Thursday 9th March – Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park

A new financial week meant the usual trip to Walmart.  Becky was very excited!  Sadly, it was not a very good example of Walmart.  We said that we could do better.  This area of California appears to have the cheapest Gas in the state but it was still $120 to fill the tank at $2.59 a gallon.

Today is our five-month anniversary of arriving in the USA, which sadly also means that we must leave in a month!

Becky and I had done some research which informed us that the Southerly route into Sequoia is limited to vehicles 22 feet in length, or certainly not recommended for vehicles longer than that, ruling us out entirely!  This meant we had to take the north route 180 towards the park.  The elevation increased, there was snow on ground and some amazing views appeared.

Becky and Simon getting their panoramics!

The tunnel through the fallen monarch tree

One of the main reasons for going to Sequoia was to see the biggest tree in the World, the General Sherman tree.  But as soon as we reached the ranger station we were told that it can’t be reached this time of year.  We had clearly underestimated the amount of snow still around in early March!  So instead we settled for the second biggest tree here.  The General Grant tree is 268 feet tall and 40 feet wide at only 1700 years of age which makes it the 3^rd largest tree by volume in the world.  On the trail to see General Grant tree we also went through the tunnel of the fallen monarch and enjoyed the snow scenes. 

Some of the trails were only accessible by ski or snow-shoes

Everything looks prettier in the snow, doesn’t it?! You can’t fail to be in awe of these majestic giants of nature.  

To give an idea of scale - but note, this is NOT the biggest Sequoia tree!

Four generations of sequoia in one photo - Becky is holding a Sequoia seed, in front of a sapling, in front of a young tree, in front of a GIANT tree

The General Grant tree

It wasn’t by any means a tough hike but we wanted to get a space in a campground so we moved on to the Azalea campsite.  There were no hook-ups and if you could find some tarmac and a fire-ring under the heavy snow fall you were lucky, but it was only $18. We went to the village store and topped up with fire wood.  I was dubious, but Simon created a fire-pit in the snow and got a roaring fire going.  We sat out for as long as we could handle the cold, enjoying the bright moon-light (above) with some snacks.  We then got cosy inside for some dinner and kept the generator on until 9pm, playing scrabble and cards until bed time.