Day Trip to Kings Canyon and a Day Off

On Thurday morning, we headed out around 9 am for a day trip to Kings Canyon.  We decided to take the "short-cut" up Hwy 245.  It was 30 miles shorter and time-wise, it was supposed to be about 10 minutes shorter.  It was a beautiful drive.

Soon after the above picture was taken, the road narrowed down to a very curvy road that was barely wide enough for 2 cars should they pass.  Plus, we started climbing in elevation.  When we left, Ken's CRV said he could go over 300 miles but by the time we had finally reached the entrance to the park,
he could only go about 90 miles and yet we had only traveled about 45 miles!

We checked with the park ranger and found out the nearest gas station was about 14 miles away downhill.  We decided to visit General Grant's Grove and then go fill up with gas!  The same thing happened to Chuck when we all went to Carlsbad Caverns.  Those elevation climbs really use up the  gas.  Fortunately, you save a lot of gas on the way down!

After parking at General Grant's Grove,

we began walking the loop trail to General Grant's Grove.

We walked up to the Fallen Monarch.  Interestingly, sequoias endure even after they have fallen and died.  The trees resist decay and last for hundreds or even thousands of years on the forest floor.  Look at the picture below taken around 1900 when the Fallen Monarch was used as shelter for construction crews.

Now, look at it today.  115 years later and there has been very little change to either the Fallen Monarch or even the giant sequoia standing to the right of it.

We started at the root end of the tree, and walked through to the other end.

From inside the Fallen Monarch, there were awesome views of the nearby sequoias.

After we left the Fallen Monarch, we walked by the Centennial Stump.

The tree had been cut down in 1875 and a 16 foot section sent to the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition.  Since only the outer shell was exhibited, people still refused to believe that such a massive tree existed and called it the "California Hoax."

We next came to the Gamlin Cabin that was built in 1872.

And then we reached the third largest tree in the world:  the General Grant.

The General Grant is 46,600 cubic feet and over 1,700 years old!

And 268 feet tall!

The largest branch on the tree is 4.5 feet in diameter.  The branch of the Grizzly Giant in Mariposa Grove at Yosemite was 7.5 feet in diameter.

We walked past the Fallen Monarch again and by where the fence was being rebuilt from limbs that had fallen off the giant sequoia next to it.

We walked to the parking lot...

and said good-bye to the giant sequoias.

I can't possibly describe how magnificent it is to walk through these giant sequoias.  Maybe the below video will give you some idea.

(If you have trouble viewing this video, click here.)

After we left Grant's Grove, we drove to Hume, California, so Ken could fill the car up with gas.  We were glad that we did because the views were awesome.

We could see the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway winding down the mountain below us.

When we reached Hume, there was a lodge with a beautiful view of the lake.

We drove back up to the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway and began driving down that windy road into the canyon.

We stopped at the Convict Flats campground (which was empty) to have our picnic lunch.

The mosquitoes started biting almost as soon as we sat down so we had to eat quick.  They seemed to be worst under the table so we stood up (and in Ken's case, on the table), to finish eating our lunch.

It was a pity we had to rush through lunch because there really were some beautiful views.

The little white dots are all the yucca plants growing on the hillside.

After lunch, we drove on just a little further but were stopped by maintenance crews who had the right lane blocked for cleaning off the shoulder and ditches.  When it was our time to go, we followed the "pilot truck" on the wrong side of the road down the canyon which gave Ken a birdseye view of the edge.  I took the below video for you to enjoy!  (If you have trouble viewing this video, click here.)

We reached Kings River which was a roaring river!

And then we drove on to Grizzly Falls and sat and enjoyed its beauty for a few minutes.

We would have liked to have seen more, but it was already 3 pm and we had a 2 hour drive back plus we needed to stop at Costco in Visalia.  We took one more look at the river...

...and stopped for one more look at the canyon on the way up...

...and then headed on back out of the park.  After 2 hours of driving, we reached Costco in Visalia, bought our groceries, and headed back to the campground.

Sun lowering over Lake Kaweah

The four of us decided to take Friday off from touring around and just enjoy the campground and get caught up on laundry, etc.  Of course, I couldn't sleep late, but I thoroughly enjoyed my cup of coffee watching and listening to the river.

And then we walked down the edge of the river as it ran along the campground.

We played several card games that afternoon outside under the shade and one more game that evening in side.  We all really enjoyed taking a day to slow down and just relax!  :)