Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

    We left Aunt Carol's and began heading south before our eventual turn back east. Our first destination was Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. They share a common border and are run jointly by the Park Service so it would be an easy way to do two parks in one day.

    There were more curvy roads through desert-like brush as we arrived at the gate and the heat felt pretty harsh after being in the bay area. We got our books stamped and I picked up another patch for my collection before heading higher into the mountains. It would be cooler up where the big trees grow, but we had to deal with miles of windy mountain roads first. The scenery was magnificent though and the Sierra Nevadas were reminiscent of Yosemite, but without the amazing formations.

    Beautiful bald granite peaks were in view most of the time as we crept over 7,000 feet in elevation.  We started the day at sea level so that was quite a trip for the car. We made it to the trailhead for the General Sherman sequoia tree and had a late lunch. The General Sherman is the largest tree in the world and the crowds around us attested to its popularity. It was a short hike down to the tree and it really is impressive how big they get. The kids had fun running around the base of a few other sequoias before heading back up. The hike back up was a little harder because of the elevation, but mostly due to the forty pound weight sitting on my shoulders that likes to talk nonstop.

General Sherman

    We drove into Kings Canyon and enjoyed the views. There were more sequoias in that park as we wound down the other side of the mountains. After a couple of hours we eventually made it back to flat ground and straight roads. We found a hotel for the night after traveling half the length of California. All in all a great day!