Sequoia & Kings Canyon
So 2020 has been one hell of a ride and there is still four months to go! However, there is always a silver linings to be found and one of these for me is my purchase of a National Parks Pass.
So 2020 has been one hell of a ride and there is still four months to go! However, there is always a silver linings to be found and one of these for me is my purchase of a National Parks Pass.
Like everyone else, we had grown weary of being cooped up in quarantine and we started looking for ways to safely get out in the world. This is where we are very lucky, because we live in beautiful San Diego where outdoor recreation opportunities are plentiful. In June we decided to hike out to the Cabrillo National Monument which overlooks San Diego’s downtown. We hiked in to find out that admission to walk in was $20 per person but an Annual National Parks Pass was only $80. Well, that was a no-brainer, especially this year.
Fast forward to the end of July when the other members of the family started getting particularly restless and itching to travel. Where to go, where to go? What would be reasonably safe? Well, I just happen to have a brand new national parks pass and California has nine national parks, more than any other state. ( By the way, the pass is accepted at all national recreation land which extends California’s list to over 100 sites!)
We decided to make a trip to Sequoia National Park and it’s neighbor to the north, Kings Canyon National Park to do some hiking.
Lodging
Lodging near and in Sequoia is available but more than we really wanted to pay on this trip. Camping is an option but for Lori roughing it is a motel without a jacuzzi. We opted for an Airbnb in Tulare. It was about an hour drive from the Sequoia Park entrance and about an hour and a half from the Kings Canyon entrance.
This home was clean and comfortable and served us well. It was also set up for families with small children with changing table, high chair, toys, etc.
However, in hindsight, I would spend the extra money to stay nearer to the park. From the park gates you need to drive up the mountain and to your destinations and that takes almost an hour on the winding roads.
Fuel
Gas is going to be more expensive nearer the park with few options within the park (or close to it). I’m a “be prepared” kind of gal so I just filled up every morning after our Starbucks run in Tulare. Besides, you’ll want to clean your windshield so you can enjoy all the scenery in the park.
Food
We arrived at Tulare in the early afternoon on Friday and decided to go to Sequoia and see some of the main attractions like General Sherman, the most massive tree on earth. This also gave us a chance to check out the food options for the next day. My wife, Lori spotted this gem, Sierra Subs in Three Rivers. http://www.sierrasubsandsalads.com/. Saturday we stopped to pick up some sandwiches to eat on our hike. Our son, Daniel and I had the Gourmet Green sandwich, mine with Turkey on a gluten free bun, and his with the grilled chicken on the kaiser roll. Lori chose the Tom sandwich. We all raved about our choices. While we were waiting for our sandwiches we picked up some drinks at Sage Roots next door. https://www.sageroots3r.com/#/. I tried the Jasmine Bliss draft kombucha, Lori the Coco Chaser Smoothie and Dan the Almond Vanilla Coffee Smoothie. All were delicious!
In our preparation for our trip to Kings Canyon we searched Yelp and other sources to locate another great local sandwich shop near the park entrance but found nothing. We opted for trusty Subway in Tulare. Subway does make a good sandwich but still does not have a good gluten free bread option. As we got closer to Kings Canyon I was quite surprised that there were very few businesses to support the park visitors with lodging or food. I hope that Sierra Subs puts another location up there!
Sequoia National Park
We arrived at the gate to Sequoia mid-afternoon on Friday. The drive up the mountain was very winding but the scenery was beautiful even though the air was hazy with the smoke from distant fires up north. We headed straight to the General Sherman Tree. I had seen the General once before when I was about 8. Things around the tree have changed a bit but General Sherman is still HUGE. We enjoyed a very nice walk through Giant Forest Grove admiring the immense and beautiful Sequoias. This is the most visited portion of the park so it was more crowded and only about half of the people were wearing masks. It was still pretty easy to keep social distance except around the informational signage. You know I love me some informational signs!
