10/24 - After Yosemite, I headed towards Kings Canyon and Sequoia NPs, but stopped in Clovis on my way.
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| Cute town, where I had lunch at the Parisien Bakery and had a yummy crepe. |
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| We hung out in town for quite a while and I learned that there was going to be a Halloween Trunk or Treat going on, so I stayed to check it out. It was fun to see all the costumes. |
After this, it was dark and since I hadn't heard from the BW person, I had to find a place to sleep. I almost never am looking for spots after dark, but it seems that I'm doing that a lot lately! The BWer got back to me just after I had given up and found a pull off on the way to Kings Canyon. I had checked another spot out, but there were spin outs in the dirt in a very small lot, which didn't feel good to me, so I went on. The spot I found was good as it was very deep, so I wasn't right on the road and it was on a bend, so when people drove by, their lights didn't shine on me at all. Once again, not my ideal spot, but it worked! The BW guy called me and asked if I was somewhere I felt safe and though I said yes, he heard some hesitation in my voice. I just wasn't expecting the question and I had just arrived, so wasn't 100% sure yet.
10/25 - Kings Canyon. Per usual, I had no plans for Kings Canyon and didn't really know what I was going to find there. Kings Canyon and Sequoia NPs are joined as one park, but they're separate on the maps.
First stop was the Stump Grove. I've been to redwood forests, but the Sequoias are a whole different beast. They are so incredibly big. And some of the biggest ones are several thousand years old. Nature makes me feel so small and insignificant (which is totally OK!).
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| This is the Mark Twain tree and I counted 10 strides across. I think that would make it something like 23' and that's not even the largest tree. |
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| people standing on Mark Twain stump |
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| This tree was sacrificed because people from the east did not believe that a tree this big could exist, so they cut it down to prove it. Early explorers told of giant trees, but the public remained skeptical, so at least 3 sequoias died to prove that they lived. Cut into pieces, they were shipped across the country to exhibit as freaks. People laughed it off as the "California Hoax." |
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| This fallen tree that you can walk through gives a sense of how big they truly are. |
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| The General Grant tree. Because this is a great environment for the Sequoias, this tree has reached 265' tall and 40' wide at "only" 1700 years of age. Once the top dies, the tree continues to grow wider, but not taller. |
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| This tree came down in 1931 due to the spring at it's base, which undermined it. |
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| Sequoias depend on fire. Fire clears leaf litter away and opens the cones, allowing seeds to reach the bare mineral soil they need to grow. Wildfires create open spaces where sun can reach the forest floor. Young trees get abundant sunlight, water, and nutrients. Frequent natural fires shape this ecosystem. Fires have touched every mature Sequoia many times. Thick insulating bark protects mature sequoias from all but the hottest flames. |
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| Another tree sacrificed to prove it's size. This one was 24' across. |
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| It's so hard to get a photo that truly represents their size. |
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| Even after they fall, sequoias endure. These trees resist decay, sometimes lasting for hundreds or even thousands on the forest floor. |
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| Construction crews camped here, sleeping in beds inside the hollow log. The cavalry kept their horses in it too. 😲 |
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| side view |
Heading into the canyon. Apparently Kings Canyon is actually deeper than the Grand Canyon in spots, with peaks above 14000 feet.
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| The rock on the side leaned over the road, making me feel very uncomfortable driving the van by. |
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| The river below that has helped cut this canyon |
At the bottom of the canyon is Boyden Cavern, a marble cave under 2000' marble walls. I didn't know anything about it, but decided to do a tour and I'm glad I did. I've been in many caves, but each one offers something different. This one had quite the formations, though not on the scale of Carlsbad Caverns in NM.
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| It feels like a long time since I've seen flowers in the wild. |
Sequoia NP
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| It was very cloudy below both days that I was here. |
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| This slab in the photo of a giant sequoia tells a story of fire and survival. The annual growth rings show the tree as about 2210 years. Marks within some rings show that at least 80 different fires burned hot enough to leave a scar. The growth rings tend to be wider after a fire because they often grown faster after a fire. Possibly due to decreased competition for nutrients and water after other trees and plants are burned away. The bark of mature sequoias have thick fibrous bark that insulates the tree from the heat. The bark holds very little sap or pitch, so it isn't very flammable. Mature sequoias live quite well despite large fire scars I definitely saw this around the park. |
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| Why do Sequoias get so big? The bark protects them from fire and resists decay and insects. They are also drought resistant due to their extensive root system. |
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| Very interesting if you can read it. Though fires are good for Sequoias, the more recent larger and hotter fires have been killing many trees. Because we have suppressed fire for so long, there is so much undergrowth and dead matter that builds up causing hotter fires. Also, climate change isn't helping! |
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| General Sherman Tree, which is the biggest tree in the world. Not the tallest, or the biggest around, but this tree trunk has the most volume of any tree. Since the top is dead, it doesn't grow tall, but continues to expand it's girth (just like me! 😂😂😂). |
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| I circled the people walking by to show how insignificant they are compared to this Sequoia |
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| A cutout in this trunk for the path |
10/27 - Yesterday I had crossed paths with Alba and Guillem from Spain, who I met a few times in Alaska. They had seen my van and the VT plates and guessed it was me, and then saw Zoe and knew it was me, so they waited for me and we chatted for a bit. We met up again later and I asked them where they were planning to park as there were no free campsites at the limited campgrounds and, since I hate to backtrack, I was considering parking in a parking lot, which is not allowed in NPs, but since there were very few rangers due to the shutdown I figured I might be able to get away with it. Alba had researched and told me where they were going. I finally decided to go there since it was only about 15 miles back (at least 30 minutes on hilly and curvy roads) as I didn't want to wonder all night long if someone was going to knock on my door. I got there before them and ended up parking on the side of the road instead of going down the hill to where iOverlander suggested. They ended up parking behind me much later.
In the morning, I told Alba that I need one of her to find parking spots for me. It is great as a couple that one can drive while the other can research what to do, where to go, where to park for the night! They joined me and Zoe for a hike to a waterfall from where we parked.
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| After we got back, Zoe found her spot in the sun while we continued to chat. Thankfully it was a forest service road, so very little traffic! |
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| Let's grind some dirt into my coat and harness. She had stayed clean after her Reno bath until now. |
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| Guillem and Alba and their super cute rig. It is so small (<20') and is so functional. The table uses the drivers side seat swiveled and in the bathroom, the sink and mirror swings out of the way over the toilet for showering. I want this rig! |
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| When I was heading to do some more exploring, I pulled of the road at this group of 4 huge Sequoias and had it all to myself. I really relished these moments among these giants all on my own. It was so peaceful! |
Though Alba and Guillem and I went our separate ways in the morning, we ended up at Moro Rock together, so did this and Hanging Rock together. When we were at the top of Moro Rock, there were a bunch of Spanish people from Spain also, so they had a long and loud conversation. I guess Spaniards are loud (per Alba).
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| Moro Rock on the right |
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| The Great Western Divide that includes Mount Whitney |
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| 350 stairs to get up here. It sounded worse than it was though. |
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| Hanging Rock |
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| This was the crazy drive out of Sequoia NP. |
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| Moro Rock from below |
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| Hospital Rock and pictographs. This area was inhabited by about 500 Potwisha Native Americans and got its name from two incidents where non-natives were injured and then were brought here and treated by the Potwisha tribe. |
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| Community kitchen. The women chipped out these holes so they could grind the nutritious acorns into flour. Acorn meal sustained the village. |
So cool to see the trees again, they are so massive! We didn't do the cave when we were there so thanks for sharing those. I'm hungry for breakfast now! :)
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