King's Canyon / Sequoia National Parks

After Yosemite we head to Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Parks.

We go in the northern route on 180 as the southern entrance has restriction for vehicles over 22 feet.  It is a steep steady climb up to the Parks

But the views of the Valley below are stunning

The road goes through National Forest Land

We finally close in on the campground

After the Yosemite fiasco we make sure we arrive early on Sunday.  There are two campgrounds open on the North end of the Park - Azalea in Grants Grove and Sentinel in Cedar Grove.  It works as people are starting to head out and we snag a great spot at Azalea which is just a few miles from the entrance.

After setting up camp and having lunch, we decide to head down to Sequoia National Park as the newsletter says there is construction on the road and to expect up to 3 hour delays.  We figure since it is Sunday we should get that part of the park done.

They know how to do signs

The Landscape is varied

Our first stop is the famous General Sherman Tree.  It is a half mile hike downhill but is paved.  It is in the Giant Forest the largest of the unlogged giant sequoia groves, and it contains more large sequoias than any other grove.

A tunnel was cut through this tree

General Sherman is the world's largest tree by volume. It is 275' tall, and over 36' in diameter. The circumference at the ground is just over 102'.  The first branch is at 130' and the largest branch has a diameter of almost 7'.

Fun Facts:

The largest of the sequoias are as tall as an average 26-story building, their diameters at the base exceed the width of many city streets. As they grow, they produce about 40 cubic feet of new wood each year, - that is  equal to the volume of a tree that's 50' tall and one foot in diameter.

If laid down on a football field it would go from the Goal line to the opposite 9 yard line.

It would take more than10 blue whales to balance the weight of the trunk alone.

If placed on a highway, it would block 3 lanes of traffic.

We stop at the Giant Tree Grove Visitors Center.  Outside is the Sentinel Tree, considered an "average" sequoia.  It is about half the size of the General Sherman tree weight in at 700 tons

This is what it would look like if laid out on the ground

From the parking lot it dwarfs the Visitors Center

We are running out of time and the choice is between hiking in the Giant Forest or going up to the top of Moro Rock.  Since we will certainly see more big trees we opt for Moro Rock

It's a short drive from the Visitor's center through yes more big trees.