Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks May 29 - June 1, 1999 [Sequoia and kings Canyon Gallery] [Back to Photo Page]

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are famous for the giant sequoia trees, including the largest living thing on Earth, the General Sherman tree. There are much more in the parks: the deepest canyon (8200 feet) in North America, the highest peak (Mount Whitney, 14494 feet) in the contiguous 48 states, and very diversified plants, animals, and terrains. This was my second time to visit these twin parks, and I was more prepared to explore the beauty of the parks.

Getting there ...

It's about four and a half hour driving to Kings Canyon National Park. We (my mother-in-law, Clare, Linus, and me) got out at about 8:00AM, and got there just passed noon.

• General Grant tree, Grant Grove
  

  The General Grant is the third largest tree in the world and is designated as the Nation's Christmas Tree. Its photo was selected by NASA as one of 118 pictures to be sent on the spacecrafts Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, lanuched in August and Septemberof 1977 and now traveling through space in the outer solar system.

• North Grove Trail, Grant Grove
  

  Compared with the trail to the Gerenal Grant tree, the North Grove Loop trail is much less crowded. It's a 1.5-mile quiet walk past meadows and creeks, through mixed conifer and sequoia forest. We also learned what dogwoods look like.

• Panoramic Point
  We went to the Panoramic Point after dinner for sunset. It is very closed to the Grant Grove Lodge where we stayed for three nights. The panoramic point is a spectacular vista of the high Sierra. The weather was good but it was a little foggy so the distant mountains were not very clear.
  

The Second Day ...

• Panoramic Point
  

  I got up early and went to the panoramic point before sunrise. It was a little too cloudy to have a breathtaking sunrise. But it didn't matter. The joy of seeing the first light in undisturbed mountains is beyond words and photography.

• Buena Vista Trail
  The trail (2-mile round-trip) hikes up to the top of Buena Vista Peak, a granite peak provides a 360-degree view looks out over the majestic sequoias in Redwood Canyon, Buck Rock Fire Tower, and a splendid panorama of the high Sierras. I carried Linus all the way up to the top. We were the only people on the trail, and it seems we owned the peak when we were there.
  

• Cedar grove
  

  Grizzly Fall Roaring River Fall

  The road (Highway 180) to the Cedar Grove is pretty winding and follows the South Fork Kings River into the canyon and the valley. We stopped by the Grizzly Fall and the Roaring River Fall. Linus fell asleep in the car and was recharged for our next stop: Zumwalt Meadow.

• Zumwalt Meadow, Cedar Grove
  

  The Zumwalt meadow loop trail affords magnicient views of high grante walls, a lush meadow, and the meandering Kings River. Linus was energetic again and walked by himself very efficiently. Most of the trail is in comfortable shady area. There is a section of trails where big rocks are everywhere, and Linus seemed to enjoy climbing rocks very much.

The Third Day ...

• Hume Lake
  I didn't make up my mind where I was going to see the sunrise until I got in my car. I decided to go to Hume Lake because I wanted to include some water reflection. I was hoping I could find some place to also include the setting moon (but I failed). The lake was quiet and the morning mist covered all over the lake. The sun came out behind the veil of fog, and a fresh new start began.

• Tokopah Falls Trail
  We entered the terroitory of the Sequoia National Park today. We stopped by the Lodgepole visitor center to get everything ready. The Tokopah Falls trail is along the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River. The first three quarters of the trail is in the shady forest and is very easy and flat. But it still took us a long time because Linus was always interested in something else along the trail. Tokopah Falls is a cascade fall and 1200 feet high. The granite cliffs and canyons are also impressive. We had lunch there, and marmots were everywhere looking for food.
  I carried Linus downhills and he fell asleep on my back. This time we were almost non-stopped and it took less than 50-min to walked back.

• 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. The trail here is probably the most crowded region in the parks. We probably saw more cars and people than anywhere else combined. We didn't spend too much time here (probably we should spend more time in the Congress trail) because we were going to the Crystal Cave tour at 4:00 PM.

• Crystal Cave
  Crystal Cave is the only one of more than 200 caves within the parks open to the public. Crystal Cave was discovered in 1918 by two park trail construction employees who were fishing along Cascade Creek on their day off.
  We need to hike down a steep 1/2 mile trail along Cascade Creek to the cave entrance. Although the temperature in the cave is a constant 48 degrees F (9 degrees C), we felt very comfortable and not too cold (of course we weared winter jackets). The formations in the cave are very amazing. Stalagmites and Stalactites are everywhere. In one of the open space in the cave (I think it is called Marble Hall), the guide turned off all the lights and we all experienced the "darkest" moment in our lives.

• Moro Rock
  

  There was still time after the tour at Crystal Cave so we decided to detour to Moro Rock before dinner. From the top of Moro Rock, one can have spectacular views of the western half of Sequoia National Park and the Great Western Divide. We were hesitated to climbed to the top because we were all a little bit tired and I don't think I have the energy left to carry Linus to the top. Instead, we drove around the loop and find a spot before the parking area. By walking down a little bit, we got a nice view of Moro Rock. From the memory of my last trip to Sequoia a few years ago, I think I got a better angle for pictures.

• Sunset
  I didn't have any plan for seeing sunset. We were just driving from Lodgepole back to Grant Grove. After a sharp turn, we saw the setting sun which was just minutes away from the moutain ridges. We were so lucky that the next turnout was just right there facing the best direction. I was quick enough to catch the last minute of the day.

The Last Day ...

• Crescent Meadow, Giant Forest
  

  It is the day after the Memorial day long weekend, and we found there were much fewer visitors in the park today. The Crescent Meadow trail, which is supposed to be one of the most popular hike in Sequoia, was also very quiet and we were free to walk on our own pace. I was hoping I could see plenty of wildflowers in the meadow, but I guess it was not the season yet.

• One thing worth particularly mentioned is that the dogwoods were blooming everywhere. I would never pay attention to them if they were not blooming.
  

Going Home ...

I think we knew more and enjoyed more about the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in this trip than my last trip four years ago. We learned more about sequoia trees, learned more about caves, learned more about canyons, knew what dogwoods are, knew I can carry Linus and walk for an hour, and even learned that PowerBar is really a good stuff :-) We will keep learning more in our next trip.

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