Crescent Meadow
I took a lovely stroll out to Crescent Meadow, John Muir’s ‘Gem of the Sierra’. This walk is about point four miles from the parking lot, shouting distance. But the wildflowers are gone, the sun is overhead and there isn’t much to say about standing here. So I back up three steps, back to the path, turn my head and…
We’re off from Wuksachi Lodge for a short backtrack to catch the largest tree in the world, The Sherman Tree. It’s not the tallest and it’s not the widest but it is the largest by volume.
Wow, big.
It takes about an hour to drive from Wuksachi/Sherman Tree to the next Visitors Center and location of our accommodation in Grant Grove Village, and this is some of the view on the way.
We’re staying at the John Muir Lodge in Grant Grove Village for the next two nights, and then home.
Grant Grove Village consists of the John Muir Lodge, a collection of tent cabins, a collection of year-round cabins, a very nice Visitors Center, a small market and post office, and this modest restaurant.
I like the restaurant actually. It’s modest but fine. We both had a bowl of chili that was more than fine, and split the Caesar salad that was also more than fine.
((We went back there then next day and the chili was entirely different and not at all as good. So I have to retract my happy review!))
After lunch we took the long drive in and out of Kings Canyon. Here’s a first glimpse.
The Kings River that runs through Kings Canyon did have some water which was nice to see although it was so shallow we could see the bottom wherever we stopped.
And a waterfall was running! Yay. This is Grizzly Falls. For fun I took one shot in a vertical right out of the camera and the other is a horizontal pano of two shots.
We took a drive by the monumental Moro Rock climbing opportunity and passed it right on by.
October 26
Entering the park from Three Rivers we are treated to a fine display of fall colors and…
(through the car window)
The trees are from the very fine Big Trees Nature Trail.
We had been walking for a few hours and were ready to check in to our accommodation at Wuksachi and enjoy a late lunch at their restaurant where…
…yikes! The fog rolled in big time – that’s the view out the window! So we just called it a day.
October 25 (You can click on this link if you’re interested in my consolidated story from many trips to Sequoia, All Done Now.)
Sharon and I drove up to Three Rivers today to spend the night in anticipation of our adventure in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park.
We stayed here, the Sequoia River Dance B&B. The South Fork of the Kaweah River that runs behind the house was totally dry, not a drop.
…which we could enjoy from our table on the patio of the restaurant at the Gateway Motel.
That’s the historic Pumpkin Hallow Bridge built in 1922 here where the Middle and East Forks of the Kaweah River merge.
This is the view walking from the tent cabins in Grant Grove to the Visitors Center.
General Sherman Tree
It’s a StairMaster trek to General Sherman. The close-by parking is handicapped only.
In 2008, for the first many miles inside the park the road was wonderfully re-surfaced and all the retaining walls were newly re-built. You can see here how the walls are made of the same materials as the mountains.
It’s Moro Rock out there. Cool.
There are three distinct eco-systems you get to travel through in one day in Sequoia being 1) the foothills, which are these last few pictures, 2) the forests and 3) the high country, and lovin’ it all.
…and looking to the right. There are equally amazing sights forward and behind. It’s completely worth the pain in your thighs to make it up here.
It’s a StairMaster trek to General Sherman. The close-by parking here is handicapped only too.
…to get a shot of this bridge.
Here’s where, in Three Rivers, the Middle and East Forks of the Kaweah River merge, under the historic Pumpkin Hollow Bridge built in 1922 and I know it’s historic because it says so on the sign.
For the first many miles inside the park the road was wonderfully re-surfaced and all the retaining walls were newly re-built. You can see here how the walls are made of the same materials as the mountains, and it was fab.
Here are a couple shots of the tent cabins; I did go for the more flattering angles.
The entire park was sold out – all the camp sites, these cabins, the hotels, everything. And yet it did not feel crowded at all. The trails were free of crowds and at least here it was calm and quiet the entire time.
I didn’t see anyone using the cabins as a real camp site meaning cooking, laundry, chairs and shade setup, like you see in the campgrounds. I was very surprised by how quiet it was.
If you’re going to do anything other than sleep overnight you’ll be a lot more comfortable if you bring comfortable chairs and Light! It’s pretty dark in these cabins day and night. You don’t need to worry about food though. The coffee kiosk opens early, the restaurant is quite fine, there’s a pizza joint open until 9pm, the market has fruit, veg, sandwich makings etc.
June 19
Today, in the parking lot at the Visitor’s Center in Grant’s Grove, King’s Canyon/Sequoia National Park, there was a vw bus exactly like the one on this album cover, all the windows and doors open, Dylan’s Masters of War pouring out.
The bus was a total rusted wreck, the bumper pieces held together by a relatively pristine sticker announcing Kerry for President. The whole scene put an idiot grin on my face…but that doesn’t make me a bad person.
I’m still working on the pictures from a Sequoia Sojourn.
My new idea is 3 nights in Sequoia makes for a good trip, and you have to stay in different places or you’ll be on the road more than on the trail and not have time to finesse the weather.
June 18
This is the view out my back window and there is a similar scene out the front door. The cabin, one of those tent jobbies is like my shed out back, made from plywood, fabricated and constructed in the 20s, and unlike my shed, this building was never painted. How has it survived?
