This weekend, Chris and I took a trip to King's Canyon National Park. This park is adjacent to Sequoia National Park, and both are in the Sequoia National Forest. There are quite a few attractions in King's Canyon, such as Grant Grove, a grove of giant sequoia trees, featuring the General Grant tree, the third largest living thing in the world. Also in King's Canyon, is Boyden Cave, Muir Rock, and Grizzly Falls, as well as many trails that take you into the back country. Like Sequoia National Park, this is an active bear area, so you will see "Bear Boxes" in the campgrounds for food storage. We didn't see any bears on this trip, but they are out there!
We stayed at Sheep's Creek Campground, one of the very few campgrounds that were still open. Most of the facilities in King's Canyon close mid-late October for the winter, so this will probably be our last trip there this year. I think there was one lodge up in Grant Grove that stays open year-round, but it is pretty pricey. There weren't many campers in the campground, and very few tourists, although there was a large bus of french-speaking tourists up in Grant Grove. Down in King's Canyon itself, there were very few people, which was nice, since we had most of the park to ourselves.
The first stop was Grant Grove. This grove features a nice 1/3 mile trail, which is mostly flat, that takes you around a lot of the giant sequoia trees. Also in Grant Grove, there is a fallen log called the "Fallen Monarch." This fallen tree served as shelter to Native Americans, as a stable for the US Calvary, and as a hotel and saloon for loggers, among other things. You can walk inside this fallen tree, although climbing on it is discouraged. Also in the grove are some of the biggest giant sequoia trees in the world. Just looking up at them almost makes you dizzy, and standing in front of them, you can see just how big around they are. Most of them have scars from previous forest fires and lightning strikes. They have lived a long time, and have the battle scars to show it. There is another trail that takes you further into the grove, but this area was roped off as they were doing some control burning and those areas were still smoldering from the fires.
Down in King's Canyon, we took a short trek up to Roaring River Falls. This is a very short hike from the road to a nice little waterfall. In the spring, the falls would have been much bigger, but as the dry season sets in, the waters recede and the falls aren't quite as "roaring." When we went back in May, the river was much bigger and rougher. This weekend, it was shallower and calmer. But come spring, it will be roaring again.
Next, we stopped at Knapp's Cabin, a small cabin a short way off the road. This cabin is named after George Knapp, a wealthy Santa Barbara man who commissioned fishing expeditions in King's Canyon. He used this cabin to store all of his expensive fishing gear. We also stopped at a viewpoint called "Canyon View," which offers a nice viewpoint of the canyon.
The next day, we were awoken to the sounds of blue jays and ravens cawing and squawking. The blue jays are like the roosters of the forest, waking everyone at the crack of dawn. A little ground squirrel was busy searching for food around or campsite, and he even came within inches of our feet, as the campers before us left a lot of peanut shells lying around the campsite. He was really cute. The blue jays were busy cleaning up after him, swooping down on whatever crumbs the squirrel left behind. After the blue jay and squirrel show, we took down the tent, and packed our stuff in the car and went down to the road's end, where highway 180 dead ends. Here, the road ends, but the trails begin. We decided to take the shortest trail to Bubb's Creek, which is 2 miles from the road's end. The trail is mostly flat and sandy, kind of similar to walking on a beach. The first part of the trail was kind of black from controlled burns. But the further we walked, the greener it got. The whole trail seemed alive with the sounds of birds and grasshoppers jumping to and fro. It was very pretty. The last part of the trail was shaded by the tall trees and looked more like a forest than the other part of the trail. The ground was littered with leaves and shavings of tree bark, making the ground soft and spongey. There were ferns everywhere and every now and then you would see a gray squirrel climbing up a tree.
We finally reached Bubb's Creek, and we stopped for a few minutes to catch a breather before starting the 2 mile trek back to the car. Boy were my feet sore by the time we got back. And, since we didn't bring a water bottle, we were both thirsty too! The trail was great though. Despite my sore feet, I still had a great time in the woods. Too bad that it will be closing soon and we won't get to visit again til next year.
Another really nice spot is Zumwalt Meadow. We didn't do the loop trail around the meadow this time, but last time we did, and it was gorgeous!!!
This weekend, it looks like we will be heading to Death Valley to do a little exploring there. I probably won't need my sweats there....it is supposed to be 100 degrees this weekend. As usual, I posted a bunch of pictures below.
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