John let me sleep until 8:00! He even went to get groceries while I took a shower. We left Fresno in search of coffee on the way to King’s Canyon. There were amber waves of grain, fruited plains, and vineyards, but no coffee for a long time. Finally we found some, and I got my caffeine - Diet Coke.
I can’t say the area around Fresno is my favorite. It does have it’s own charm I suppose. I did like seeing the fruit trees a lot. We arrived in King’s Canyon National Park about 11:00 and found the place we are staying. We have another tent cabin but this time the roof is canvas instead of the wall. No electricity but solid walls.
We decided to see Grant’s tree which was amazing and then drive to the Road End of King’s Canyon while they were cleaning our cabin. “Oh John! Did you see that?! Wow! Holy Cow! John, look! I’ve never seen such colors!” You would think I’m talking about the canyon, and sometimes I was but the river - wow! Lots of boulders in the stream bed, lots of white water, and the sun was at just the right angle to tint the white water a soft turquoise. The canyon is pretty cool too. There is a granite side and a wooded side. We started seeing the first Sequoias, too. Of course we hit the Visitor’s center for my passport stamp, and it took about an hour to do the whole drive, one way. Of course, part of that was stopping for pictures.
John told me stories of the times he had been here before. I know he has some good memories of this place. We stopped at a picnic area for lunch and enjoyed the beautiful forest around us. There was also a Japanese tour group having lunch. We also found a waterfall - Grizzly Falls. Not much parking but I made the short hike up to the water and put my fingers in it. Mmmmm nice.
We came back to our cabin, checked in, and moved our clothes in. We decided to go ahead and get to Sequoia National Park today, since it was still not 4:00 yet. That drive took about an hour. We started seeing more and more big trees. Now I know why John laughed when I described the trees in Cedar Breaks as big. They are tiny, compared to even the sugar pine trees.
In John’s family, the first one to spot a bear gets the diamond stick pin. He says he got it, I say I did. I think we spotted the bear at the same time. Wow. It was just laying there, in the meadow, while all these people pulled off the road to watch it, including us. I watched one man sneaking back from around behind it. He got away with it, but I don’t think I would have taken that chance. There was also a woman who brought her big dog out to see the bear. Really??!!
On we drove to the museum, which was pretty cool. The seed that grows one of these giant trees is about the size of an oatmeal flake. The pine cones are very, very small. Fire is the only way these trees are able to reproduce. John picked up a perfect sequoia pinecone for me. It is so cute!
Next we grilled our steaks in a pretty picnic area and had dinner. John and I have noticed as we visit all these beautiful National parks that we, as Americans, are in the minority. There are a lot of foreigners who come to our beautiful country and visit our National parks.
Next, we went to see the big Daddy of them all - General Sherman. He was pretty impressive alright - over 40 feet in diameter, circumference of over 110 feet and 267 feet tall. It is the tree with the most mass. It took 4 pictures to get all of it. It was about 6:30 or 7:00 and we took the 3 mile hike to see part of the Giant Forest, which is the largest concentration of sequoias in the world - over 2000 trees with a diameter of over 10 feet. We took the Congress hiking trail, and as the slowly sinking sunlight filtered through the trees, it lit up the big giants. I hugged a tree. I stood inside a tree. I walked, fully erect, through a tree! It was so fun.
All day long, John has heard me be excited about the sights. He also has noticed my klutzyness. Not new to him really. I tried to drown myself drinking water while he accelerated the car, I choked on my salad, and finally while I was walking behind him he heard “ow.” He asked what I had done, and I reluctantly told him that I hit myself in the head with my water bottle. Don’t ask. The worst part is, he says he hears me say that at least twice a day. He just doesn’t always ask.
As we drove back to camp, we noticed a beautiful sunset through the trees. It was hard to capture, but we finally had a chance to pull off the road and enjoy the sunset with so many vibrant colors, with Fresno sprawling out in front of it. John calls it a smog-set. Very pretty.
Tomorrow - Big Sur!
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