Ken and I were up at 6:15, made breakfast, packed our lunches and the 4 of us were on our way to Kings Canyon in our CRV by 8:45. We took the "shortcut" to the National Park, but that proved to be less miles but regarding a lot more time. Again, we had a scenic ride, but let's get there for heaven's sake!!!!! We arrived at the Visitors Center around 10:00 give or take, after swaying back and forth constantly on the crazy road.
 |
| The grasses look dead and dry. |
 |
| But then there are also many healthy looking trees! |
 |
| Isn't this a nice looking entrance to Kings Canyon National Park?? |
At the Visitors Center we purchased the sticker for our Passport Book, a pin for the wall in Waldo, and watched the movie about the park. It was a well done "flick".
Back in the car to start our journey through the park, stopping 1st to hike the 1/2 mile paved trail to see more of those magnificent sequoia trees, including the General Grant Tree. This tree is the widest tree in the world and the 3rd largest. President Calvin Coolidge designated it as the Nation's Christmas Tree and President Eisenhower made it a National Shrine to honor those servicemen and women who died serving our country. It is an enormous tree, but so beautiful. Again, the color of these trees it was really strikes me whenever I see one. Also, how they continue to thrive and reproduce after being damaged by fire.
 |
| The 1st sequoia tree we saw when we got out of our car! It was massive! |
 |
| When you see this RV next to it you can get a perspective of just how big it really is! |
 |
| This sequoia fell before 1900 and these folks used it as a home/shelter. It looks almost the same as over a century ago when it fell. Sequoia do not deteriorate very quickly!!!!! |
 |
| It was amazing inside and not rotted at all! |
 |
| The size of it is beyond comprehension! |
 |
| Even the roots are hard, with no rotting! |
 |
| This stump is from the cutting of a Sequoia in 1875 for the 1876 Centennial Celebration in Philadelphia. Most people felt it was hoax, as trees couldn't possibly be this big! The stump looks the same today as in 1875. |
 |
| This cabin is made out of sequoia wood, even the roof shingles! Hard to imagine it was built in 1872. |
 |
| Interesting how it was built using the Sequoia tree and it's next 2 uses were by people working to preserve these beautiful trees! |
 |
| This is the General Grant Tree, the widest tree on earth and 3rd largest in volume! Note the fire destruction, but it keeps growing! |
 |
| You can't even see most of the top of the tree! |
 |
| The base is immense. It would take 20 people with their arms stretched around the tree to "hug" it! |
 |
| Some fun facts about the General Grant Tree! |
 |
| That's the size of the tree compared to the human on the\ bottom right! |
 |
| The second from the left is the pinecone that comes from a Sequoia tree. Hard to believe it is that small!!! |
From there we continued on the windy road through the park to stop at several vista points. Ken realized we were a little low on gas and felt he had to find a place to fill up. So, we took a little side detour in the park down to Huma Lake where they had a gas station ($4.09 per gallon) and a beautiful Christian Camp. Then it was back up the hill to have lunch at a picnic table in Convict Flat. (We did't see any prisoners, but the mesquitoes that time of day were very pesty! We decided to drive a bit farther to go into the canyon and see Grizzly Falls. I am so glad we did. The view of the river and the falls were incredible.
 |
| The view at Huma Lake! |
 |
| Looks like a postcard. Yes, that is snow on the mountaintop! |
 |
| We are driving on this road, but higher up the mountain. We drove on that part eventually! Crazy!!! |
 |
| Looking into the canyon! |
 |
| Now we have driven into the canyon! |
 |
| This is Grizzly Falls! |
 |
| Leaving the park and a final photo looking into the canyon! |
Then it was time to wind back up the mountain. It seems we do so much of that on this trip, but you must go up to go down and vice versa! We are learning that concept very well! When we got to the highest point on our drive we were at 7,200 feet and our ears were popping. We left the National Park and took a different road back to the CG - quicker, but more miles, but we wanted to stop at Costco. Needless to say, we only got back to the CG around 5:45 after driving about 220 miles. Ken did a great job of driving on those narrow and steep roads.
We sat outside at the CG in the shade by the stream enjoying margaritas and the sound of the small rapids. We had planned to go back into Sequoia NP tomorrow, but all of us felt we had done enough driving and needed a day of just rest and relaxation at the CG. So, since we didn't have to get up early and be on a schedule, we played games from 8:45 to 10:30 each of us winning a game.
This was another great day, but a day of rest is needed by all!
No comments:
Post a Comment