There’s no nothing in there either, except two beds and a side table, but amazingly the bed was very comfortable, the sheets were thick and fresh, and the blankets were even clean. You just can’t be too fussy about the creepy crawlies.
The trees don’t grow straight and there’s not a thing I can do about it!
As you make your way to ‘the wash house’ you stumble upon these, and the smells are as magnificent as you remember.
This morning I took a hike up the Buena Vista trail. It’s the same hike I took with Sandy and Nancy in Sequoia late last year. The map says it’s one mile one way with a 600 foot increase in elevation and it did feel pretty much up up up the whole way.
This is mid-June and I’m thinking May would be wildflower mania around here. There are supposed to be wildflowers into June too but the ranger said there was so little snowfall this winter that the meadows are dried up and the wildflowers are gone.
This trail’s claim to fame is a view of King’s Canyon from the top of this outcropping of rock. Up up up.
You see these cairns marking the trail and as you pass over long stretches of rock you are grateful for the hint since the foot prints are gone. Usually there is just one or two to lead the way but here you are practically at the summit and all the cairns (there are at least five in view) seem to be clapping and calling out ‘here come this way you made it come this way yea yea you made it!’.
I climbed around a little at the top and came to this view which I think is King’s Canyon. I don’t know why, it just seems more dramatic. So I tried to find a better view looking in this direction and in the process got completely lost. Hmmm.
And I had not seen one single soul on my upward journey. I had water, snacks, TP(!), I was fine. No problem. I eventually located the cairns and was on my way down. Which reminded me to Pay Attention! Pay Attention is really the basic tenet of Don’t Fall – I just need to extend the application.
In the afternoon I went to a ranger talk, one of the special joys of Our National Parks. This guy was demonstrating being a cactus. The kid in the corner is his son thinking his dad is pretty funny alrighty.
(Very Bad dodging on the kid. Bad photoshoping-girl! Do it again! Ok, I will… later…)
A bird. The only wildlife I’ve seen so far are of course plenty of bugs, then chipmunks and squirrels, then lizards, then birds.
It’s a whole lot easier to take a picture of a big slow animal nearby compared to these darting around speed freaks a football field away. But I can’t resist so there you are. First I set the zoom to max and then clip an itty-bitty section from the result. I’m easily delighted.
June 17
I’m in Sequoia National Park for just a couple days. I have to leave this internet site now because it is getting dark and since I’m staying in one rustic tent cabin with no electricity I better get settled in before I can’t see a dang thing. Maybe we’ll get stars.
It’s An Adventure! I have some pretty good ‘looking on the bright side’ shots which I’ll put up tomorrow.
This place is on the path between my cabin and the restaurant. Pretty dang gorgeous.
…on a recently active fire road near General Grant.
Then we had a nice birthday lunch at a funky diner along the way, and by 8pm I was snug in my bed. Thank you Sandy and Nancy for making this trip possible. That wonderful smell fills my head and those gorgeous sights dance in my eyes.
ND.
a trail on the drive between Wuksachi and Grant Grove
This is a real hike, on a trail that leads up into a stony vista of delights. A manatee? Notice how that smiling head is balanced on a point.
Big Tree/Giant Forest area
The entrance to the Big Trees Trail.One of the signature trees in this nature trail. Oh My! Check out Nancy and Sandy down there at the base of the tree.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park
From the Three Rivers entrance, the iconic Sequoia Welcome and Come Again Soon.
The Giant Forest nature trail is an excellent introduction I think to the life of the Giant Sequoias. There are explanatory signs all along the way. The museum (which we also passed by) is right next door.
ND.
Then we took a little amble to Thundering River Falls.
Just 10 minutes off the road. The river was running wild it seemed, fast and loud. There were Danger signs placed prominently at every trail-head.
ND.
Entering the park from Three Rivers we passed by on Moro Rock admiring her from a distance and went straight to the Giant Forest nature trail.
…still, if you’ve never seen it I propose it’s worth the drive. Don’t miss the river way down there. Wow.
October 12
Sandy and Nancy and I are off to Sequoia for our two-nighter adventure in honor of Sandy’s birthday.
First stop has got to be The Gateway Restaurant and Lodge in Three Rivers where we ate a lovely lunch and enjoyed the ambiance and scenery at this very cool joint.
Another view from the patio. There are any number of places to stop in Three Rivers there at the entrance to Sequoia but how could any of the others be as lovely as this?
Here he is, welcoming us to Sequoia.
I’m finding myself getting pretty tedious about this: the National Park Service website is Awesome. Here’s everything you ever wanted to know about the Tribes of Sequoia National Park Region despite the article’s equivocation as to the constraints of time and money.
Very soon evening came upon us. We ate dinner in the dining room of the Wuksachi Lodge where we were staying. The Wuksachi Lodge is by far the most upscale place in Sequoia but as I reminded S&N, like it was a chant, ‘it is still a National Park, don’t forget, it’s a National Park.’
I was trying to manage expectations… It was fun! They served cream of peanut soup.
October 13
The morning view out our window. Looks mighty good don’t you think!?
At Wuksachi they have the pretty nice Lodge for dining with a bar and a lounge area. The rooms are located up the road a piece in three large-ish motel-lodge-ish buildings. Our room was fine – modest as expected but plenty big and the views were excellent.
