Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park,
California,
United States
Monday, October 13, 2008
Joseph and I hit the road on Monday to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, just 4 hours from L.A. There we visited Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Sequoias are the biggest trees in the world. On average, they are twenty feet wide and have bark that is 2 feet thick. The biggest Sequoia tree is the General Sherman and it is...never mind, you need to visit the park and find out! The wildlife in these parks are not shy. We saw two black bears and three mule deer just feet off of the trail. If we wanted to break the rules, these animals would have taken food right out of our hands. At 7500+ feet above sea level, the parks have amazing views, and, as we found out belatedly, freezing temperatures. During the day the highs are in the mid 70's, at night the temp falls to 22-34 degrees depending on where you are. The first night we just happened to camp in the coldest part, and ended up sleeping in our rental car. The second night, we splurged and stayed at a lodge. There are several lodges ran by the National Parks Service, which are very nice and have nice accomodations. We stumbled upon an independently owned lodge, The Montecito, and got more bang for our buck. At this lodge you pay one fee ($150 for us) and that includes dinner, breakfast, and a 24 hour snack and drink bar (non-alcoholic beverages). Prices are dropping before the snowy season, so go to the Sierras and stay at the Montecito! Wednesday we headed down the mountain into Kings Canyon. The drive alone was breath-taking! Sheer rock cliffs bordered the curvey, narrow road. At one point, the road seemed to disappear into the canyon! The park really highlights the variety of landscape in Cali. On a five-mile hike we saw meadows lined with 4,000 foot tall cliffs, cascading waterfalls on golden-brown rocks, boulders in an arrid desert, and a river rushing through thick woods. We never stopped taking pictures!
