Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [454]
18986 Calif. 120, Groveland. ☎ 209/962-7501. Main courses $3–$7; pizza $5–$17. No credit cards. Daily 7am–8pm. PIZZA/ SANDWICHES.
Best known as a pizzeria and burger house, PJ's serves a hearty breakfast with an eye toward good health. That being said, you can still order bacon and eggs without getting the evil eye. For lunch, the taco and Cobb salads are especially tasty. The battered cod is also quite good. We also like the pizzas, which range from create-your-own to a yummy pesto-artichoke-tomato combination. Prime rib is featured on weekends.
Savoury's
5027 Calif. 140, Mariposa. ☎ 209/966-7677. Main courses $11–$23. AE, DISC, MC, V. Tues–Sat 5–9:30pm. INTERNATIONAL FUSION.
In the Art Deco confines of a former California Highway Patrol office, this eatery opened in 2003 and quickly won the hearts of locals—not surprising, since proprietor-chef Mirriam Wackerman had catered in the area for years, and customers often urged her to follow her dreams and open a restaurant. The results are top-notch, with a menu of simple, fresh dishes that meld culinary traditions near and far: jambalaya linguini, chipotle pesto chicken, grilled lemon-chive scallops, and the only flat-iron steak in town, Cajun-spiced and pan-seared. For dessert, bite into a decadent dish of panna cotta, the Italian equivalent of crème brûlée, on a bed of strawberry sauce. Seating is in a cozy but sleek main dining room and on a delightful vine-clad back patio.
Picnic & Camping Supplies
If you forget something, chances are you'll be able to get it in bustling Yosemite Valley, but elsewhere in the park it's tough to find equipment. The best place to get supplies and camping equipment in the valley is the Yosemite Village Store, which stocks groceries, film, and maps and has an ATM. Nearby, the Village Sport Shop has fishing, camping, and other outdoor gear and sells fishing licenses. The Yosemite Lodge Gift Shop and Curry Village General Store stock some supplies. The Curry Village Mountain Shop sells clothing and equipment for day hikes and for backcountry excursions. The Tuolumne Meadows Gift & Mountain Shop also carries backpacking supplies, including maps and dehydrated food. The Badger Pass Sport Shop (open only during the snow season) stocks ski clothing and other winter supplies. There are also several small convenience stores throughout the park.
In Mariposa, you'll find a good selection of groceries plus a deli at Pioneer Market, 5034 Coakley Circle, behind the town rest area (☎ 209/742-6100). Our choice for a grocery store in Oakhurst is Raley's, 40041 Calif. 41 (☎ 559/683-8300). Just outside the park's El Portal entrance, on Calif. 140, is the well-stocked El Portal Food Market (☎ 209/379-2632). For a better selection and better prices, you can stop at the major supermarket and discount chains in Merced or Fresno, the largest cities in the park vicinity.
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ZION NATIONAL PARK & CEDAR BREAKS NATIONAL MONUMENT
by Don & Barbara Laine
IT'S NOT HARD TO CONJURE UP A SINGLE DEFINING IMAGE OF MOST national parks, but Zion, a collage of images and secrets, is impossible to pin down. Zion National Park is not simply the towering Great White Throne, the deep Narrows Canyon, or the cascading waterfalls and emerald green pools. You'll discover an entire smorgasbord of experiences, sights, sounds, and even smells here, as you explore everything from the massive stone sculptures and monuments to the lush forests and rushing rivers.
Today, 150 years after the Mormon settler Isaac Behunin named his homestead here "Little Zion," the park still casts a spell as you gaze upon its sheer multicolored walls of sandstone, explore its narrow canyons, hunt for hanging gardens of wildflowers, and listen to the roar of the churning, tumbling Virgin River. The park means different things to different people: a day hike down a narrow canyon, a rough climb up the face of a massive stone monument, the red glow of sunset over majestic peaks. To some degree, each of these experiences is possible only because of the rocks