Lucky Me

To stroll calmly among giants. To inspect glacially-carved rock faces. To deeply breathe cool alpine air. I consider myself lucky – lucky to have some time off to explore the Golden State a bit and lucky to be relatively close (~4 hrs.) to some spectacular natural sites at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. With a few days to work with (thanks to my kids’ visiting aunt) I managed to do some camping (Piedra), hiking (Redwood Mountain and Don Cecil), viewing of a few well-known Giant Sequoia trees and a panorama from a high granite dome (Moro Rock). It was great to be out on the open road, with just a rough outline of an itinerary and plenty of time to enjoy the scenery.

Redwood Mountain

The Redwood Mountain area has the largest grove of Giant Sequoias on Earth – the biggest of the big! It is off the beaten path a bit so it also can be a peaceful day hike, away from the crowds. For more details and photos about this hike, see: Redwood Mountain.

Moro Rock

Moro Rock is a scenic granite dome in Sequoia National Park. Not far from the main highway, it is accessible but also can provide a challenging short walk. Witnessing Peregrine Falcons at close range from Moro Rock was my top moment from this trip. For more context, see: Moro Rock.

Don Cecil Trail

The Don Cecil Trail, once the main way to get into the Cedar Grove area of Kings Canyon National Park (until highway CA-180 was completed in 1939), is a choose-your-own-difficulty trail up the side of Kings Canyon. I didn’t go all the way up (~4,000 feet of elevation gain), but maybe I will come back someday to take in the view from Lookout Peak. For more details and photos about this hike, see: Don Cecil Trail.

Camping in Piedra, CA

Via Airbnb I found a trailer on a ranch to use as home base in the small town of Piedra (CA), relatively close to the park entrance. The ranch was right on the cold and powerful Kings River. The place was modest but had just enough amenities for me to cook (bison meat & potatoes), clean (nice warm outdoor camp shower) and sleep (door open due to lack of A/C or fan). A few bonuses were nightly bat sightings (such small and graceful flying mammals) and a tiny frog (or was it a toad?) that visited me.

Cats!

Before driving home on Friday I went to Project Survival Cat Haven, a home for wild cats. It is in the same area – just outside the highway CA-180 entrance to Kings Canyon National Park. It is definitely worth a visit – I learned a lot about cats and got to see them up close as never before. For more on my visit, see: Cats.