Day Four: Sequoia and Kings Canyon - Part 1

We hit the road to the BIG TREES at 8:30a - I sense a trend on our departure time. We drove from Fresno down to Visalia and then hit Hwy 198 into Sequoia National Park. On the drive up we saw more crops: plums, nectarines, walnuts, cherries, oranges, pomegranates, and lemons. We ooh'd and aah'd at all the progressively bigger trees as we reached the Giant Forest and parked with the masses to walk down to General Sherman. I would definitely recommend going mid-week - there were much fewer people there than I would have thought this time of year. We hiked down the hill towards the biggest tree on the planet, walked the loop around it, and then started off on the Congress Trail. We spent a couple hours wandering around the big trees and laughed at ourselves for being equally in awe for every one. It never gets old seeing trees that big. On the Congress Trail we saw the Senate and House Groups of trees, the President, Chief Sequoyah, McKinley, General Lee, and the Obama Trees. As you'll see in the pictures, the Obama Tree is not the official name, but it was fun to see.

After that, we headed towards Kings Canyon National Park after passing the controlled fires they were doing in the park that made everything smokey. Grant Grove was our next stop where we saw the General Grant, Fallen Monarch, Oregon, California, and Tennessee Trees, as well as the Gamlin Cabin. Then we got to check into our tent cabin before driving out towards Kings Canyon to the Junction View that overlooks the canyon below. At this point we were exhausted and got ready for another full day of hikes. It takes much more energy to hike with two almost three-year-olds. Between having a 50-pound backpack that wiggles, to keeping them entertained, to being at an elevation of 7,000 feet, we were all ready to go to sleep at the same time.
Day Four Photos