Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Yosemite Trip

[wngrog]

While you guys were at the Crawl, I had a business meeting in San Francisco. I had a plan to fly Red out to the Wine Country for a long weekend but her work schedule prohibited her being out and I had already extended my flight and taken a vacation day so I did the only thing I know how to do well and that is drive.

I'm a national park homer, and I had never been to Kings Canyon or Sequoia so I plotted a course and took off at 1:30 when the meeting broke.

The route was slow getting out of the hustle and bustle, but once I got off the 101 things started to look up.

Dan Hull was my consultant on the trip. I badly wanted to see 2 Locked Gates Ranch and all of his Cruisers but he was out saving the planet in Yosemite. More on that later.

One hour in and I was out in the foothills that give the Golden State its name.......

But wait. There is the Central Valley. The Central Valley is the Mississippi Delta only uglier.......

All the way through Los Banos to Fresno. Man. Ugh. I had no idea California could be so ordinary.

I made it through Fresno and started up into the Sierra Nevada just in time to catch this

I really, really hate driving in beautiful areas at night but there was no way around it. I gassed/beered/taco'ed up in Squaw Valley and pressed on to my cabin in Kings Canyon National Park.

 

[Fireman]

And...

 

[wngrog]

I was in a tiny cabin with no heat and no electricity. It had a nice bed and extra blankets that came in handy in the 40 degree temps. The hotel/cabin area was called Grant Grove Village and is among a nice Sequoia grace.

I got out before daylight because I was still on Central time in my head and I know getting an early start in a National Park is always a good idea.

Kings Canyon has one road in and one road out. California 180. You take it from Grant's Grove all the way to Road's End.

This is the Kings River. It is what it left of the huge glacier that carved this canyon on the west side of the tallest portion of the Sierra Nevada. I did not see a soul. Not one for 3 hours.

Grizzly Falls

Sunrises on the North Dome at Road's End

John Miur sat on this rock and declared that he had never seen an area so wild and determined to save it. It became part of the second oldest National Park system

 

[wngrog]

I did a little light hiking in Zumwalt Meadow and turned back the way I came.

This cabin was used to stage supplied in the mid 1800's when they first started exploring here.

8:00....still no humans other than myself moving. I saw some people were in the Cedar Grove area, but none were moving yet. If I had a do-over I would stay here and begin working backwards from here. Next time......

Acres and acres of standing dead firewood

This road is amazing. Almost as amazing as the fact that I was 5 miles from Grant's Grove before I saw another vehicle heading into it. The park closes in 2 weeks so it is the end of the season but compared to Sequoia and Yosemite, this place is a GHOST PARK.

 

[under_psi]

looks totally amazinf...damn shame it's so far away...

 

[wngrog]

Most people the say they have been to Kings Canyon have been to Grants Grove. Home of some of the largest Sequoia Trees, and the Nation's Christmas Tree, The General Grant. It was 9:30 and the tour busses were beginning to arrive and it got a bit crowded. I managed to weave trough the Japanese and French tourists and saw some absolutely amazing creatures.

This area was formerly known as Giant Sequoia National Monument.

My kia........

Look at the size.......

Asshat Frog jumps the gate and climbed in but he gave me a good perspective shot

Inside a log that fell in 1920.....

Same log.....

 

[wngrog]

So, this wood is like balsa but is rot resistant. It isn't worth s*** for lumber thank God or it would all be gone. It lasts forever when it falls too.

 

[wngrog]

Dan told me to check out Buck Rock if I had time. I was WAY ahead of schedule so I took off in the Kia overland.....

This was so damn cool. Old school fire lookout that the people that man it stay in for a few days at a time.

The climb up was a bit sketchy......

Can you imagine? Winds that afternoon were going to be 50 mph up here......

Climbing down was fun too.......

 

[wngrog]

From Buck Rock I took off south through Sequoia National Park. This is a long windy drive limited to vehicles 22' or less. Lots of trees. Lots of curves. Beautiful.

Look at the size of the people above......

 

[AndyO78FJ40]

I went to Sequoia NP as a kid. It was incredible. The shear size of the trees is unbelievable. We went in the summer and it was pretty crowded.

 

[wngrog]

The most popular spot in Sequoia (other than the trees) is Moro Rock. This is a 250 step hike to the top. Views are spectacular.

This is the road down to Three Rivers and the valley Dan lives in.

 

[wngrog]

So there I was, out of the park at 3:00......I had been at it 10 hours and really, the only thing I really wanted to do more of was hike WAY back at End of the Road......the thought of a second night in the cabin with no heat or electricity and a 80 mile back-track did not appeal to me too much either so I plotted a course to Yosemite

I was about 2.5 hours from the south gate and had good service along the way so I listened to Bama beat the snot out of TN and the first 1/2 of the Ole Miss game. After hammering a big awesome plate of Carne Asada I crashed shortly after my Rebels crashed in a town 30 minutes south of Yosemite.

The day called for 100% rain so I mapped out a course that would get me lots of road time to see the most of the park.

Once again, it was early and I was pretty much all alone on the roads. I stopped at Big Trees Lodge and grabbed breakfast and then hit the road to Glacer Point, the overlook over the famous Yosemite Valley.

I was cutting fresh tracks up here....it was about 7 am and the sun was just up and no one was around yet.

My last trip to Yosemite with Red in 2000....this overlook was packed. This trip, I was alone. Not another soul.

If I had had a partner in crime like Bailey, I could have gotten a pic on this famous rock, there was no one keeping me from climbing out there.

Looking down into Yosemite Valley

Not the normal view but haunting and peaceful watching the storm roll in from the point.

 

[wngrog]

I headed into Yosemite Valley. Sadly, the famous views were mostly obscured but the waterfalls were on point.

Bridal Veil Falls

Yosemite Falls

 

[wngrog]

At this point I wanted to go explore the high country along Tioga Road....this road is about 40 miles long and takes you as high as 10,000' on the east side. Of course, as I got about 3 miles in, a Ranger stopped me and announced the road was closed due to snow at 8,000' It was a great 10 mile and was only getting better. This gives me an excuse to return.......as if I needed one.

Waterfalls. Awesome waterfalls on the way out.

Bye Yosemite.....

 

[wngrog]

Dan told me he was teaching chain saw s*** at some camp
West of Yosemite so I headed that way

He is a Team Rubicon member and was dropping fire damaged trees in a camp.

He's a serious bad ass. It was great to see him at work.

 

[wngrog]

I left Dan about 3:00 and started down the mountains to San Jose......

It was saying I had a 2 hour trip on interstate so I Georgled it to see if there was anything I needed to see between here and there.

For once, @orangefj45 was worthless so I had to improvise. I pulled up Google maps and found the nastiest route I could find to my destination.

Random images along the way

A bridge outside La Grange......

 

[HoneyBear]

That feeling when you catch the travel thread as it's being posted and consider whether or not you sit here and hit refresh every minute to catch the rest...

 

[ntsaint]

Outstanding.

 

[Elbert]

thanks for posting the pics and details

 

[Bomar]

Nice trip.

Another reason to buy a CA truck again.