Sequoia National Park
It had been a while we had wanted to go. We finally decided it was going to be this weekend, which was also the fee free weekend in most national parks.
I was up as soon as the alarm sounded at 5am. It’s amazing, on normal working days, it takes a series of alarms spaced at 15 minute intervals to get me going. The giant sequoias beckoned.
We packed a small backpack with the basic necessities, a towel, caps, water, gatorade and sunscreen. We took the longer but “scenic” CA-198 route to the sequoias, ignoring the several annoying attempts of the GPS to lead us onto CA-180. It was almost noon when we finally arrived at our first stop.
The General Sherman Tree is the largest living tree in the world by volume, about 2300 years old. The top of the tree is dead, and so it has ceased growing taller, but it continues to add enough volume for a whole new tree each year. From the parking at the Upper Sherman parking lot, it’s a 0.4 mile hike down (212 feet elevation change) to the Sherman tree. The sight is overwhelming.
From the Sherman tree, there are several trails that take you through the Giant Forest. We chose to hike the Congress Trail, which hosts some of the famous redwood sequoias named in sync with the congress theme. 0.8 miles on the trail you see the gigantic “The President” tree, the base of its trunk is huge and inspiring. Follow the same path and you meet “The Senate” and “The House”, both groups of tall redwood trees. The Congress trail is a loop totaling 2 miles. Apart from the famous trees, you can see large fallen trees, some fallen across the trail, that have been cut out from the middle to let people pass through. A refreshingly beautiful trail.
We decided not to waste time, and took the National Park’s shuttle service to Moro Rock. This is a huge granite structure, 300 feet above the parking lot, with 400 steps leading to the summit. The air is thin, and you can feel your lungs almost giving up. I took it slow and steady, and when I made it to the top, the view was breathtaking. The views of the Western Divide and the Sierras, and the winding roads down below are magnificent. On clear days, they say, you can even see the Pacific!
The descent was easy, and brought us back to reality. I was hungry!
It was almost 4pm when we took the shuttle back to the Upper Sherman parking lot, and drove on to the Lodgepole Village and Market for lunch. We quickly spot a burger place, and ordered combos with fries and soda. It was the yummiest burger we'd eaten in a while.
We shopped for souvenirs at the Lodgepole gift shop, a few (four!) magnets, a sequoia mug, a sequoia cap for hubby, and a scenic general’s highway bookmark for me.
It was 5pm, and we didn’t have time for more, so we decided to head back. This time we took CA-180, passing through the Sequoia border onto Kings Canyon, the drive was beautiful. We reached home at 10pm, our calf muscles screaming out aloud their existence.
To a lot more travel stories…
P.S. I forgot to mention, we did spot a bear cub casually walking around, on our way to Moro rock!
I was up as soon as the alarm sounded at 5am. It’s amazing, on normal working days, it takes a series of alarms spaced at 15 minute intervals to get me going. The giant sequoias beckoned.
We packed a small backpack with the basic necessities, a towel, caps, water, gatorade and sunscreen. We took the longer but “scenic” CA-198 route to the sequoias, ignoring the several annoying attempts of the GPS to lead us onto CA-180. It was almost noon when we finally arrived at our first stop.
The General Sherman Tree is the largest living tree in the world by volume, about 2300 years old. The top of the tree is dead, and so it has ceased growing taller, but it continues to add enough volume for a whole new tree each year. From the parking at the Upper Sherman parking lot, it’s a 0.4 mile hike down (212 feet elevation change) to the Sherman tree. The sight is overwhelming. 
From the Sherman tree, there are several trails that take you through the Giant Forest. We chose to hike the Congress Trail, which hosts some of the famous redwood sequoias named in sync with the congress theme. 0.8 miles on the trail you see the gigantic “The President” tree, the base of its trunk is huge and inspiring. Follow the same path and you meet “The Senate” and “The House”, both groups of tall redwood trees. The Congress trail is a loop totaling 2 miles. Apart from the famous trees, you can see large fallen trees, some fallen across the trail, that have been cut out from the middle to let people pass through. A refreshingly beautiful trail.
We decided not to waste time, and took the National Park’s shuttle service to Moro Rock. This is a huge granite structure, 300 feet above the parking lot, with 400 steps leading to the summit. The air is thin, and you can feel your lungs almost giving up. I took it slow and steady, and when I made it to the top, the view was breathtaking. The views of the Western Divide and the Sierras, and the winding roads down below are magnificent. On clear days, they say, you can even see the Pacific!The descent was easy, and brought us back to reality. I was hungry!
It was almost 4pm when we took the shuttle back to the Upper Sherman parking lot, and drove on to the Lodgepole Village and Market for lunch. We quickly spot a burger place, and ordered combos with fries and soda. It was the yummiest burger we'd eaten in a while.
We shopped for souvenirs at the Lodgepole gift shop, a few (four!) magnets, a sequoia mug, a sequoia cap for hubby, and a scenic general’s highway bookmark for me.
It was 5pm, and we didn’t have time for more, so we decided to head back. This time we took CA-180, passing through the Sequoia border onto Kings Canyon, the drive was beautiful. We reached home at 10pm, our calf muscles screaming out aloud their existence.
To a lot more travel stories…
P.S. I forgot to mention, we did spot a bear cub casually walking around, on our way to Moro rock!
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