amount of snow, and cold temps during what is normally spring, there is a lot of snow left. We saw snowbanks of still 8-9 ft at the pass, looking like mid-winter! The drive on the eastern slope of the Sierra on Route 4 is spectacular!
On the way down the other side, we stopped at Calaveras Big Trees State Park and walked around the North Grove of Giant Sequoia. Then, slightly further down the hill, stopped at The Red Apple, a place that sells many apple products, including a very nice apply juice. And even further down, we stopped at our reason for driving down Route 4, the Moaning Caverns zipline.
This zip, in contrast to the short zips at Kirkwood, is one 1500 ft zip. The speed is greater, and of course, the ride is longer. They give you the option of going "superman" style, i.e. head first, one your stomach. We didn't do that since it was our first zip on this line, but next time...
Traffic was heavy entering Pleasanton, so we took a stop at the Regal Cinema and saw "Super 8", which was very entertaining. Finally, we stopped off at Fenton's for ice cream before finally reaching home, only 2 days and 550 miles later.
They run a series of 6 relatively short ziplines between sets of trees around Chair 7. We had a group of 12 (normally 10), plus 2 guides. Began with a short drive to the snowcat, which drove to the top of Chair 7. Then a short walk up some snow steps to the beginning, with the "beginner" zipline, which is the slowest one. The 2nd line is the fastest, and of course, they're all fun. The most interesting part was the split suspension bridge, which they purposely swung violently to make it more challenging to walk over. Of course, you're clipped in all the time, so no actual danger.
Afterwards, we ate a very nice lunch at the Kirkwood Inn. Great onion rings! We drove back to Markleville and had a nap and then bummed around town, such as it is -- it's very small! Spent some time at the art gallery talking with the owner. She has some nice landscape artists there.
The next day, after a good breakfast, we drove up Route 4, over Ebbett's Pass. It's the middle of June, but because this year had a huge amount of snow, and cold temps during what is normally spring, there is a lot of snow left. We saw snowbanks of still 8-9 ft at the pass, looking like mid-winter! The drive on the eastern slope of the Sierra on Route 4 is spectacular!
On the way down the other side, we stopped at Calaveras Big Trees State Park and walked around the North Grove of Giant Sequoia. Then, slightly further down the hill, stopped at The Red Apple, a place that sells many apple products, including a very nice apply juice. And even further down, we stopped at our reason for driving down Route 4, the Moaning Caverns zipline.
This zip, in contrast to the short zips at Kirkwood, is one 1500 ft zip. The speed is greater, and of course, the ride is longer. They give you the option of going "superman" style, i.e. head first, one your stomach. We didn't do that since it was our first zip on this line, but next time...
Traffic was heavy entering Pleasanton, so we took a stop at the Regal Cinema and saw "Super 8", which was very entertaining. Finally, we stopped off at Fenton's for ice cream before finally reaching home, only 2 days and 550 miles later.
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