We arrived at Sequoia National Park around mid-day and drove the windy road, through construction, and into the groves of big trees. The Lodgepole Campground was our first destination and we got one of the last two campsites left for the evening. We made some chicken sandwiches for lunch and headed towards the General Sherman Trail. At the bottom, we stood in awe of the biggest tree on Earth.
Crystal Cave was the next stop after a twisty nine-mile road. It was unique in the cave tours that we’ve taken; the cave was formed from marble rather than limestone and there were no artificial lights within the cave. We were all given flashlights at the beginning of the tour which made for a natural cave experience. The wet cave featured snow-like, white crystals running over many of the cave formations. In spots, water had slowly polished blue marble.
After the cave, we went to the Sequoia Museum where we learned about the history of the park. There had been an entire village dismantled since the 1950’s since it was built too close to the trees and was damaging their shallow roots.
From there we hiked the Big Trees Trail, where we viewed big trees. We were amazed at the singed fire-marks on the base of otherwise healthy enormous trees. They are apparently very resilient.
After Mexican slop for dinner (we’re using up our supplies...) we went to bed early. We woke up early the next day, and headed to Moro Rock for a panoramic view of the valley below. There was a crystal-clear view all around us but there was a clear smog line to the west.
Again, we walked to General Sherman but it was early enough that we were there alone. We admired the big tree and then walked the Congress Trail. The trail took us to view some of the densest groves of sequoias that we had seen.
We headed north into Kings Canyon National Park where we had a picnic near the General Grant tree (the third largest in the world). We hiked the trail around the grove and then headed into the canyon.
On our descent into Kings Canyon, we couldn’t help stopping at the lookouts:
We made it to the bottom, and back into the park, following the river. We stopped at the Roaring River Falls for a scenic view. Unfortunately, other than scenic lookouts, King’s Canyon NP is mostly a backpackers’ paradise. The trails were longer than we’d be able to do in an afternoon. We headed out of the park.
When back in the National Forest, we stopped at Grizzly Falls. It was another scenic spot where we could feel the cool mist coming from the pool below us.
On the way out, we enjoyed the scenery but looked forward to some straight roads. We’re now heading towards Yosemite for the next few days
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