Tokopah Falls Via Tokopah Valley Trail, 4 miles moderate
The next day we arrived around noon ready to hike. We headed to the Tokopah Falls trailhead. It was a nice trail following the Kaweah River, rated moderate for lots of uneven, rocky portions of trail but it was fairly easy even with the altitude and temps in the mid-eighties. We were only about a half mile down the trail when we spotted a mama bear with her cub on the opposite bank of the river. Unfortunately, the falls were down to a trickle and there is zero shade available there so we took our backpack picnic about a quarter mile back down to the path. There are plenty of nicely shaded rock croppings just off the trail to rest and rejuvenate. If you look up the canyon wall you will see sequoias high on the ridge above and some somehow clinging to the wall itself. This trail is located adjacent to the Lodgepole Campground and Visitor Center so it is highly trafficked. A lot of campers were making their way down the trail to frolic at several pools along the river. Because it is so trafficked you do see a lot of people who are not familiar with the protocol of open space hiking so be prepared for some incidental litter, unruly children, dogs and dog poop. Take a deep breath, “we’re all on a Journey and they just don’t know better yet”. One big bonus of this hike is that if you do enjoy rock climbing/bouldering you’ll find the rocks around the falls to be a playground. Just make sure you’re careful and wear shoes with solid traction. (Looking at you, Daniel Peters.)
On a final note, the bathroom in the campground at the trailhead was quite nice.
Moro Rock Trail, .4 miles moderate
From Tokopah we headed to Moro Rock. This is the bald rock outcropping you see dominating the canyon your way up the road into the park. There are several trail options of varying length to Moro Rock but because of the sinking sun we chose to drive right to the parking area at the bottom and start our way to the top. The summit is 187 feet up a paved path with over 300 stair steps (I lost my count almost at the top, dang it.) You really feel the altitude here. Not just because of your heaving lungs as you climb but because of that view down…..way, Way, Down. This can be seriously difficult for some people with a fear of heights. I have a fear of heights but I felt fine with the solid path and guard rails. Lori, not so much. She chose to head back down and wait for us at the base. The trail can be tight in spots and social distancing is an issue. However, more people were wearing masks and everyone was trying to give each other some space. There was some litter and dog poop on the trail and you may need patience with those moving more slowly but there are areas to pass. The view at the top was breathtaking even with the haze from the smoke. I was grateful for a bit of haze when looking down. It’s seriously high and scary. God Bless the workmen who put I the nice, solid railings!
Kings Canyon National Park
Big Stump Loop Trail, 1.8 miles easy
Hitchcock Meadow, 1.2 miles easy
On Sunday got to Kings Canyon around noon. We chose to combine the Big Stump Loop Trail and the Hitchcock Meadow Trail which both start from the same picnic area. There is a large parking lot with bathrooms and tables where we enjoyed our Subway lunch before heading out on the hike. The trails are not far from the road so you do hear some car noise but that was the only downside. A family with rambunctious children started down the trail not far behind us but we lost them after the first big stump. The trail was well maintained, unlittered and full of surprises. I was happy to see wildflowers so late in the season. We also saw manzanita berries and what looked like wild mulberries and blueberries. Nearby we found some bear scat…full of berry seeds! I also found a wild mushroom with and interesting geometric pattern. So far, I have been unable to identify it. On the Hitchcock Meadows portion we actually went about a quarter of a mile further than what Alltrails showed and that is where we found the big berry patch. Though it was sad to see all the stumps of giant sequoias cut down in the late 1800’s when logging was permitted in the area, it gave you some great perspective to climb up and see how tiny you are compared to these giants. At the end of this hike I was proclaiming that it was probably my favorite hike ever. Well, it was for about 4 hours.
General Grant Loop Trail, .5 miles easy
Just a bit up the road and past the Visitors Center we stopped at one of Kings Canyons main attractions, General Grant Grove. This isn’t much of a “hike” but if your going to come all this way you might as well see the highlights. This is a lovely saunter among some big ass trees with a lot of informational signs. Love me some signs! As soon as we parked I spotted a Ranger on the trail and left the family in the dust so I could pepper her with questions. Though I initially lost sight of her, we did find her near the end of the trail. She was very sweet to answer a couple of questions for me. She would probably of answered a lot more questions but I restrained myself, which wasn’t easy after she informed us her specialty was geology. Anyway, this trail is worth the stop.
Kings Canyon
We had decided to do our big hike of the day at the end of highway 180 so we could see more of the park on the drive. From the main area around the Visitor’s Center the road took us up and over the mountains and we dropped into Kings Canyon. The terrain initially turned into high desert shrub once we were over the crest. The view into the canyon was beautiful and a bit scary. It’s almost a mile high! As we made our way down into Kings Canyon the scenery changed back into the same type of pine forest as the other side of the mountain. It really is quite a drive. Once we neared the bottom the road followed the Kings River and it was beautiful!
