July 8
As we continued on to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, CA we passed through Bakersfield, CA. We started seeing the agricultural fields and fruit and nut orchards. It was still over 100 degrees. These green fields and trees are a stark contrast to the surrounding dry, brown desert. The crops thrive only because of the heavy irrigation. We finally began our climb into the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Soon we began seeing pine and fir trees, a welcome change after our 2 weeks in desert environments.
Sequoia and Kings canyon National Park, CA is our 2nd oldest national park. It contains some of the Sierra Nevada’s most rugged areas. It has the tallest peak in the lower 48 states, Mount Whitney at 14,494 feet, and of course the famous giant sequoias, Sequoiadendron giganteum, that grow only on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, usually between 5,000 and 7,000 feet in elevation. Sequoias can live to 3,200 years, grow to 311 feet in height, have bases 40 feet in diameter, weigh 2.7 million pounds, have bark up to 31 inches thick, and have branches 8 feet in diameter. Sequoias don’t die of old age (most die by falling over) and are resistant to insects and fire damage. In fact, sequoias require periodic fires to thrive, disperse seeds, and fertilize and clear the forest floor for new seedlings. These seedlings sprout from seeds as small and light as oat flakes. Most mature sequoias have huge, black fire scars at their base.
After about 390 miles and 9 hours we arrived at the Kings Canyon Visitor Center. It was in the mid 70s, a much more comfortable temperature. As it was already closed for the day, we decided to see the General Grant Tree nearby. This sequoia is the 3rd largest tree in the world and the Nation’s Christmas Tree. When one first sees the sequoias it is hard to take in their size. It is truly mind-boggling. We continued south another 24 miles to Dorst Campground at 6,800 feet elevation. We were able to add the two extra days we had accumulated to our existing 4-night reservation. In the evening it got chilly by comparison,dropping to around 46 degrees overnight. We had to put on jeans and a sweatshirt and pulled out the extra blankets.
July 9
In the morning we drove to the Lodgepole Visitor Center then hiked the 3.4 miles round trip Tokopah Falls Trail that starts nearby. The trail took us along the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River to the impressive granite cliffs and waterfall of Tokopah Canyon. Along the way we admired the variety of colors in the forest, the deep green of the conifers, reddish bark, and the bright chartreuse of the staghorn lichen that grows on almost all tree trunks. At the falls we climbed the rocks beyond the “caution” signs and had lunch in a private spot. William and Liam explored more and scrambled up higher. On the way back we saw a mother black bear with at least 2 cubs. She was very large and very close to the trail. In front of us she rolled a log over looking for grubs and such. The cubs stayed a bit further away, always obscured by bushes just enough to avoid the camera. Ethan wanted to record the bear sighting at the visitor center as others had done. As we left the visitor center a much scragglier black bear (actually light reddish-brown colored) came out of the woods and crossed the intersection at the main road. Of course, all traffic came to a standstill as everyone wanted to get pictures.
We continued a bit south to see the General Sherman Tree. This sequoia is the World’s Largest Tree. Other trees may grow taller, have a greater circumference, or live to be older, but none is larger. The General Sherman Tree is 2200 years old, 274.9 ft tall, 102.6 inches in circumference and 40 ft in diameter at its base, and has 52,500 cubic ft of wood. This tree is beyond amazing. Many other, “smaller” sequoias are also in the area.
When we got back to the campsite the boys stayed busy making a fire and trying to melt aluminum cans into ingots.
