Walking in the Forest of Sequoia Giants

We traveled back into Sequoia National Park yesterday with a goal to do some hiking in the woods.  Should I say forest?  Of giant sequoia trees.  We were told that if we go to the Crescent Meadows area, our chances of seeing bears feeding on the grasses would be good.

Tunnel Rock

Moro Rock looming up on left

Sequoias guarding the entrance to Giant Forest area

As we entered the park we saw the towing Sierra Nevada mountains loom above us.  And Moro Rock which is huge granite boulder left over from a mountain that we could go hike to the top.  Beautiful clear day, we left Three Rivers with 64 degrees and knew we would be heading up to about 7000 feet in the meadows.  Came along Tunnel Rock, a quick stop touristy area, continued on into and climbing up into the park.  Past the Soldiers who guard the entrance into the Giant Forest.  Took the turn off into Crescent Meadows and were the only people there except the ranger who was cleaning the bathrooms.  Donned an outer shirt (was in low 50's) and packed our food and water onto our fanny packs and off we went.  I had hopes of seeing bears, but by the time we entered into the meadow - none.

Had to drive through a fallen sequoia - to see the car under it is quite impressive to see the bigness of the trees.

Big tree!

Evidence of bears

Along the way we went, felt the coolness of the meadow, saw melting snow and trickling of water runoff. Heard the birds singing.  Funny part is you don't smell the fir (Pine) trees.  The path was paved, gently sloping.  No bears so we jumped onto the Tharp's Log trail and came to another meadow.  Coming at us at good speed was a Mom/Dad/teenage daughter with their eyes bugged out - they said there was a bear ahead feeding but they were too scared to get any closer so turned around.  Hindsight - we should have said to them - come with us - the bears won't bother you - all they want to do is eat grass to get their body weights back up.  They loose about 30% of their weight during winter hibernation so they are scrambling to get their body stores back up.

Gentle well marked paths to follow

Da Bear!

Could care less about us

Had to drive through a fallen sequoia - to see the car under it is quite impressive to see the bigness of the trees.

Saw the bear, took lots of pictures and continued on to Tharp's Log.  Someone by the name of Tharp lived there (amazing!).  On we walked, up and down in the forest, making sure the bear stayed back.  Came across an area that looked recently burnt, amazing that the sequoias can withstand fires and survive.

Tharp's Log Home

Pretty cozy

Fireplace, window, door - what more could you ask for?

By the time we got back to the car we had walked over 3 miles.  Tired, but glad I can begin to do the distances like I used to do. As long as there are no steps and gentle fairly flat path, I am good.

Evidence of fires

That huge tree has such a small nut (see my foot for size comparison?)

They can be a nursery log for new growth 

Looked inside - maybe a bear den in the winter?

Kings Canyon National Park - Part 2

As we came through the Rough Fire area that burned last summer, along the western portion of Kings Canyon National Park, we entered into the canyon and were blown away by the vista views.  And, there was a thunderstorm/snowstorm going on and we witnessed that.  To see the lightning across the canyon, then hear the rolling thunder was a real treat.  Should we turn around and come back another day or continue on to the end of the road (Roads End) where we could no longer travel by car?  Lets drive on.  And so we did.  Most mountains here are over 14000 feet tall, most are snow covered and there are so many glaciers and high sierra lakes, but you need to hike into them.

Sculptured by nature

Our first view of the canyon

And then the rainstorm - zoom in - see the road we need to travel down?

Really pouring now!

Snowing up on top now

Dave hugged the side of the canyon along, again a twisty road.  In and out of the Rough Fire where it swept down into the canyon past stumps and burned out areas, the road was just repaired a week ago to allow people to drive into the park.  Could see snow on the mountains above, hear the roar of the Kings River below, see fields and fields of wild flowers just beginning to bloom.

Walls of pure granite!