Grizzly Falls
We stopped to check out Grizzly Falls and were glad for it. We got some nice pictures. There were some people cooling themselves and playing in the water near the falls. It looked like fun and I was surprised that the water wasn’t too terribly cold. Not warm enough for me, but not cold.
Zumwalt Meadow and Roaring River Falls Trail, 5.4 miles easy
This trail follows the south fork of the Kings River and the 180. We weren’t quite sure if we would have time to complete the whole trail so we parked near the middle so we could shorten it if needed. We headed west to the first footbridge across the river and then headed east on the trail. Much like the Tokopah Trail, this one is well maintained but there are some rocky portions where you need to watch your step. The scenery is stunning. We still had that smoke haze in the air which dampened the view but it was still gorgeous. Zumwalt Meadow was like a postcard. We did pass an area where they did a controlled burn in May. We didn’t go quite all the way to the end as there were some people enjoying the picnic area, so we headed back the way we came. Dan was usually the lead of our group and as we made our way through some rock falls he suddenly came back towards us waving. There was a bear on the trail! We scampered up the rocks so we could keep an eye on the bear and figure out what we should do. The bear was only about 40 feet away eating something on the ground. He knew we were close but didn’t seem to care very much. We could see other hikers on the other side of the trail also waiting and trying to figure out what to do. One family on the other side decided to make their way around on the rocks above us. It wasn’t easy going and it took them about 15 minutes. I knew my knee would not care for that journey. We were just going to wait until Mr. Bear was done with his meal and moved on. Mr Bear had other plans. He was thoroughly enjoying his snack and had no intention of getting out of our way. I suggested (several times and with increasing vigor) that we backtrack and take the closed section of trail through the meadow. They’d have to forgive us, right? I mean there was a bear on our path! More hikers were making their way through the rocks above around the bear. One told us he had been watching the bear in the tree above us for an hour before the bear came down and started snacking. An hour? OMG, that means we walked right under the bear and didn’t even see him! A young man named Maxwell had joined us on our rock watching and waiting. So, these other three knuckleheads I’m with on this rock decide that we need to just walk right past Mr. Bear. Are you kidding me? This is not a good idea! Seriously, what are they thinking?! But here they go. Crud, I am not going to be by myself! Ok, ok I’m coming. I got out my phone to record our journey so that the Ranger’s would know what happened. They could play it on a loop in the Visitor Center as a warning to other park visitors. We started down the trail and around the rocks blocking our view of the bear. Dan who bravely took the lead, hesitated and backtracked when the bear looked up at him. The four of us clustered, started talking loudly to Mr. Bear and went for it. We got by just fine. Mr Bear didn’t care at all. Now I know Mr. Bear is actually ER8, that’s what the tag on his ear said. If you happen to see ER8, tell him I said Hello. Though I am pretty sure that being close enough to a bear to read his ear tag in not advisable. After that the trail seemed to fly as we relived our daring deed over and over again. Next thing we knew we were back at our car and the sun was starting to fall. Even without the bear, this was my favorite hike and we didn’t even get to Roaring Falls.
We headed back up and over the mountain. We stopped at the Visitor Center where they were serving food with patio seating, social distanced. The fare was better than expected. I had chicken salad in a spinach wrap (no gluten free option). Lori and Dan had the grilled chicken sandwich. The hot chocolate was good but not very hot. The cookies were really good!
Notes For The Next Trip
I do want to go back, especially to Kings Canyon. Next time I would definitely spend the money to get lodging near or even in the park. I would even be willing to camp, though I doubt I could get Lori on board with that idea. I will want to get a much earlier start on our hikes so we can do longer trails further away from the more congested areas. Ideally I would do at least 5 days so that we would have time to adjust to the altitude and be able to do longer and more difficult trails. Also, remember to drink a lot of water!! More than you think you need, it really helps with adjusting to the altitude.
View of the Tokopah Valley from the falls, smokey from the fires
Sequoias in the setting sun
General Sherman, the most massive tree on Earth
Bo on the rocks, near Tokopah Falls
Thats one big-ass tree!
Stumped
At Grizzly Falls
Zumwalt Meadow
South Fork of the Kings River
ER8 munching on some pine cones just off the trail