My weekend in the mountains

Chris and I went up to the Sequoia National Park on Saturday. We left Bakersfield around 10:30 or so and got up there about 12:30. It only took about 2 hours to get up to the Visitor Center, so it wasn't a bad drive at all. The weather was beautiful...sunny and mild. You couldn't have asked for better weather. I was in awe of the surrounding mountains. Some of them were green and full of meadows and trees, while others were rocky and snow-topped. We had decided that we wanted to see a lot, including King's Canyon, and that it would be too long of a day to do it all in one trip, so we decided to get a campsite, so we could get up early the next morning and go down to King's Canyon and Cedar Grove then. We lucked out and got a campsite at Potwisha. It was only about 1:30 when we got up there, and there were maybe 3 campsites left. The others were closed due to snow. Lodgepole was open, but there was snow on the ground, and we would have had to set up camp on the parking lot or on top of the snow....brrr.

After we got out campsite staked out, we headed up to Crystal Cave. We had tickets for the 3 pm tour. It was a 1/2 mile hike down to it, and there is a sign at the trailhead that basically says it is a tough hike coming back up (and they do mean it! lol). It was so pretty going down there. There was a creek running through it and a small waterfall, and it was shady and nice. I was so looking foward to going in the cave...BUT....the generator had gone out on the group that was ahead of us and they lost the lights midway through their tour (they had to walk through part of the cave in the dark with only flashlights), so no cave tour for us. We had to walk all the way back up sans cave tour :( Someday I want to go back and see the cave though. It looked cool.

After the cave, we went up to Moro Rock. Now, I saw this rock from way down below at the Visitor Center where we were about 2000 feet up. The top of Moro Rock is about 6700 feet (just to give you an idea of how high up it is). When I got out of the car and looked up, I was thinking, "No way!" (lol). It was 1/3 mile up to get to the top...and it was all steps. After doing the 1/2 mile hike back up from Crystal Cave, I was already pretty tired, but I wanted to do it. I was not prepared for just how high up it was though. I was soooo scared, and I told Chris that if I fell down and died, I would come back to haunt his ass! Most of the way up, there were railings. But after a ways up, there were no more railings...only some rocks that were maybe knee-high (and that was supposed to keep you from plunging over the edge...riiiiiight!). It took me a while to get up there...partly cuz it was tiring, but mostly cuz I was shaking from fright (yes, I am afraid of heights). Even more reassuring were the signs that said "Extreme Danger...Lightning risk" (basically saying that if you were up there during a thunderstorm, you were in extreme danger of getting struck by lightning). The trail was very, very narrow in spots. But after all was said and done, once I got to the top, I was standing there in awe of view. It was breathtaking.

Next, we went to see the General Sherman. That tree is huge! Much bigger than I ever imagined. There were still patches of snow around it. It was huge! No picture could do it justice. We also went through the Tunnel Log (I drove under it twice), and the Auto Log ... I guess a long time ago, people drove their cars across it, but not anymore.

After that long day, we headed back to camp. It was after 7 pm when we got there, and about 8 or so by the time we got the tent up. It was pretty warm, so there wasn't a need for sweat pants or that stuff. There were a lot of mosquitos though, and I got bit a few times (boy they are itchy today!). The night was nice...BUT, we were next to the loudest campers of the bunch. I swear, if I didn't know better, that my loud ass downstairs neighbors follwed us up there! They were up allllll night. I got sleep on and off, and I know that somewhere around 2 am, they started shouting "Bear, bear!" and whooping and hollering. I looked out the tent , but I didn't see a bear. I saw a deer earlier as I was down getting a drink of water. It was no more than 10 feet from me, then it took off running up into the hills. Other than the rowdy neighboring campers, the campsite was really quite nice.

We got up around 8 am on Sunday morning, took down the tent and then left around 9 or so and headed down to the Visitor Center to get our cave tour tickets refunded, then headed up to Lodgepole for breakfast. By the time we got up there, it was 10 am, and they started serving lunch at 10:30 am, so we decided to wait and get lunch instead. So we walked down to the river and checked that out, and walked around the place and then sat out in the sun for a bit. I was starving! And I tell you, that cheeseburger and fries was just about the best cheeseburger and fries I had ever tasted - lol (the night before, all we had to eat were some crackers and a cheese danish we picked up from the market cuz the snack bar was closed by the time we got up there).

After that, we headed down to King's Canyon. Honestly, I expected it to be like Kern Canyon, but it was so much different! For one thing, the road was way up high. The drop off from the side of the road was .... well, let's just say that it was very, very far down to the river below...very far - lol. The road was twisty and the speed limit is around 35 mph most of the way, so it took a while to get there. The surrounding mountains are rocky and some are snow-capped. At Cedar Grove, we took a little hike to Zumwalt Meadow. I have to tell you, that if you go to King's Canyon, make sure you go on that trail...even if you do nothing else. The view of the meadow is awesome! It was probably my favorite part of the whole trip. Gorgeous...absolutely gorgeous! It is a simple trail...pretty much flat the whole way, and less than a quarter of a mile. There was a tricky spot where the river had overflowed and a creek was flowing through the trail and you had to do a little rock-hopping to get to the other side, but it wasn't bad. If I can do it without falling in, anyone can!

On the way back up, we stopped at Grizzly Falls and took some pictures. It was so pretty, and due to the large amount of rain we have had this year, the falls were really roaring down and spraying mist out everywhere. You can't get too close without getting drenched, and I got a little wet getting close enough to take some pictures, but it was worth it!

The drive back was pretty easy. It was mostly downhill, so you can coast a lot of the way. And as my legs were tired, this was a plus - lol. We got back into Bakersfield around 6:30 or so, very tired and very stiff and very thirsty.

I had a great weekend, as you can tell. I saw so much stuff and had so much fun. I want to go to Yosemite next. Chris is great to go with too, because he has been to these places and knows the good places to go. He is an experienced backpacker and hiker, and that is good, because I am not! lol. I love camping and being outdoors. It is great. And I hope I make it to Yosemite soon. I am dying to go after going to the Sequoias! Of course, I am tired today. Was very tired yesterday too, due to being kept up all night by some noisy campers (damn them and their loud music!). I was sleepy coming home, since I did all the driving, and I went to bed around 10:30 last night. And, yes, my calf muscles are sore, and I am mosquito bitten, but I still had fun, and want to do it again!!

I took over 100 pics while I was there, and posted a bunch below.

Check out http://www.nps.gov/seki/ to see more about the Sequoias and King's Canyon.