California Day 3 - Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

Day 3 started off with a nice surprise!  After getting up an heading a few miles up the road to the Moro Rock trailhead - we came across our first ever BEAR!  It was just on the side of the road and very easy to see.  We had a little time to stop and watch before having to move on due to approaching traffic.  The Generals Highway is curvy and a bit dangerous, so we didn't want to be stopped in the middle of the road.  We had never seen a bear before, but didn't think this one was full grown.

 

Very happy to our bear sighting, we moved on to Moro Rock.  Early in the morning, we pretty much had it to ourselves.  I would sight you the statistics on it, but the NPS website is down due to the government shutdown - BOO!

 

It was maybe a quarter of a mile and several hundred steps to the top.  No big deal after the day before.  A must do for anyone visiting the park with a nice view from the top.  It was slightly hazy the morning we were there.

 

 

Next up was the lodgepole visitor's center.  And then back to the General Sherman trail - to see the largest tree in the world (based upon volume) - the General Sherman.  While it was big, there were a lot of people on this trail and you could not get right up next to the tree.

 

But that was okay because the easy two mile Congress loop started at the General Sherman area.

 

 

I suppose that if you visit the General Sherman, you should probably just plan another hour or so to do the paved two mile Congress loop.  Certainly, we saw a lot of large sequoias on it. 

 

Unlike the General Sherman, you could walk right up to them.  See Rob hiding in the picture below.  I am only putting pictures with one of us in them so you get the idea of the size.

The trees are massive.  Over past Moro rock, there was a grouping of six trees that was most impressive.

 

Some of the trees had names, others did not.  Perhaps there is a trail guide somewhere that names them all, but we did not have it.

 

It was a cooler morning, but we had our long sleeves off by the time we were hiking back to the car.

 

The Giant Forest area of the park was very nice - but also very heavily visited compared to our previous two days.



 

We then drove an hour northward to the Grant Grove village area to see the third largest tree in the world (volume) - the General Grant tree.  For those not into hiking, this tree was a bit more easily accessible than the General Sherman.  It was very nice figure-8 loop trail (maybe 3/4 mile) where you could walk through a fallen sequoia lengthwise.  The General Grant tree is the nation's Christmas tree...hopefully people will be able to visit it again before Christmas.

 

This area of the park was certainly packed with visitors; we counted four large tour buses in the picnic area we stopped in - all with European visitors (really Congress, get your act together...these people are not going to ever come back to the US if you don't open the parks back up).

 

 

After our picnic lunch, it was time to drive into the heart of Kings Canyon.  Wow - what an absolutely beautiful drive!

 

And at the end of the road was Cedar Grove - which is where we would see our first rattlesnake!  Thank goodness from the car and not on the trail!

 

We would have time to do a couple short hikes before dinner.  First up was Zumwalt Meadow.

 

While one of the easy short hikes of the Cedar Grove area, we did not see more than 8 people.  It was a very nice trail.  Had we had more time, we could have joined it with other trails to make the hike longer.

 



 While there was almost no elevation gain, the trail had gorgeous views.

 

We didn't see any wildlife on the trail other than birds, but another group of hikers had told us they spotted a bear a few miles back.

 

 The granite walls were much like that of Yosemite which is a few hundred miles north of Kings- Canyon.

 



I would say that Yosemite's Valley had more stunning open views, but it was filled with visitors.  Kings Canyon didn't have as stunning of views, but that was made up with the lack of people!

The river was absolutely clear and beautiful to look at.  Our lodge would be at its edge.  While it had paper-thin walls and was showing its age, it was worth the stay at a somewhat reasonable price for the middle of nowhere.  The market and snack shop were operating on reduced hours, but we had plenty of time for the 5-7 pm dinner and enjoyed the menu.  The young girls working at the lodge were all very friendly and helpful; it breaks my heart to think that they were tossed out of the canyon the following Monday with the shutdown.  Had we planned this trip a few days later, we wouldn't have seen these sights.  Get your act together Congress...OPEN THE PARKS.