Years ago, during a Labor Day week-end, my family and I took a trip to visit for the first time some of the best known California sites. Among them we decided to visit Yosemite National Park.
To get to Yosemite National Park we took freeway 580 east, 205 East to California Highway 120 East. The driving on Highway 120 is very picturesque. Beautiful country dotted with groves of California oaks, a large field with huge chunks of black basalt rocks when no where in site it is any mountain or any other big rock formation and large vegetable farms with small fresh produce selling counters. The fruits and vegetables were so beautiful and appealing that we decided to stop and buy some to take home. Yosemite Park was our last stop before going home.
We bought a lot of goodies and they were packed for us in two carton boxes. At the time we were driving a new red Ford Ranger truck with king cabin (today they are called “extended cabin”); a big novelty back then. We put the boxes in the truck’s bed and continued our drive.
We entered through the West Gate. That entry is probably the most spectacular. The road narrows and continues very curvy with a deep drop on one side and the forest on the other. First stop in the park was at the Yosemite Village. When we got out of the car a wall of heat came on us. Very hot, 90 degrees, at about 6:00pm.
We decided to stay over night at the Curry Village. Curry Village is a small community of simple cabins and waxed cloth tents for 2 or 4 people. Also there is a visitor center where they present Ranger lead talks.
Very happy with our sleeping arrangements, parked the car in the assigned parking lot and even late, we went back to the visitor center. That evening, very, very lucky for us it was announced that a Ranger talk will take place soon. We got something to eat, visited the gift shop and found seats in the outside amphitheater for the presentation.
The Ranger presentation was very interesting. He talked about the history of the park, the many sites that made the park famous and got to the practical items as how to prevent being hurt by BEARS! Bears are a common site in the park. They like mostly the cars. In the cars people leave coolers with food. Bears like food and are very smart in recognizing where the food is. It is in the cooler located in cars. Do not leave coolers or boxes in the cars, also do not leave anything that has strong food smell in car, even if it is in the trunk. When going to use remote restrooms knock hard on the door before entering and wait. Do not store foods in the cabins. Bears got into them even when people were inside. Please keep in mind this was before the “bear safe containers”.
With all this knowledge we went back to our waxed cloth tent a little bit shaken. Immediately we returned to the car and evaluated our options of what to do about our two boxes with produce. Among all the fresh produce, we got cantaloupes, one of the strongest smelling melons there is! So the option to take the boxes in the tent was out. We decided to put them in the back of the cabin, lower the backs of the front chairs, cover with cloth and close the outside vents in the cab. We went to sleep. I did not sleep well at all. Finally the morning came. First thing we went to check on our car. OUR CAR WAS FINE! However, we saw a group of people gathered in the parking lot, about ten cars down from our car. We went there. The most amazing spectacle was unfolding.
A large 1980’s American made four doors sedan, ripped to pieces. It was very hard to believe. All doors were ripped and laying on the ground. Two huge coolers from the back seat opened and food spread on the ground and in the car. Cereal flakes all over. Front seats ripped and flattened through the back. Complete mayhem. Lucky that nobody decided to sleep in that car over night!
We went back to our new and now most beloved car and thanked the providence and the Ranger for saving our possessions.