Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park

Well this was a great long weekend away seeing some wicked spots with lots of driving, good weather, big mtns, hardcore hilly roads, overheating cars, massive trees and some cool camping. Also managed to see a lovely black bear in a real remote campsite.

Basically Tabetha and I headed away for 3 days camping in the Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks about 260 miles north of where I live on the way up to San Fran. We detoured on the way home through the Sequoia National Monument and Kern River Gorge. All up it was 875 miles clocked up on the poor old Camry. And unfortunately it did have a mishap. I think the temp sensor is stuffed so the fan was not cutting in when it should have been and the temp gauge inside the car was jumping around and not reading the correct temp to me. A small movie is attached below after I stopped when we were driving up too yet again 7500ft. About 2300m.



Kings Canyon highlights included:

• Grant Grove and the General Grant Tree. This tree is 82m tall and 33m around its base. Quite a site to behold. There are many more giants around this grove aswell.
• Kings Canyon and the Kings River. We camped here near the end of the wicked mountain road. Did a great hike up to the Cedar Grove Lookout. Prob about 500m above the valley below. It was a great place to see the sunset. Check out the pics...

• The canyon itself is much deeper than the Grand Canyon. Up to 8000ft in the deepest spot from river to ridge
• Roaring River Falls

Sequoia Nat Park Highlights included:

• Watching while driving by many many fire fighters doing a controlled burn of scrubby vegetation on the side of the highway from Kings Canyon into Sequoia Nay Park. It was like a warzone. Again see the many pics.
• Giant Forest. Here the General Sherman Stands. It is by volume the largest tree on Earth. Its so big really you cannot gather its size just looking at it. Its 2100yrs old, 84m high with a base circumference of 32m. Every year it adds enough wood to make a 60ft tall tree measuring 1ft in diameter. Nuts huh?

The General Sherman... Well the bottom of it.

• Tharps Log. A fallen tree that the first white settler lived in over summer for 30yrs.
• Crescent Meadow

• Tunnel Log
• Mineral King. A hardcore drive up a dirt road for much of it. Wicked remote spot. 25 mile road that takes 1.5hrs (well a little less for me...hehe) with 589 turns (felt like Possum Bourne... Mmm wish I had his Subaru) rising up to 2300m where we camped.
• Camping here was great. Very few people, I have video of a black bear hanging around our site. It was the first time I was properly cold in California so far...
  
  
  
  Black Bear from Kurt Janssen on Vimeo.
  
  Drive Home....
  
  
  • Took the back roads home thanks to the help of the new GPS navigator. Seriously I am a massive fan. Will never do a trip to unknown areas again without one. Its amazing what $100 will get you these days.
  • Lovely farmland. A California I had yet to have seen. Little pollution, few people, quiet roads and tranquil ranches.
  • The Sequoia Monument was great. Another large grove of trees were here. Clinton had visited in 2001.
  • The vistas were just as good as those of the parks.
  So all up other than the overheating car and pollution and smog migrating up from the riff raff below in the central valley (I thought LA pollution was bad) it was a great trip. It has got me all keen to oneday do the 'ultimate' North American Roadtrip. So, so many good places to see and it does not need to be too expensive if you camp as often as you can.
  
  Enjoy the lovely pics below.