Day 28 ~ Sequoia ~ Day 2

Day 28 ~Sequoia ~ Day 2

What a lovely pleasant day this was!  Today we revisited Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon.  We are all in love with the giant trees.  We can’t get enough of them.  Natalie has done this little thing with her Kindle, where she has the instrumental music set to certain pieces, so when we drive through the Forest of Giants, we are listening to just the proper music for it in the background!  It is enchanting!

 

We stopped at the Sequoia National Park sign, to take a family picture!  We have done this everywhere except Crater Lake and Devil’s Tower….I wish we could go back and take those pictures!

The kids and I snuck into a gift shop and bought Mike a new knapsack/satchel thing with Sequoia embroidered on it for Father's Day.  His shower tote zipper broke, so this will come in handy.  We also have a bag of magnets from Mt. Rushmore to replace all the ones he lost from Epcot several years ago....he uses them while he works.  I also bought him a quirky camper book from the Ansel Adams gift shop that he had his eye on.  We also bought him a metal collapsible cup there.  My mom always had a pink plastic one in her purse for us when we were little for drinking from water fountains.  Mike was enchanted by the cleverness of this cup when my sister Carol showed us the one she had in her purse!  He pointed it out at the Ansel Adams Gift Shop, so I bought it for him as a surprise later.  We wrapped his gifts haphazardly  in a few shopping bags for later.

So we started today in Kings Canyon at the General Grant Tree/Forest.  We took the little hike around the circle to the tree. It is a more cool temperature in the forests because they are at such a high elevation.  It is a good place to be in the afternoon in Southern California.  Or Central....I am not sure what part of California we are actually in!  It is the most Southerly we have been on this trip. At any rate,  it is hot!

 

This is actually the tallest tree in the world.  (General Sherman was the largest....)

 

This is a tree that some sheep herders lived in then later the calvary. 

 

We spent the whole morning goofing around, looking at the big trees.

Natalie set up this Photo Bomb

Wild Flowers

 

Then we moved back to the Moro Rock area that we were in last night.  It took about an hour to drive there.  We saw more big trees….

We did this pose again today.

The lovely Sierra Nevadas

    We didn’t do Moro Rock yesterday because it was so late and the climb is a really, really big one.  So we were eager to do it today.  The “trail” is actually mostly stairs straight up to a view over Sequoia National Park that is unbelievable.  The top of the climb is something like 6,725 feet above sea level.   To put it in perspective, if you have ever been up in the St. Louis Arch, it is about 630 feet….  So Moro Rock is a really, really, really high view.  Natalie and I are a little shake-y when it comes to high places.  But after much sweat and toil…….and moments here and there to steady myself, I made it!  The kids felt a little held back by Mike and myself.  I must admit to taking lots of pictures to hide the fact that I was catching my breath....... It was exhilarating to be at the top…..As long as I was hanging onto Mike…..for extra protection……I am not exactly the most graceful person.  I wouldn’t want to take a misstep in a treacherous place like this. 

On the Way Up

Taking a Break/Photo Op

Topside View



Made It!

Made It!

Made It!

Headed Down!

Moro Rock from a Great Distance Away

Then since we were close, Harrison drove the car through the Giant Sequoia this time.  There probably aren’t many 16 year olds from Indiana that can say they drove their car through a tree and lived to tell about it.

It is illegal for Natalie to ride in the front seat with Harrison, so it was a big deal to drive through the tree in the front seat with him. 

 

The next thing we did was drive to Crescent Meadows to hike to a little house built in a Sequoia.  The Ranger told us yesterday that we would probably see a bear in Crescent Meadows.  We did!  This park is less traveled by people, so the bears are much more available! 

Look who had to take chances and get close…..                                     

Then we hiked on to the little house in the tree.  A long time ago, a man built a little cabin for himself inside a fallen Sequoia tree.  It is still here.  I don’t think it is clean enough to move my family in, but I am sure it was just as good as a log cabin and a lot easier to come by!

On our way home, we saw another bear, just ambling along. 

 

Harrison took some pictures of this tree that they used to drive their cars, horses, carriages etc. on for unusual photographs.  It has like a driveway on top of it.  You can’t drive your car onto it anymore…..

 

Really, this was  a lovely park.  Less crowded.  More bears.  Enchanting trees.  Loved it!