May 7-9 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

Thursday, May 7– A cold morning and a slow start. Waking around 830, I look out of the tent to see a guy by the van. I looked again and it was a ranger filling out a paper and was about to slip it under my windshield. "what's up?" I ask just as he puts in on. Turns out we didn't display our camp receipt on the dashboard, but he was nice. We showed him we did have it and we put it on the board. He then said it was the most crowded it's been in the campground this season, and this was the first time there were no sites left. "Season's starting," he said with a shrug.

The animals don't appear to think the season is starting either. On the way to the bathroom 10 minutes later with Dazey, we ran into a coyote just 50 yards away. It looked at Dazey and Dazey at it, but neither made the implications of a fight. We walked on as it watched, then went back to eating garbage.

We made a breakfast of pancakes with syrup and strawberry jam, coffee and some coffee berry drink we got in Venice Beach. Propane ran out on the third round, but we were already pretty full. It was 1030 when we left the campground and headed to the visitor center to catch a hot shower. It had been 9 days since we'd had showers, since Matt's in Phoenix. It felt so amazing; I almost had forgotten what clean feels like.

On to see Sequoia, we first climbed up Moro rock; a huge granite tower overlooking the south side of the park and a river valley thousands of feet below. We could see the high Sierra peaks just over the range, some of the snowcapped peaks over 13,000 feet. Dazey raced up to the top of Moro rock and looked like she enjoyed the view as well.

Continuing down the road, we stopped for a short walk to the "Dead Giant" and Huckleberry Meadow. The walk was short but we took Dazey because the trail was empty. The Dead Giant is exactly what you would imagine, a huge Sequoia that had died, burned, and only the bottom 75 feet or so remained.

Down the road, we pass under a fallen Sequoia that they had cut out partially so cars can drive under it. Reaching the end of the road, we went on mile hike to see Thwarps log. This log was naturally hollowed out and had fallen next to a meadow. A guy named Thwarp made the hollow log into a cabin and lived in it from around 1860 to 1890. A few hundred yards before we got to it, we heard a noise over to the right in the meadow. I jump forward and hide behind a tree to see if I can sneak up on the deer or whatever it was. Then Tyne said, "Oh Jay, come back."

Confused, I look around the tree into the face of a black bear about 50 feet away. It was small, probably only three years old, but looked pretty healthy and was not what I wanted to mess with. We hiked back a safe distance and watched it from up the hill. After amazing over the bear for ten minutes, we continued by the bear, only 100 feet farther up the hill from the trail.

After checking out Thwarps log, which was really cool, we pasted by the bear again. Some foreign tourists were amazed that we came so close to it. They were 500 yards away and were too scared to go closer. We encouraged them, "you can look but just get too close. Don't mess with him and give him room." They looked happy and shuffled 30 feet closer. Down the trail, we gleefully told everyone we passed that there was a bear up the trail.

We had been gone about 30 minutes. Dazey had to wait in the car because it was a crowded trail, and dogs were not allowed. Coming back to the car, we heard her howl again and knew she was upset with us. Getting into the car, we saw she had pulled down another chuck of the fabric and insulation from the roof. No longer is she allowed in the car alone! Driving back to the main road, we spotted another bear off to the left in another meadow. This one was not nearly as scary as we were in the car.

On the way out of the park, we stopped at the General Sherman Tree. It's the largest living object in the world. The base of the tree is about 103 feet around, over 40 feet in diameter. Its over 300 feet tall, 3000 years old and weighs over 2 million pounds. Standing with all the tourists, this tree is the focal point of the park, much like the Old Faithful is in Yellowstone. It was cool to see, but I prefer the backcountry secret spots to it any day.

Coming down out of the mountains, we pass through some more large Sequoia groves and into the Sequoia National Forest. Instead of squeezing in a few more sites, we decide to find camp a little earlier that night. Asking for advice in the Kings Canyon Visitor center, we were recommended a few pull offs on the way up into Kings Canyon. We got a fire permit, firewood and cigarettes, and up to the hills we drove again.

Just a few miles back into the National forest, we see a small dirt road going up a hill. Following it a mile, we come to a decent campsite. Pushing on over the bumpy road we find one that is even better, but we decide to continue a little more. It crossed the top of the hill and starting down the other side, with a drop-off and a view of the Sierra Nevada's to our left. After another quarter mile, there was a bank of snow in the road three feet high.

Turning around, we went back to the camp on the hill. We took a few walks around the area, to the very top of our little mountain, and down into a small Sequoia grove. Dazey was running around like she had never run before. We sat down with the fire and had some incredible conversation. We told stories and shared feelings and became closer than ever. It wasn't until 1am when the fire died down enough that I shook Tyne awake. We got up off the blanket and headed to the tent. Although it was around 40 degrees, we were warm and super comfortable with all the blankets and padding.

