Evanescent Photography : October 2014

Summer in San Diego was unusually hot and humid. At the risk of sounding like a brat the endless summer was getting a bit old for me. I was craving the fall. Bad. So when we set out for Sequoia National Park this past weekend I was pretty excited.

On arrival the weather is cool and crisp, the sun is shining and I am immediately in awe of my surroundings. Temperatures are in the low 50's and it feels just like fall. Perfect. That perfect fall temperature lasts throughout Friday and by Saturday morning the weather is feeling a bit more like winter. It rains off and on throughout the weekend, with little sun and daytime temperatures reaching as low as 35 degrees. The air is damp and there is a definite chill in the air. Sunday night we even get hail!!

Our tent cabin is located in Grant Grove Village which is inside Kings Canyon National Park. It is a cute little cabin with a wood burning stove. There is a shared bathroom about 50 yards away. With the help of our gas burner and the wood burning stove we are able to cook all of our meals. Proud campers we were completely self-sustained and as we joked all weekend… off the grid.

No cell phone service. No internet. No alarm to wake us up in the morning. With only 4 D batteries and a radio set on the country station, we are totally disconnected, totally content.

hail outside of our tent cabin

Hail!!!

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We start our weekend with a trip to Sequoia National Park. We are off to see the General Sherman Tree. It just so happens the first thing we actually see is a bear. No joke. When we get out of our car at the park he's right there in plain site about 20 yards from our car. To our surprise this isn't the only bear we see. Our bear count totals 4 and I have no doubt if the weather would have been better the remainder of the weekend we would have seen a few more.

All the bears located inside the park are black bears. I was surprised to learn that these bears are omnivores, feeding mostly on plants and insects.

baby bear

All of the bears that we saw were snacking on pinecones. Apparently the pine nuts inside the pinecones are a good protein source and bears are often seen eating these before heading into hibernation for the winter.

not a bear… just a cute little chipmunk

After the adrenalin rush of our first bear sighting settles we are off to hike the Congress Trail in search of the General Sherman tree. General Sherman is neither the widest or the tallest sequoia tree, but is considered the largest living tree in the world because of its volume. It weighs approximately 2.7 million pounds and it is believed to be 2,200 years old!! Its height is 275 feet and its circumference at ground level is 102.6 feet.

one of the few times we saw blue sky all weekend

General Sherman

base of General Sherman

root base of a Giant Sequoia

a few of the Sequoia's along the Congress Trail

Saturday morning we decide to stay within Kings Canyon. We hike Grant Tree Trail, as well as some of the surrounding trails. It rains pretty heavily in the afternoon so instead of hiking we drive from Kings Canyon to the Roads End Permit Station. The drive is a beautiful one. It takes us a few hours and the whole way we have amazing views of The South Fork Kings River that is flowing heavily due to the rain. We stop at Grizzly falls, Zumwalt Meadow, Roaring River Falls, as well as a few other view points along the way.

early a.m.

one of the meadows along the trail

so massive!!

Giant Sequoia Trees

another root base

stumbled upon this lake on one of our hikes

a fallen tree in one of the meadows

It was raining pretty heavily at this point so I had to rely on my iPhone for the next few pictures.

Roaring River Falls Pool

Grizzly Falls

Our last day is a chilly one. It rains throughout the night and there is still a dusting of hail on the ground when we wake up. We had planned to do two 6 mile hikes, but when we look around the ominous storm clouds tell us to choose otherwise. Not wanting to get caught in the bad weather on a long hike we instead decide on a few short hikes.

With our new plan in place we set out for Moro Rock. Moro Rock is a granite dome located at the head of Moro Creek in between the Giant Forest and the Crescent Meadow. To get to the summit you hike 0.6 miles up 400 steep stairs. When you reach the summit there is an amazing view of the western half of Sequoia National Park and the Great Western Divide.

Interestingly enough Moro Rock is an area of extreme danger during thunderstorms. Lightning strikes are not uncommon. There is a sign before you start the ascent. It states "To avoid being struck by lightning, immediately return to your car if any of the following conditions exist"

dark clouds nearby or overhead
thunder, hail or rain
hissing in the air
static electricity in the hair or fingertips

The only thing not present for us is the hissing in the air. We head up anyway. The view from the top is well worth it.

From the trailhead looking up to the summit

Summit of Moro Rock

Panoramic of Beattle Rock on the way to the Giant Forest

After Moro Rock we stop at Beattle Rock and then head to the Giant Forest. Up until this point we haven't seen much in either park that didn't leave us speechless, but for me, this area was by far the most majestic. As we walked along the Big Trees Trail around the Round Meadow I had this surreal feeling and couldn't help thinking this had to be one of the most beautiful places on the planet. There was a calmness and an energy in the air that I can't explain. It felt extremely peaceful.

Some photos I took while walking along the Big Trees Trail.

Round Meadow inside the Big Trees Trail

And of course being a typical tourist we had to take the drive through Tunnel Log. The fallen Tunnel Log of Sequoia National Park came into being after a giant sequoia fell across Crescent Meadow Road in late 1937 as a result of natural causes. The following summer, a tunnel was cut through the fallen log. The tunnel is 17 feet wide and 8 feet high. The tree's age when it fell has not been determined, but estimated at over 2,000 years.