Day 86 on the road: Standing tall with Generals Sherman and Grant in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

LEMON COVE, CA – On Saturday we spent the day in Sequoia National Park, walking the pine-scented trails and staring up at the biggest trees we’ve ever seen.

Sequoias grow only in a limited area of California, along mountainsides at about 6,000 feet above sea level. The centerpiece of Sequoia N.P. is the General Sherman Tree, considered the biggest in the world in terms of the volume of wood it contains. From there we walked two miles along the Congress Trail, past groves of sequoias, one called the House and another the Senate.

It’s impossible to capture the immensity of these trees with a camera. They can be 250 feet tall with trunks 100 feet in diameter. We enjoyed walking among the trees, ducking into the crevices often created by past forest fires, and looking up the copper-colored trunks to the green pine branches far above the forest floor. It’s a sight we’ll never forget.

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On Monday, we drove a bit further north to the adjacent Kings Canyon National Park, which has its own stand of sequoias as well as the spectacular canyon carved into the mountainside by ice-age glaciers. The main attraction among the sequoias is the General Grant Tree, which is actually a bit wider in circumference than the General Sherman Tree but not as voluminous in wood. Nearby is the Fallen Monarch, a giant sequoia that fell centuries ago but continues to provide a shelter in its hollowed trunk that was used by explorers and even army cavalry.

Further up the canyon, we enjoyed the views of the South Fork of the Kings River, with stops at Grizzly Falls and Roaring River Falls. At the end of the 30-mile Kings Canyon Scenic Byway, we enjoyed a restful time along the river on Muir Rock, where the naturalist John Muir would give talks on preserving the surrounding wilderness. Today the rock serves as a swimming hole. I was tempted to jump in, but the spring run-off water was too cold even for me!

Here are a few photos from Kings Canyon N.P.: 1) The General Grant Tree; 2) Roaring River Falls; 3) along the South Fork of the Kings River; 4) Looking up river–with a huge pine cone I placed on a rock for perspective and color; 5) This bird waited patiently on a limb above Muir Rock, and was rewarded when a couple nearby left a cracker out for the bird to snatch; 6) On Muir Rock looking up river. Right behind me was a popular jumping off point for swimmers.