Sequoia National Park 12/28 -- 12/31/2003 [Sequoia Gallery] [Back to Photo Page]

We are not active in any winter sports, but winter in Sequoia National Park is still attractive to me with its snow-capped mountains and big trees. Although the access in the park is much limited in winter (only the Giant Forest area was still open and the road between Sequoia and Kings Canyon was closed), it also has much less visitors to compete with.

Getting there ...

As usual, we (= Woanyu) were very well prepared for this trip. Food, clothes, shoes, snow chains, a MP3 player (no more CD's), books, and toys filled up the back seats of our minivan. The sky was so clear that we could see the distant Sierra-Nevada mountains far from Highway 99. Although the weather was sunny and clear, we were required to put on the snow chains at higher elevation after entering the park. With the practice I had in my garage previous weekend, it was a smooth installation and took me less than 10 minutes without any struggling.

The First Day ...

• Wolverton
  With speed less than 20 mph, it took us more than one and a half hour to get to the Wolverton picnic area from the park entrance. Wolverton is a perfect snow playing area with plenty of open space and gentle slopes. The weather was so nice that we only needed to put on light jackets/sweaters. We tried the sleds borrowed from our friend and we still did not quite know how to control it after about an hour. Although we often fell down on the slopes, we had a good time for our first touch of snow this year (except Iris got some snow in her boots and began to cry in the end).
  

The Second Day ...

• It was a cloudy day and I started to walk around the Wuksachi Lodge at about 7AM. It was cold and quiet, and began to snow when I got my camera gears from the car. It was a nice little walk with some fresh snow even though I did not get any good photos.
  After breakfast, we went to the ski shop to rent snowshoes. Since we took a ranger led snowshoe walk many years ago in Yosemite, we have been enjoying walking snowshoes in a few places. Linus and Iris are finally old enough to try them for the first time.
  

• General Sherman Tree
  

  The General Sherman Tree is 274.9 feet (83.8 m) tall and 102.6 feet (31.3 m) in circumference at its base. With 52,500 cubic feet (1486.6 m^3) of wood, the General Sherman Tree earns the title of the World's Largest Living Thing. Although the trail was packed solid enough to walk normally, we still put on our snowshoes so we can walk into deeper snow. It turned out Linus was ok with snowshoes, but Iris was still too little to maneuver the bulky snowshoes. Iris fell down a few times; she began to cry and refused to walk any further.

• Giant Forest Museum
  After the lunch at Wuksachi Village and a little break in our room, we headed to Giant Forest Museum just a few miles south of General Sherman. The museum is small but full of interesting exhibitions. After spending some time in the museum, we walked over the parking lot and played some snow: Iris and Woanyu was building snow castles, and Linus and I put on snowshoes again and walked up to a hill. Linus liked to step on un-travelled snow and kept walking. I began to feel that it's getting harder to catch up with him sometimes.
  

The Third Day ...

• Sunrise at Wuksachi Village
  I woke up at 6:30AM and was surprised by the scene outside: everthing was covered by fresh thick snow but it was also such a nice clear day. I could not wait to get out to feel it. When I walked to our minivan to get my cameras, I found all the cars were buried in snow.
  I put on my snowshoes and walked across a bridge behind the Wuksachi Village. The trail was covered by deep soft snow that sometimes I was sinking almost to my knees even with my snowshoes. After a few minutes of walk, I was caught up by a cross-country ski fellow who just flied by me, which made me feel I should try skiing next time. After a few hundred meters, I came across a second bridge, and then there was an open space with nice views of mountains and forests. I setup my tripod (and I was also too tired to walk further) and enjoyed the changing light around me (although my hands were freezing).

   

• Wolverton
  

  We came back to Wolverton again in the morning for more snow play. We were the second car in the Wolverton parking lot. Because of the heavy snow last night, we put on the snowshoes to walk out our own trail from deep snow. We got to the slope with all fresh snow and made a few test slides to smooth out the track for the sleds. Linus made several successful runs by himslf and started to refuse to ride with me. After a few rides, Iris got some snow into her boots again and stopped playing, and only cookies can keep her from crying more.

• Big Trees Trail
  

  After a short break and lunch, the weather changed dramatically. It began to snow harder and harder. We drove to the Giant Forest and began our snowshoe walk on the Big Trees Trail. This trail is an easy loop with a big meadow in the center and we can have good close views of sequoias. Iris was much better in controlling her snowshoes than yesterday. She actually can "float" on the snow without sinking too much. Unfortunately, after walking and running for a while, Iris fell down and refused to go on. Linus and I kept going, but Linus also got tired after about half way of the trail. I took off his snowhoes and turned back to the trailhead, and found Iris was having snacks and smiled again.

The Last Day ...

• Wolverton
  We went back to Wolverton after we checked out at Wuksachi Village. We were first to Wolverton today and there were no other people until at least half an hour later. Linus were so excited to come back here to play sled again that he ran up hills countless times. Iris was also much better today that she hang on all the time and never fell out of the sleds like me. It's the first time Iris did not cry while playing snow!!!

It's about noon when we left Wolverton to head back home. Linus and Iris had some snacks in the car while I was driving down the winding and foggy roads. The visibility was so poor sometimes that everyone in the car were looking out for me. It's a big relief that we finally reached the point where we can take off the snow chains.

• Hospital Rock & Tunnel Rock
  

  We stopped by Hospital Rock and Tunnel Rock on our way out of the park. They were good opportunities to get out of cars to stretch legs after driving more than an hour of winding road.

Going Home ...

We had a late lunch at a McDonalds on Highway 198 and started a 4-hour driving back home. Woanyu always complains about the winter trips with snow activities because we need to prepare much more stuffs. I have to agree with her especially when Iris got frustrated physically and mentally with snow. It's a good thing that we live in the place where we don't have to worry about dealing with snow, but still can have some snow to play with in a few hour of driving.

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