Visit back to Kings Canyon National Park

 Rain finally stopped so we drove back to Kings Canyon but took a shorter route there this time.  Dry Creek Drive was a very scenic narrow road that wove in and out of the canyons to get up to about 5000 feet elevation where it joins up to Route 245, the route we took the first day we drove to Kings Canyon.

Fog rolling in about 6000 feet

Very clear day when we left yesterday morning but by the time we got to the visitors center fog had rolled in.  The ranger said that it had just come in about 10 minutes earlier.  But, at Hume Lake it was sunny.  We wanted to visit Sequoia Lake but found that was on private property (Sequoia National Forest land) so we continued on and made the turn off to Hume Lake.  Passed an eighteen wheeler coming from Hume Lake area and thought - wow! how can he maneuver on this road?.  Dropped down to the lake area and thought that it would be a pretty place to walk (found the trail) and have a light lunch.

Hume Lake Trail by Sandy Cove (swimming area)

Hume Lake is a Christian Camp where over one million people visit a year.  Had no idea about this place but saw a picture of the lake in the park's brochure.  Hume Lake is also in the Sequoia Forest Land, not the national park. Started in 1945 as a bible camp and expanded from there.  Boating, swimming, fishing, horseback riding, skiing, open all year. Bet it's pretty in the winter.

Front of dam

Back of dam

Serene.  Fishing folks along the banks, couple of small boats fishing on the lake, birds singing, smell of the forest, seeing the snow capped mountains to the east reflecting on the water.  Beautiful. Walked half way around the lake past the dam and had a quick lunch, returned to the car and continued on the Generals Highway towards Sequoia National Park.  Sequoia and Kings Canyon are connected by a scenic highway, the Generals, and weaves up and down between 5000 and 7500 feet elevation.  Lots of snow pack still.

Hume Lake Trail - well marked, paved

The little beggar - followed us for some distance

Flowers just beginning to bloom

Stopped along the way at each lodge to get an idea how summer folks spend their time.  My favorite was Montecito Lodge.  Open all year, looked like a fun place to hide away. Not cheap. Saw snow pack, temp was in the low 50s for most of the day, but very clear sunny sky.  We did not experience fog again but felt the coolness. Continued on and stopped at Wuksachi Lodge, pretty and expensive.

Can you say - beautiful?

Ended at Lodgepole Visitor's Center which is inside Sequoia National park and saw a couple of movies on Sequoia and also of Kings Canyon.  Right before we came to Lodgepole we passed Halstead Meadows and did not understand what we were seeing.  Did not take pictures but it was an area that the park restored back to its original swamp land ecology.When the road was built through the park in the 1920s, the original meadow was dammed over and caused a massive die off of aquatic and vegetation.  Restored back to its original environment 10 years ago.  Impressive.

Lake at Montecito Lodge

A snow eater! sitting behind lodge

2 more snow eaters

The three bears standing guard at the lodge

Wuksachi Lodge

Breathtaking views

An interesting fact we learned was that 1/4 of the population of California will visit the Sierra Nevadas during the summer months.  If you take the current population of California (approximately 40 million), that's 10 million people!  Between Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite - that's a lot of people and we are glad we are visiting the park now before the real crowds come after Memorial Day.

Evidence of elevation change

Also, we started out at 800 feet elevation, climbed to 6000 to 7000 for most of the day, then dropped back down to 800 within a half an hour - look what we experience with our water bottle.  We hear it crackle and then see it crunch up or open back up.  Funny.