S: "Sure, plan something!"
Wanting to go closer to nature, we picked the grand canyons and majestic sequoia trees - the King's Canyon and Sequoia National park.
We left Friday night, stayed in Fresno for a night,since this was an hour away from the park, and reached King's Canyon early Saturday morning. Our first stop was the Grant Grove Village.In Grant Grove Village, three miles (5km) east from the Big Stump park entrance on Highway 180. In the conifer zone; elevation 6500 feet (1980m). It hosts the General Grant's tree, the third largest tree in the world. There was also a fallen tree which had a hole cut out through it's trunk, and it was great fun as we walked through it!
After spending some time walking amidst the towering redwood trees, we were off to the Cedar Grove area. The drive from the Grant grove village to the Cedar Grove was a twisty-turny-windy one,with spectacular views and amazing hikes all along the way. One hike of particular interest was the Roaring Falls hike,which took us on a shaded,paved road to a short water fall, nestled amongst rocks!
Our first stop at Cedar Grove was the Zumwalt Meadow hike. It is an easy 2-3 mile hike with pretty flowing rivers,sprawling meadows bursting with colored grass ( maybe fall?) nestled at the foothills of tall towering marble mountain peaks with their blue-grey designed walls offers a picture-postcard like appeal.
On the drive back to the Grant grove area,we stopped at the Grizzly falls, it falls from almost a height of a 3
story building..One of the best stops of this trip was the Boyden Caves. It is a live,growing,limestone cave. The various limestone formations were accented well with colored lighting( and the wires were well hidden as well!),besides the usual stalactites,stalagmites and drapery like formations, there were some forms which,with some imagination, resembled food like layered cakes,pancakes with butter dripping,layered lasagna,and such!!!
After spending a few hours caving,we drove south to Montecito Lodge,our stop for the night. Nestled in the middle of the Sequoia forest,besides a small private lake, the resort is surrounded by the grandeur of Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Great Western Divide,and also located almost midway between the Kings canyon and Sequoia parks, it seemed like a very convenient location to enjoy both parks.
As soon as we peeked into our cabin,my reaction was " Wow! Look at that lovely lake and the mountains! This is so beautiful" S's reaction " yeah honey,but where 's the TV??" Gasp! that place did not have a TV! Yah!!!
Since this resort includes meals as part of their cabins rentals,we were greeted to a hot buffet dinner,which besides the usual salads and soup,also had a yummy veggie lasagna as a hot entree.. And ofcourse,with only our nutrition in mind, the dessert station had dark chocolate covered strawberries,the most fluffy white cake with dripping icing,and a jelly!!!
The dining hall was huge with 2 fireplaces,comfortable couches all around,a well-stocked bookshelf,a game closet with crossword puzzles,scrabble, and other board games. There was also a TV with some kids' movies playing to that the parents could kick back and relax while the kids dozed off in front of the TV.. S was secretly hoping that he could scare away the kids so he could watch some football!!
The next day, a hearty breakfast of pancakes,scrambled eggs,toast and coffee hit the right spot as we drove to explore the Sequoia National Park(SNP) area.Due to a forest fire, we were unable to explore the tulomne meadows area :( Well,next time? anyone?:)
Our first stop at SNP was the Giant Tree area. This hosts the General Sherman's tree, supposed to be the world's largest tree,volume-wise. This area boasted of some truly massive,giant sequoia trees, the combination of weather and soil conditions makes it perfect to support the growth of the redwoon trees in California. We did the lovely congress trail loop, a 3-4 mile loop which took us to the heart of the sequoia groves!! The fresh air,cool,mistly chill that redwoods always seem to emit,and the solitude of the place with the summer crowds all gone, made it a very fun hike indeed!!
FUN FACT: Many of these redwood trees are a few thousand years old!! Nothing like being amidst these trees when you're feeling either old or fat or both!
Totally refreshed by this hike, we went to conquer the Moro rock hike,which took 400 steps and ft elevation,rewarding us with a panoramic view of the high Sierra and canyons.
After a few more small hikes,we decided to head back home,the drive along Central California took us through of fruit orchards and farms, we stopped at one of the many farmer's stands to buy some produce back home. One interesting thing we saw was a oni-lic!( Onion + garlic),which was an onion looking thing with a pod of garlic grown along side!
Its amazing how all it takes to love "home" is to just be away from it for a few days,isnt it?
More travel tales to follow!!
Till, then - Hasta La Vista!
FUN FACT: Redwoods are very resilient to forest fires because of high water content in their trunk!
way to go girlie!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletelooking for more to come!!!!!!!!!!!