July 10
We decided to save some gas by taking the park’s free shuttle service. It is a great service but it takes along time. There is also some road construction which added some delays. We finally got off the bus, but at a stop past our destination, making us rearrange our hiking plans. We hiked to Moro Rock, one of the rounded granite domes that is common in the Sierra Nevada. A ¼ mile staircase, 300 vertical foot climb to the exposed summit offers spectacular 360 degree views. We descended and took the Soldier Trail past many impressive named (Roosevelt Tree, Triple Tree, etc.) and unnamed giant sequoias. We stopped by the Tunnel Log, a tree you can drive through. This tunnel is 8 ft tall and 17 ft wide and was cut through a sequoia that fell across the Crescent Meadow Road in 1937. We continued onto the Hazelwood Loop Trail and the Alta Trail, always walking amongst the sequoias and other forest giants such as sugar pines. An area near the Alta Trail had recently undergone a prescribed burn to help rejuvenate that part of the forest. We could still smell and see the smoke where wood was still smoldering. Part of the Alta Trail was actually blocked off and we had to take a short cut through the woods and walk along the main road. We added on the 1-mile Big Trees Trail that loops around a pretty meadow ringed with numerous sequoias. Trail-side panels explain sequoia ecology and why they grow so well here. Nearby is the Giant Forest Museum which teaches all about the sequoia. In front of the museum grows the huge sequoia named The Sentinel Tree. In total we hiked 5 ½ miles.
July 11
In the morning we had the shuttle drop us at the General Sherman Tree so we could start our hike on the Congress Trail. We saw the The President, General Lee, the Senate, House, and Founders Groups of giant sequoias. We walked inside the rustic Cattle Cabin. Shortly after we saw a black bear in Circle Meadow. We continued on part of the Crescent Meadow Loop where we promptly saw another mother bear and two small cubs. Next, Tharp’s Log Trail took us to Tharp’s Log, a small cabin that was built into a fallen, fire-hollowed sequoia in the 1860s and inhabited during 29 summers by Hale Tharp while his cattle grazed in Log Meadow. These meadows are really pretty with their dense, blooming wildflowers and the tall sequoias all along the edges. Log Meadow Loop then joined a short stretch of the High Sierra Trail that brings you to the Crescent Meadow shuttle stop where we wanted to catch the bus back to the campground. After a long wait the bus was already overfilled, so we decided to walk along the 0.9 mile Sugar Pine Trail to the Moro Rock shuttle stop where we did have more luck. We hiked a total of 7 miles. The rest of our long, tedious, and multiple-transfer shuttle ride led to the decision to drive our truck for any future hikes.
July 12
Today we stayed at the campsite and take a break. We watched the mule deer, squirrels, birds, and wasps that insisted on burying their freshly caught and paralyzed prey in holes next to our chairs.
July 13
Wanting to get better prepared for the strenuous Half Dome hike the following week at Yosemite National Park, we decided to begin with the Lakes Trail that starts at the Wolverton parking area at 7,200 feet elevation. After climbing through forest, we branched of toward the Watchtower, a sheer granite, exposed cliff overlooking the Tokopah Canyon and Tokopah Falls we had hiked previously. We scrambled up the steep, open rock face for an amazing view. The trail continued along cliff edges where an amazing variety of colorful wildflowers grew out of cracks in the granite. We peered 2000 straight feet down into the canyon where the people below looked like tiny dots. The whole time the view was breathtaking.
Heather Lake, a small glacial lake over 9,000 feet in elevation, was our next stop. A few other people we had met on the Watchtower were already there. Just as we were taking off our packs to rest and eat lunch, Ethan yells “BEAR!” Across the lake a large black bear climbed down the steep, boulder-covered slope towards the water. He got into the lake and started swimming along the shore for about 75 yards. We wondered what we would do if he swam across the lake to our side. He then climbed out, shook off the water, and wandered along the lake edge. Periodically he stopped to scratch himself on the rocks and to mark the area. Esther wondered if she should pack away her sandwich in case it would lure the bear closer. After a while the bear had come around much closer to our side, but he finally veered away from the lake and disappeared.
We decided to make a loop hike and took the Hump Trail back. It had lots of steep switchbacks going down, not easy on the knees. We ended up hiking 8.6 miles up and down, only roughly the one-way distance up to the top of Half Dome…
The Davids' Cross-Country Trip 