Sequoia National Park, Day 4: The Giant Forest!

We started off our day visiting the Giant Forest.  The drive itself is amazing with redwoods out both sides of the windows.  It was named the Giant Forest by John Muir in 1875.  Here is what he said:  "Giants grouped in pure temple groves, or arranged in colonnades along the sides of meadows."

I guess if I can't be in the temple, it sure feels wonderful being here!

Before we started on the hike, we saw this beauty.  But we also took the picture because of the beautiful blue sky!

Beginning of the trail...

Views of the trail...

We hardly saw any people on the trail.  It was so quiet and peaceful!

A nice bench to stop and look  up!

I love how they describe the trees as "cinnamon-colored."

In the 1960's this is how the meadow looked which you will see in a minute.  Look at all those cars!  There was a gas station, hotel, restaurant, and campground.  All of that is gone.

Instead we got to see this:

There is still lodging, camping and food in the park but just not in areas where it will have an impact on the Sequoia redwoods.  

This is so much better!  What a great morning!!

 

Sequoia National Park, Day 3!

We will finally get to see the largest tree in the world!

But first a picnic lunch and a selfie.

The walk down was amazing.  Can you see the people down at the bottom of the photo?  It helps give perspective on the size of these trees!

This rest stop has a life-sized footprint of the base of the Sherman Tree.

Beauty everywhere!

And finally at last!

(Unfortunately photos can't do it justice!)

"The General Sherman tree's claim to fame as the biggest tree in the world comes from the volume of it's trunk.  Some trees are taller, but no other tree has more wood.  The tree's top is dead so the tree's trunk no longer gets taller.  However, it's volume keeps increasing.  Each year the trunk grows wider, adding enough wood for a good-sized tree (a 60 foot tree measuing 1 foot in diamter)."

From the top down in two photos:

Height: 275 feet tall

Weight: 1,385 tons

Age: 2,200 years old

"If the tree trunk could be filled with water it would provide enough water for 9,844 baths.  That's one bath every day for 27 years!

Everything about it is awe-inspiring!

It was named in 1879 by James Wolverton, a pioneer cattleman who served under General William Tecumseh Sherman in the Civil War.

A video of the tree:

In the evening we decided to buy dinner at the Lodge restaurant.  But there is no indoor dining right now, so we ordered at a window on this deck and had a very delicous meal eating outside in pleasant weather with beautiful scenery.  Perfect!  

Kings Canyon National Park, Day 2!

We started our day at 9:00 in the morning for a 2 hour drive along a scenic byway with a few stops.  We didn't get back until 3:00 and it was a wonderful outing. Before we started on the byway, we drove up a narrow winding road to Panoramic Point.  Then a little hike to this area.  We felt lucky to see this much but it was still smokey and would have been much more spectacular. 

As we started along the byway the terrain started changing and we saw a lot of granite.

The Kings River cuts through this canyon.

We saw the river and waterfalls.

We did one short hike to see Roaring River Falls.

Another stop and hike was Zumwalt Meadow.   We walked across this suspension bridge.

It was a beautiful spot!

From here John Muir said Kings Canyon rivals Yosemite.

If you thought I was spelling the name wrong, here is the explanation:  Gabriel Moraga was searching for a mission site.  In 1806 he was the first European to enter the area and discovered a major river on January 6th, the day of Epiphany.  He named the river El Rio do los Santos Reyes (The River of the Holy Kings). It was later shortened to Kings River and that is why Kings River and Kings Canyon are never spelled with apostrophes!

It was made a National Park on March 4, 1940.

Kings Canyon National Park: Day 1!

We arrived at Kings Canyon National Park on Saturday afternoon.

(Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park are separate National parks but they share borders and are managed jointly.)

We stayed at Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia National Park.

The path from the Lodge to the rooms.

Here is where we stayed:

 

First stop was to see the General Grant Tree.  First we walked through the General Grant Tree Trail.  There were so many Sequoia redwood trees everywhere.  Look at this group.  The people look so small and this only shows part of each tree, not even where the branches start.  Amazing!

I though this was intersting.  Not sure if you can read it.  Basically it says that this tree was cut in 1875 and a section was sent to the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876.  Eastern people refused to accept the exhibit as part of a single tree and called it a "California Hoax."

We even saw a couple of little fawns.

Such a beautiful walk!

The General Grant Tree:

Statistics:

Height: 268 feet

Weight: 1,254 tons

Volume: 46,608 cubic feet which makes it the 3rd largest tree in the world by volume

Age: 1,700 years, fairly young

Circumference: 107 feet

Diameter: 40 feet

It was great to start off our trip by seeing this beautiful tree!