Friday, May 8– I slept good, waking up around 9. I reflected on the night before as I read and ate some breakfast in the sun. I did some writing and cleaning as Tyne was still sleeping. Tyne got up around 10 and we lay out in the sun for an hour hanging out. We didn't feel like doing anything or going anywhere today. We decided to take the day off and relax.

We cooked grilled cheeses over a fire for lunch, and Tyne laid out more in the sun tanning. Dazey and I hiked around our spot, and I burned 50 ants with my magnifying glass. They were engaged in a war between two colonies so I killed all the fighting ants. After 10 minutes, the fight had ended and ants were running for their lives.

I finished reading 1984 and we cleaned out the van and reorganized. We wrote letters home and cooked hot dogs and a can of pork and beans over the fire. Watching the sun set, we enjoyed the fire and a couple of shots of Seagram's 7. A good day, very revitalizing and much needed. Off to bed at a decent hour under the cool mountain sky.

Saturday, May 9– I woke up at about 7am, just as the sun broke the horizon. Next to me, Tyne started moaning. She had burnt herself really bad the day before, and her time of the month came early. Plus she was dirty and had a deep cut in her foot. She was not a happy camper this morning. I also wasn't feeling all too hot. I had a headache and my stomach hurt.

We got over our morning ails and proceeded to packed up our campsite. It was still early morning when we started driving up into Kings Canyon. Starting at over 7000 feet, we wound down into the canyon. The views were breathtaking; towering snow covered granite peaks, canyons dropping for thousands of feet, and of course the swollen and overflowing Kings River.

We drove until we reached Grizzly falls. The 70 foot waterfall misted us with some fresh mountain water. This river starts high up in the Sierras and only a few people have made it to the source. The terrain is so extreme, and snowdrifts remain year round in some spots.

Turned around and driving back out of the canyon, we stopped at  Boyle caverns, which turned out to be a disappointment as you had to buy tickets to take a guided tour. They even had an ice cream stand and gift shop, which seemed out of place so far from civilization. Welcome to California.

Tying to escape the tourist hot spots, we turned down a dirt road in search of the "Chicago Stump." After several miles on a bumpy road, we came to it. A giant Sequoia that had been cut down 100 years ago when logging was allowed in these parts. They cut over 1000 giant Sequoias over 10 years, and only left the largest standing in the entire grove. A sad story, but its good to hear that no Sequoia will ever be allowed to be cut down again.

One last stop in Kings Canyon, I went to see the General Grant Tree. Named the American Christmas tree, this living memorial is to remember all who died in wars. It's the second largest tree in the world after the General Sherman tree, and is even larger around the base! The trail took me through a nice grove of mature Sequoias, and reading the guide as I walked, I learned a lot about the giant trees. Dazey and Tyne waited in the car and ate candy.

Down we came, from over 7000 feet in the national park, to 4000 feet in the national forest, then under 1000 feet as we came back to irrigated fruit country. Palm trees and prickly pear made their appearance as we came into the town of Fresco.

We had planned this day out before hand, and the trip into town wasn't painful or long. We stopped and got gas ($30 @ $2.33) and Tyne bought tobacco. (cheapest yet - $2.99 for Bugle) We asked for directions to a laundry mat, and before long Tyne was doing loads while I worked on finding internet. I found connection nearby at an Elementary school, checked the weather, my e-mail and tried to find another couch surfer to stay with in Vegas. I filled up water for us from a water machine, and headed back to the laundry mat.

Tyne was done and we only had two more stops to make. Using Google at the internet hotspot, we found where a Wells Fargo was and where a Wal-Mart was and made haste to them. We deposited the check that Kirby had given us a few days earlier, then to Wal-Mart for some groceries, hair product, sandals and dog food. Satisfied with our quick trip to town, we put the last 4 hot dogs in tin foil, on the engine and then hit the road north.

We passed through some very interesting country. In one spot, I could see flat grasslands that looked like Kansas, Buttes that looked like Arizona, Shrubby canyons that looked like California, and snow topped mountains that look like they belonged in Colorado. We stopped at a McDonalds so Tyne could eat an Ice Cream that she was craving, ate our hot dogs from under the hood, and continued up into the Sierra National forest just outside of Yosemite.

Being that Yosemite is the most crowded national park in the country, and we were coming up into it on a Saturday, we didn't expect to find good camping. We were soon surprised though, that barely anyone primate camps in these parts. We turned down a dirt road and soon found a nice little spot next to a healthy flowing brook. Tyne called the van so I set up my little one man and we relaxed as the light slowly faded to black. Nearly a full moon tonight, if not so tonight then tomorrow for sure.

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