The river roaring by

We passed two waterfalls and decided to stop at them on our way back, Roaring River Falls and Grizzly Falls.  Very scenic.  Wonder in the summer how swift the waterfalls would be or we saw it at its best with the snow melt.  By this time it was raining but not heavy.  The lightning had stopped and was just a drizzle.  Surprised at the number of cars at Roads End, must be hiking up in the high Sierras.  Cold and damp but we were experiencing what being in raw nature is all about.

Have to turn around from here - no roads go through the park

Could hear Roaring Falls before spotting it

Pic doesn't do it justice - lots of falls above this but couldn't find a good spot
to take a picture

Grizzly Falls

Passed a couple of campgrounds that had not opened yet - 2 more weeks.  Two lodges and visitors centers were also closed.  The ranger from the other day said that about 1000 people visit the park each day during the summer months.  Glad we saw it now, and glad we experienced a rainstorm.

U shape of Kings Canyon

Road hugged canyon down to Roads End, dropped from 9000 feet to 500!

Sun had come out but we got this wonderful view looking north

Looked down and probably was a mile down 

Hard to tell but this burned out area was full of purple flowers

Walls and walls of granite towering over us, the river roaring by, the wind as it gushed through the canyon and literally blew us off our feet when we stopped to get pictures.  Stopped at a number of turn outs to view waterfalls in the distance, see the river way below us, just experience the grandeur of the canyon. What a fantastic day!

Kings Canyon National Park - Part 1

We are a glutton for punishment when it comes to elevation challenges.  We drove to Kings Canyon National Park yesterday to see the sights.  Again, started out at the campground around 700 feet elevation and spent a big portion of the day at over 9000 feet.  Did not do a lot of physical activity for a couple of reasons - we started out in the park with sunny skies but as soon as we started driving into the canyon, a thunderstorm came through.  What a cool thing was that?  To hear the roar and see the lightning across the huge expanse!  Awesome.  And of course, see the snow falling at the upper reaches of the mountains and have rain fall on us.  Really neat experience.

The greenness - makes me miss Ohio 

Twisty road

Weight limit on bridges - could have never brought the RV up this road

Goal - to be up and over that mountain in distance

We had a couple options to get to Kings Canyon.  First was to drive through Sequoia NP and drive along the scenic parkway that links the two parks together.  Second was to take a shorter route outside the park, following the mountains up and down, very twisty road but was told very pretty and then join up into Kings Canyon entrance way.  Third was to take the more straighter route but took same amount of time and this route follows a more gently sloping road along the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and then again joining up at the entrance way.  We chose option 2 - and what an amazing ride that was.  Very very narrow, in and out of the Sequoia National Forest, past ranches and small homes, but oh so green and lush.  Many cows lounging right by the fence of the road, did see evidence of past fires.

Ranches right along road

I could live there!

Hello, cows.  Moo.

Once we got into the park we went to the visitors center to get acclimated.  Still sunny, chilly 43 but doable, did see patches of snow left.  Two of the visitors centers along the park road are still not open - in next 2 weeks they should be ready for the summer.  A short distance from the center is the Grant Cove Area where the General Grant Sequoia tree is.  As we were driving to it, saw a group of deer, still had a lot of their winter coat on - shedding.

On the road just 30 seconds before

The General Grant tree is the third largest of all trees in the world (1 and 2 are in Sequoia and we will visit them another day).  Walked the trail, saw some amazing trees that are over 1500 years old.

So - this is what snow looks like!  LOL

General Grant Tree

A felled tree - see man to right inside?  Yep, that big.

See woman bottom right?

So tall that you have to be really far away to capture it

Tree after tree - amazing

From there we decided to drive down into the canyon and see what there was to see. Once we left the Grant Grove area and headed towards the canyon, we saw the remnants of the Rough Fire, the largest wildfire of 2015.  Once side of the road was green, the other burned out.  The road was buckled and repaired, we could see the damage of the fire and smelled it.

From the fire.  Uh oh, is that rain ahead?