Tuesday, 10/4 - KIngs Canyon National Park



This one was going to be interesting.  I have to confess I had never heard of Kings Canyon National Park until planning this trip.  I read a little about it.  It is supposedly deeper than the Grand Canyon.  And it is mostly wilderness.  So, I assumed we would be driving along the Scenic Byway looking at the canyon from the top (like the Grand Canyon).  Nope...

But first, one of the other attractions at Kings Canyon is Grants Grove, a grove of Sequoia trees, including the General Grant tree (2nd or 3rd largest in the world, depending on what you read).  And it was only about a mile from the Lodge.  So, we started there first (after breakfast at the lodge).






Inside a fallen tree...


Then we headed for the canyon.  First we went up on the highway, and then we went down into the canyon (from 7500 feet to 4500 feet).








We were all stunned that this road was built at all.  It made the Going to the Sun highway look tame.  

And when we got to the bottom, and drove along the river, the canyon opened up and it seemed a lot like Yosemite Valley.




We took a little trail to a waterfall.






And then a trail to a meadow along the river.




And then to Road's End...




As you can guess, the road ends at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains.  As the crow flies, Mt Whitney is less than 20 miles from Road's End...  And about 10,000 feet higher.

We had lunch at the lodge in the valley, Cedar Grove, and headed back up for another picnic/Happy Hour supper outside the lodge.  (The drive up was much easier.)


Link to next post:  10/5 - Sequoia National Park

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