Road Trip to Sequoia & Kings Canyon
The spring before I (Izzie) moved away from California, I realized I hadn’t ever been to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. How could this be? Trees are kinda my favorite thing…
So, before I moved to the good ol’ Centennial State, I knew I needed to take advantage of at least one more thing the Golden State had to offer. I knew where I wanted to go, so I called up my “cousin but not really my cousin,” Jessica, and asked her if she was free for the weekend. Luckily she was, and she packed up a backpack and was ready to be picked up by my mom and I to leave for a weekend adventure.
The drive from where I grew up to the national park was about 3.5 hours, which felt like nothing when driving Lolita. We turned up the music, rolled down the windows, and before we knew it, we were driving through some pretty big trees.
Good ol’ Lolita looking like a dream.
Jessica, mom, and I stopped at our accommodation to drop off some things, since we were staying for the weekend. After this, we went for a short walk to beautiful view overlooking Kings Canyon called Panoramic Point. It was up a hill near a few campsites, and a small sign marked the top. The sign showed a series of peaks that were visible across the canyon, as well as their distances as the crows flies. It was pretty cool to know just how far you could see/how big the canyon real is.
Kings Canyon itself is the deepest canyon in the United States, reaching more than 8000 feet in depth. Looking down on the canyon helped show just how massive the canyon is. This walk to Panoramic Point is only about a half a mile, and one of the great parts is that it is paved (AKA wheelchair accessible)!
After admiring the landscape for a good while, we made our way back down, and we came across some really big rocks. Of course, we did the only thing you’re supposed to do when you see big rocks.
Jessica and I looking out at Panoramic Point.
“I like that boulder, that is a nice boulder.”
After these two walks, it was about dinner time, so we ate dinner and hung out as it got dark. The next morning, we got up and set out to go see the famous General Sherman.
General Sherman is a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), and it also happens to be the largest tree on Earth by volume. Walking up to the tree was pretty freakin’ cool. I couldn’t help but think about what this tree had seen in the likely hundreds of years that it has lived. What had it lived through? How did it become so big? How has it affected the land, animals, and plants around it? A tree like this has definitely seen some stuff.
It’s that big one. Right in the middle.
Sittin’ by the old General.
Three little women and one big ass tree.
Next, the three of us took our sweet time on the Big Trees Trail. It is also wheelchair accessible, and it is a very short trail, but I could have spent hours on it. This trail is a loop around a meadow with giants everywhere you look. There were a few downed trees, as well as plenty of standing trees to run around in. It was a tree lady’s dream without a doubt. I found one tree in particular that seemed to be growing next to/ around a boulder. It just so happens that the place on top of the boulder where it meets the tree was a perfect place to lay down and simply observe.
The next morning, we woke up and began hiking up to Tokopah Falls. It started with us following the Kaweah River upstream until we got closer and closer to granite. The rock towered above us, and the water ran peacefully down it.
Topokah Falls showing us what a waterfall should look like.
The rest of our day was spent running around looking for rocks. We were successful! We climbed Moro Rock, which gave us what seemed like a 360 degree view of the Sierra Nevada’s. It is one of the many granite domes in the park, and it was definitely one worth hiking.
My momma and I standing on top of what felt like the whole world.
Even though this rock was pretty cool, we wanted to find one more. Alas, we found Hanging Rock. It was big, tall, and quite close to the edge.
Izzie standing with the Hanging Rock looking out over the blue-hued mountains.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are definitely parks that should be on anyone’s bucket list, whether they are tree-obsessed or not. The sequoias will take anyone’s breath away, and if that doesn’t do it, the panoramic views sure will. All I dream of is going back here to hug some more trees, and sit on more cliffs.
If you get the chance, visit this beautiful place, and love your mother!
