This is my second post to feature two national parks – and just like the first time (Carlsbad & Guadalupe Mountains), we’d originally set out with no plans to visit both.
There weren’t a lot of hotel options around Sequoia National Park, so we ended up getting an Airbnb for two nights in Three Rivers. The house was amazing – beautiful, sunny, perfectly stocked. We’d stay again in a heartbeat. The only downside? It was still an hour’s drive to Sequoia’s main attraction – General Sherman Tree in Giant Forest.
From Giant Forest in Sequoia, it’s another 50 minutes to General Grant Tree in Grant Grove, the most visited site in Kings Canyon. Which would mean another two hour drive back to the Airbnb when our day was finished – four hours in the car seemed a bit unreasonable. We also weren’t sure the trees in one park would be vastly different from the trees in another.
We set off in the morning and made our first alteration to the schedule. Instead of starting with our 3.5 hour Giant Forest Loop hike (the weather was incredible and we weren’t as worried about crowds as we had been at some of our previous parks – here’s looking at you, Zion!), we made our way to the Moro Rock Trailhead shortly after sunrise.
This short hike can feel strenuous due to the change in elevation, since the concrete and stone stairway consist of over 350 steps to reach the top of Moro Rock. Luckily, Chandler and I were able to make it to the top quickly and with only a handful of other hikers behind us.
The view was fairly hazy and the signs at the top reminded us that we could see the same pollution that was affecting the views in Joshua Tree, 280 miles away.
That said, it was incredible to see the stone in contrast with the giant sequoia trees – at 6,725 feet, you can see the surrounding Sierra Nevada mountains and the Central Valley.
Before long, we were off to our next stop. A quick drive through Tunnel Log. It was at this point that I was thrilled that we’d started at Moro Rock. Because it had been a quick stop (20-30 min), we were at Tunnel Log pretty early. The only other people we encountered were a couple in their own vehicle and a photographer who had set up shop on the other side of the tree.
I got my iconic photo – and even though we sold our Mini Cooper less than a month later, it’s so fun to have!
Finally it was time for the main attraction – a 3.5-hour hike encompassing the Giant Forest Loop. We started with the General Sherman Tree trail since that’s where we figured the most people would be. There were already a handful of families, but it wasn’t anything crazy.
I took photos of General Sherman Tree itself, but didn’t love any of them due to lighting and angles. That said, the tree is pretty impressive! It has the biggest volume of any living, single-stem tree, it is 275 feet tall, and it’s trunk alone weighs an estimated 1,385 tons. The tree is believed to be around 2,200-2,700 years old and it continues to grow each year – adding enough wood annually to make a regular-sized tree!
After a bit of gawking, we resumed our hike – at 7 miles it would be the longest continuous hike of our summer. But the weather was excellent and we were (ok, I was) excited to continue on our way. We saw plenty of people at the start of our loop because General Sherman Tree trail is paved and so is Congress Trail.
Before long, however, we found ourselves alone on the Trail of the Sequoias – with Chandler talking rather loudly in the hopes of scaring off any bears that might be nearby. Spoiler alert: We didn’t encounter any, but it’s not unheard of on these trails.
Numerous trees that we encountered had sustained serious fire damage, but sequoias are considered fire-dependent because they’re able to withstand the heat of moderate fires with their thick, insulating bark.
By the time we were away from other people, we also began to lose the trail. It was overgrown in some areas and difficult to follow in others. We had downloaded the map from AllTrails and were able to find our way to the midpoint (Tharp’s Log) no problem.
The actual problem we were encountering? We’d hiked half the trail and it had already taken us over two hours, which meant this was the first hike of the summer that we were set to finish after the estimated time. Not ideal when it’s also your longest hike!
I wasn’t complaining too heavily – this hike was quickly climbing to the top of my summer favorites list. I couldn’t get enough of the size of the Sequoias (see the previous picture for scale!) But Chandler had seen enough trees and was ready for a break. This is when we made our mistake: We left our loop trail for the nearby road and restroom.
All seemed well at first – we hopped back on the trail and continued on our way. But we soon realized that we had no idea which trail we were actually on. Google Maps said one thing and AllTrails said another and there were more than a few side trails that could lead you astray. We backtracked a few times and eventually just made our best guess.
It worked out – we weren’t trapped in the woods forever, but it definitely slowed us down and our total hike time hit 4.5 hours. You’d think at this point we’d have been tired of the woods (and Chandler was). But he was a champ – he admitted that we’d never be this close to Kings Canyon National Park again and agreed to the additional drive!
We didn’t go on any major hikes in Kings Canyon, opting to stay on the paved trail to General Grant tree. This one is famous because it is considered the nation’s Christmas tree – as decreed by President Calvin Coolidge on April 28, 1926.
One surprise we did get: The Fallen Monarch. The Fallen Monarch is a hollowed out sequoia tree that you can walk through – a pretty incredible feeling if I do say so.
Other than that, I can’t say that Kings Canyon National Park held much that Sequoia National Park didn’t. There was almost no one there though, so while we didn’t feel crowded at Sequoia, if you want these giants all to yourself, Kings Canyon is definitely the place to be.
It was a long day. We’d been used to waking up early to beat the heat and heading back to our hotel in the late morning. Our day in these national parks ended well after lunch and we still had the drive back to Three Rivers. But when we got back, we got to cook our own dinner (a luxury when you’re on the road) and relax in our rental while we watched the sun set over the river.
Sequoia ended up being one of my favorite national parks and I don’t think it’s too hard to see why.
Abroad With Ashley 