So ... I take you back to California. We were near Mojave eating Mexican food and visiting exotic cats ... remember?
I’ll be the first to admit it: If I’m a sucker for national parks, then I’m definitely a sucker for those national parks that float under the radar. Well, it doesn’t get much more under-the-radar than Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, two joined parks that live in the shadow of the famous park to the north, Yosemite.
We arrived at the southern entrance to Sequoia National Park well into the afternoon, and knowing we were looking for a first-come, first-served campground, we took off up the windy road into the park at a 35 MPH clip. I fumed in frustration as we passed one full campground after another as we drove all the way through Sequoia before finding one lonely, vacant spot in Kings Canyon. I was quickly rewarded with a stunning sunset as the boys set up shop at our campground.
We arrived at the southern entrance to Sequoia National Park well into the afternoon, and knowing we were looking for a first-come, first-served campground, we took off up the windy road into the park at a 35 MPH clip. I fumed in frustration as we passed one full campground after another as we drove all the way through Sequoia before finding one lonely, vacant spot in Kings Canyon. I was quickly rewarded with a stunning sunset as the boys set up shop at our campground.
Our first full day in the area was spent exclusively in Sequoia National Park, south of the Lodgepole Visitor’s Center. Sequoias are the largest trees in the world by sheer volume (not by height), and the largest of all is the General Sherman. It’s a big tree, to be sure, but the three of
us (Cory, my dad and I) found more solace on the less crowded, more spectacular Congress Trail. Once we got off the beaten path, we were able to wander up to, around and between the trees. In two places along the trail we came upon mini “groves” of sequoias, which were called The House and The Senate. Cory took some spectacular pictures of the light coming through the canopies.
I’ve tried to pinpoint what it is that really makes these trees so magnificent, and I think that it’s that every one of them, while all sequoias, are very different from each other. Because they’ve survived thousands of years of forest fires, disease and harsh weather, some of them are hollowed out in parts or grown over rocks and other natural barriers. One of my favorites had partially swallowed up a gigantic rock and it looked like the tree trunk was blowing a piece of bubble gum.In an area called Crescent Meadow we saw a bear scratching on a log (thanks to Cory’s good hearing), and happened upon Tharp’s Log, a fallen, hollowed out sequoia tree which this guy lived in for 30 summers while his cattle grazed. We also climbed the 400 steps to Moro Rock, which looks out over the Sierra Nevadas. While it has the potential to be beautiful, there were somewhere close to a gazillion people on the trail (including a really stupid woman wearing high heels and a short skirt smoking a cigarette … really? Really?).
Kings Canyon was a lot less crowded. It also has a large grove of sequoia trees, including the second largest tree in the world, the General Grant. Near this grove is an area of sequoias that were pillaged way back in the day. The trail that runs through here is actually called Stump Trail because that’s all that’s here. You can get on top of the Mark Twain Stump with a ladder, and it’s impressively large, though quite sad.One of our favorite sequoias was an oversized snag, which means it was dead and burned out. It was off a dirt road and unmarked, but what made it so special is that John Muir had removed pieces of it to study once it had died. You can still see where his ax marked the tree. It was very cool to think we were standing where John Muir once stood.
To really escape the crowds, we took the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway to Road’s End where … well … the road ended. This far back in the canyon we ran into
backcountry hikers and anglers. Once here, we decided to take a long hike—nearly 10 miles round trip—to this gorgeous waterfall called Mist Falls. We met this guy there who hikes out to the falls up to ten times a year to try to take the perfect picture of the falls, which he hasn’t achieved yet. The hike was totally worth every step, and we were lucky (?) to see four snakes, two of which were rattlesnakes. Though none of us is particularly fond of snakes, it is pretty cool to come upon them in the wild—especially the rattlers.The other really spectacular thing we did in Kings Canyon National Park was drive up to Panoramic Point. I guess you could liken the overlook point to Moro Rock, but it was far less crowded and I, personally, thought the view was much more rewarding.
Like any vacation duration, our time in Sequoia and Kings Canyon was, of course, too short. But we had to move on to bigger, though not necessarily better, and more popular places.
Sweeping vistas and camping under the stars,
JoAnna
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