Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
So Cali here we finally are. Katie was a saint for not only letting us crash there for the night but also for letting us do all of our laundry, buying us dinner, and giving us snacks to take with us. I sure do miss her, can't believe it has been 3 years since she has been home. It was beautifully warm in Bakersfield, California even at 7 am when we rolled out. That didn't last long though. It was about a 2.5 hour drive to the entrance of Sequoia National Park. Katie was right, it took another hour of super windy, sketchy, steep drop off roads to get really into the park and where the huge trees actually were. It was a pretty scary drive up over 6000 feet.
At the top we were excited to get out and explore. We stopped by the visitor center as we've done first upon entering all parks. We always get information on camping and hiking that we want to do, and what the park has to offer. Christine buys and sends out her routine postcards. I get my magnets and browse all the items, and then we all meet up to talk to the rangers.
The first hike we did was the Congress trail. This is the trail that includes the iconic "General Sherman Tree" (the big big one). Most people do that short 0.5 mile hike and see the big tree, snap a few pics, then move on. That area of the trail was packed. We of course are always looking for a little more adventure so we chose to do the 3 mile loop around the area. Well worth it as always as we got to see many many more giant trees like The President, The Chief, and my favorites (the groups of trees) named The Senate and The House. Beautiful hike like all of the hikes we've done so far. Very impressive and amazing to feel so small.
We got a campsite in one of the still open campgrounds that night. Christine made us a nice fire while I made us a nice warm dinner of Chilli and pasta. Our wood burned out pretty quickly which was fine since we were tired anyways. The previous nights temperatures in the teens with a real feel down to 8 degrees scared us into sleeping in the van. Even though it wasn't our first night sleeping in the van, I don't think a single one of us was comfortable enough to have a decent nights sleep.
A large portion of our crap was out of the car because of the bear box regulations. In the Sierra Nevada's where bears are such a large presence and issue they have laws and regulations in place about how to safely store food and other scented items. We had to unload all of these items from the van even while we day hiked. Luckily they provide giant bear boxes for safe storage, but it was a bit of a pain, but something that was necessary for ours and the vans safety. Bears have no problem at all breaking into vehicles to steal any visible food. They can even recognize coolers from inside vehicles. Nothing is safe in bear country. Fortunately (and unfortunately) we did not see any bears during out two day/two night stay in the parks.
We had to get up even before dawn in the morning to accomplish all we had planned for the day. It only took us one day in this majestic park to decide we wanted to spend two days there. The farthest part of the park which was actually Kings Canyon National Park, was closing for the winter that day at noon. We had to make the hour drive there and get all the hiking in that we could before the rangers closed the roads.
It was still freezing in the early morning hours. Even when we started our first hike at the bottom of the canyon around 9am we had to wear our winter gear. I thought it was refreshing to do this morning hike. Even though most of our trip we have gotten up at dawn and packed up and started hiking, the chill in the air really made this hike feel exhilarating. We did a nice 3.2 mile hike to roaring river falls. The trail was gorgeous down in the glacier carved canyon. Surrounding us on either side were the cliffs of the mountains stretching up around us as far up as we could see. The trail also followed a crystal clear sometimes calm, sometimes roaring river. Beautiful.
We stopped in Zumwalt Meadow before heading to the falls. So absolutely stunning. Even in the frozen frost of the morning the meadow was serene and peaceful as could be. The falls were equally as stunning, and personally, I was thrilled to finally see a waterfall. The area we were in is the entrance to the High Sierras. The real deal, high mountains, undeveloped, experienced back country travelers only spot. The Pacific Crest Trail (the west coast version of the Appalachian Trail spanning from Mexico to Canada) runs through this country. This was exciting for me because I've read so many books on hikers travels on the PCT and through the high sierras. However, the time crunch pushed us out of the lower valley of the park before lunch. It was still fantastic to see, and pretty cool that were would be some of the last visitors to that area until that portion of the park re opens in the spring.
We headed back to camp for a hot meal and to take off a few layers of clothes as the day warmed slowly. Definitely different from Utah where it was cold at night but warm as soon as the sun rose. After lunch and setting up camp for the night ahead we headed out for more hiking. The day before a trail around and through the giant sequoia trees was breathtaking, but I also enjoyed the next trailer chose just the same. The Big Stump Trail was a nice several mile long trail (one in which we failed to get or read a map of) haha. This area is where in the 1800s when there was a large need for wood, and before humans were aware of the importance of natural resources, there sat a sawmill. They would cut down the giant beauties in this area, and what now remains are the enormous stumps where the tree once stood. The stumps somehow were just as fascinating as the trees themselves (possibly for us for the sole reason that we could climb on them). We had a lot of fun on this trail, and also had to trek through some snow.
We headed back out of the park into a "town" after the hike for supplies (beer, firewood, and breakfast food). It was Avery interesting stop,we had some good chuckles on the car ride back to the park about some of the locals conversations we overheard in there. It was a super foggy drive and that should have been our first warning that it would rain on us allllll night.
We had a beautiful night back at the campground. This may be my favorite campsite so far. We had a big warm fire, a nice meal, and many many laughs as usual. It's nice to enjoy the nights at camp cracking up about our adventures from the days and relaxing by a fire. We are convinced were pretty funny people, just by how much we laugh at ourselves.
Here's one we laughed at pretty hard:
As I'm trying to decide when to start dinner: Chelsea -"So you are saying your hungry?" Dani answers "No, I'm saying I could eat a f***ing lot"...we died laughing. Great fire, great night. It was freezing and we had to sleep in absolutely everything we had. I was in 2 pairs of socks,2 hats,2 pairs of pants,t shirt, thermal, fleece,wool hoodie, and won't jacket. I was inside my mummy bag and had my Mexican blanket stuffed inside of that bad another sleeping bag as a blanket on top. It rained,our tent is wet, but we stayed cozy inside.
We planned to have a sleep in morning then cook a gourmet breakfast of veggie omlets with cheese, but the rain rushed that a little. We headed to Fresno to REI to replace the mouth piece on Danny's hydration pack, then hurried out of the city. After so long in the woods the city feels awful (especially with the way we look and smell). Now were almost to YOSEMITE!! I'm SO pumped for Yosemite. Were spending another 2 days here. Although it's still raining and cold, it's going to be amazing. A few stops at the cute towns along the way are a must, and we all picked up some trinkets and more beverages. Sorry for the long rambling post, this next one will be better :) just know we are on the trip of our lives and nothing I say and no pictures I take can capture that.
- comments