Kings Canyon Nat’l Park
I’ve been on the road for years, and seen more than 100 National Parks across this country, but two that have always eluded me all this time is Kings Canyon and Sequoia. I have had to pass them by so many times only because I am never in this area during the correct season – winter is not the time to visit these mountain parks. This week, I get to check one of them off; Kings Canyon National Park.
After parking Big Blue and the dogs in the campground, Kerri and I set out on foot for the 1 mile trip to see the General Grant tree. A massive – I mean really massive – sequoia tree… the second largest tree in the world in fact. I’ve seen a lot of big trees, but I admit being at awe by just how massive this guy was. As much as I tried, the poor little iPhone just wasn’t up to capturing it’s scale. We continued to explore the trail system in the grove before making our way back to the van. When we pulled in to the campground earlier in the day, we setup in the less-traveled loop right beside a well known Airstream. The Watsons had been here all week and we hadn’t seen since the eclipse gathering in Idaho back in August of 2017. They were leaving the next morning, but it is always nice to see friends on the road none-the-less.
We set out the following morning to visit the Cedar Grove area of the park. An hour’s drive down a windy road into the valley provided numerous breathtaking views. A quick stop at Grizzly Falls for a view and a lunch broke the drive up for us.
Much of this area is in National Forest, and we even considered setting up camp for the night somewhere in this area. But first, a hike a few miles down the South Cedar Grove trail. We had no real destination but to get out there a few miles and see what Kings Canyon was offering. All in all it wasn’t much more than a picturesque walk through some amazing forest, some of which was recently burned by a forest fire.
Those sections gave a feeling straight out of a kids story book, but were also prime locations to find a very elusive mushroom that Kerri had been seeking for years. She came prepared for the hunt, and on our way back down the trail she scored with a single sighting. That one mushroom turned into a 40 minute scouring of the nearby forest, netting her a nice bundle of edible mushrooms. She was one very happy girl on the hike back to the van, with a bag of shrooms in her hand and a pep in her step.
The next four days were work days, and we settled into our normal routine while the cold weather rolled in for a few days. Freezing rain, normal rain, fog, and below freezing temps were the norm for the next two days. No big deal though, we had things covered. The van stayed comfortable inside thanks to the added insulation during the rebuild, and some well positioned curtains and blankets to block out the chill from the windshield.
The sun returned on Thursday, and so did the warmer temperatures. The battery desperately needed some charge, but we were only getting direct light on the panels for a few hours each day. Again, no big deal – I just took Thursday off and set out for a hike of my own; a 3 mile loop on a not-so-regular trail helped reset my brain and get a little “me time”. I’ve been promising myself (and Kerri) to take more hikes on my own (with Moose whenever possible), both for my own mental well being and Kerri’s. No matter how much you love a person, a few hours away is necessary… especially when you have to live within a few feet of me all day!
