Sunday, July 3, 2016
Posted from: Visalia, CA
Miles driven: 203
Total trip miles: 4,317
National parks visited: 12
Guess what? We got up early. Shocking, I know.
Today we went to Kings Canyon National Park. Sequoia and Kings Canyon are connected and in many ways operate as a single national park.
Little baby sequoias. Awe....
We could not believe how these trees continue to grow and thrive despite some of them being almost hollow.
Hanging out on a giant. For most of these trees, they didn't want you anywhere near them because their roots spread far and wide and are only 1-2 feet deep. But they seemed to encourage climbing around this tree.
This is the worlds second largest tree, the General Grant.
And here we see our explorers conquering another frontier.
I thought most impressive sight was several of these giants standing together.
This tree has a sad story. It was cut down so they could send a section of the stump across the country to prove that there were trees this big. The story of these giant trees was known as the California Hoax.
This tree fell down naturally, and like many of them was hollow. So they turned it into a tree you could walk the length of.
Notice how much head room Matt has. It was very spacious.
Getting ready for Sunday morning church service.
Kings Canyon National Park was originally called Grant Tree National Park. It was small and consisted mostly of the little finger of the park where the Grant Tree was. But at some point it was expanded significantly to include a large canyon. A lot of tourists don't make their way into this larger part that gave the park its name. We decided to go check it out.
This is the part of the canyon with the junction of two rivers. This is not a great picture, but it was an impressive sight.
In my guidebook they describe this drive and state that "at one point you feel the canyon walls close in around you." I can only assume that this was that point.
We love all of the waterfalls! And this one had a cool most that felt very nice on this warm day.
Kings Canyon...with sunglass style!
It really was pretty and peaceful.
Roaring river falls
We found a great picnic spot on the side of the river. We ate, worked on junior ranger books, and took a nap...well the parents did anyway.
I will also make note of our favorite picnic blanket. The blanket is a sturdy crazy quilt pattern sewn by my Grandma Akers. We miss Grandma, but we love the quilt legacy she left behind. This particular one gets a lot of use, and is quietly present for many good memories.
The view while laying down on the blanket. Ahh...nap time.
This is Matt laughing at me because I am taking pictures of him while he is trying to take a nap. The sun hit his eyes and made them a beautiful aqua color. Yes, I know that sounds corny, so now you know why he is laughing at me.
We headed back home, which is about three hours from the bottom of the canyon.
We stopped at a grocery store to pick up a few things. We weren't sure how great the stores would beat Yosemite and we eat a lot of produce. We picked up a rotisserie chicken for a quick and easy dinner. I used it in a chicken tortilla soup so I could use up a bunch of other random ingredients. The thing about small refrigerators is that leftovers are not your friend, and a little bit of something in its original container takes up too much space. Oh the trials of being a traveling gypsy family.
Tomorrow is the 4th of July and we are headed to Yosemite! I cannot think of a better place to be.
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