The Big Trees
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.
October 26
Entering the park from Three Rivers we are treated to a fine display of fall colors and…
(through the car window)
We took a drive by the monumental Moro Rock climbing opportunity and passed it right on by.
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.
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.
