Sequoia and King's Canyon National Parks
In March, a stunning photo in the New York Times caught my eye: giant sequoia trees, shrouded in a a grey-green mist (photo below). The article - In the Land of Giants - described the author’s visit to Sequoia National Park: his first time seeing some of the world’s largest and oldest trees. It is nearly impossible to capture the size of sequoia trees in a photo or on a video. They are absurdly large and unfathomably old, rendering them both ridiculous and awe-inspiring at once.
On a walk one evening with our one-month old daughter, I showed my husband the NYT article on my phone. "Have you been to Sequoia before?" I asked. “Nope,” he replied. “Let’s go.”
And our next family trip was born.
The plan: we would drive from Los Angeles to Sequoia on a Monday and drive to San Francisco on that Friday. We would stay at the Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia National Park for two nights, then drive to the John Muir Lodge for two nights in Kings Canyon. We would witness these behemoths for ourselves, hike on (paved) roads, and take our tiny new baby to meet old ancient trees.
Aside from having looks worthy of a Wes-Anderson set, the Giant Forest Museum holds a wealth of information about sequoias: their growth patterns, life cycles, and conservation efforts. It is worth a visit.
The Great Divide, as seen from Moro Rock. At over 6,000 feet in elevation, it takes 400 steps to get to the top. The 360-degree view made it so worth it.
The gnarled root system of a toppled Sequoia tree.
The chimney tree, on the Crescent Meadow trail. Hollowed by fire, you can stand inside the trunk and look straight up at the sky.
Kings Canyon National Park
To get to John Muir Lodge in Kings Canyon from Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia, you'll drive for about an hour down several miles of sharply curving roads that descend into the canyon.
The drive is breathtakingly pretty; and as with the enormity of the sequoia trees, you will be awestruck by the magnificence of these mountains: some shaped by glaciers and others by rivers.
Panoramic Point is an easy hike with a big payoff.
A massive fire destroyed the historic Kings Canyon Lodge, but an old-fashioned gravity gas station remained unscathed.
Zumwalt Meadow is another leisurely stroll with gorgeous views. Make sure to wear lots of repellent though: ticks live in tall grasses, and no one wants to get Lyme disease.
Hume Lake: an almost-too-perfect manmade body of water.