Big Trees and No Trees

We left off with a dilemma... the weather was now fast becoming full on winter, and not just up in the mountains.  We had just left some sunny but chilly days on the Channel Islands yet now we still need four more parks to nix out California.  Those are Joshua Tree (we'll get to that later), Death Valley, and Sequoia/Kings Canyon.  The Sierra's received a little snow week or so ago and were due for another dump in a few days.  So, what do you do?  I feel confident in our outdoorsman-ship and don't always feel the need to prove anything by camping in sub-freezing temperatures and feet of snow.  So we did the sensible thing and looked at cheap accommodations in or near he park.  We found something that might suit us, and I would be more than happy to pass on the recommendation:  The Montecito-Sequoia Lodge.  This place offers simple hotel rooms, suites, and cabins quasi-within park boundaries on the highest point of the road. Here is the kicker:  all meals (buffet)/equipment/snacks/wine&cheese are included.  And we just so happened to be visiting during an off-season week to get the 50% rates.  OK, tough call.  We pulled the trigger on the 2 day drive up to the mountains from the coast.

So we arrive at Kings Canyon NP.  Kings Canyon and Sequoia protect multiple groves of Sequoia trees in the high Sierra mountains.  They were expanded throughout the years to encompass a lot more than a few groves of trees, and now protect a lot of high Sierra wilderness including a beautiful pure wilderness canyon.  They also border the John Muir wilderness and Mt. Whitney.  One little problem about our timing... All the roads were closed.

We were still able to visit General Grant.  We played around in the grove for a few hours prior to our check-in time.

Amongst the multitude of stumps, we played as the sun went down and it got quite cold.  This was a massive logging area prior to protection in the early 20th century.  We warmed our insides with stories about lumber mill supervisors saving the biggest trees, lumberjacks planting new trees, and trees scarified to study preservation tactics.  As the sun set, we sadly headed to our lodge, realizing that this was the only part of the Kings Canyon National Park we would get to see this time around. 

Knowing that foul weather was headed our way in ~30 hours, we spent the following day in the adjacent and much more accessible Sequoia NP.  We hiked to another General tree - Sherman.

We then hiked the Trail of the Sequoias and other connecting trails within the forest amongst the giants.

And even managed a spur to the drive-through tree despite road closures...

Upon our return to the lodge, we were informed that the road would close the following 2 days.  Day #1 was due to the large amount of rain/snow causing landslides, and Day #2 was due to a predicted 18" of snow.  We had 3 more nights booked, what luck!  The following day of rain/sleet/snow was spent mostly inside by the fire, but we managed a quick  (but wet) 3.5 mile jaunt up local Big Baldy peak. 

The terrible rains and landslides never happened, and the 18" of snow became some more rain and about 1" of sleety snow.  Nevertheless, we managed another trek in the snow covered trees the following day. Back to the lodge for hot cocoa!!

The last day, we departed for Death Valley NP and visited General Grant in hopes of a snow covered sequoia. They were only just dusted with the white stuff, but watching the massive trees steam as the sun melted the snow away was pretty cool too.

We arrived at Death Valley in the evening hours, and managed to snag a free campsite.  Death Valley is HUGE.  It takes 1-2 hours to cross E-W and 2-3 from N-S, on the roads that are paved.  So off we went to slowly see the sights.  There were lots of little side trips, so here are the cliff notes:  

Devil's Golf Course - So named for the crap game of golf it would yield.

And what do we find out there...

Badwater Basin: Lowest point in the USA.

  Mmmm...Salty.

Painted Hills:

Hike up to Red Cathedral:

 Guided Ranger hike up Sidewinder Canyon, a DVNP 'Slot' canyon:

130 Year old Charcoal Kilns at Wildrose Peak:

At the summit of Wildrose, a nice fellow visitor left some calories for the next person in the summit register box...

I was hungry.

But we paid it forward!

We rented a Rubicon to take us to 'The Racetrack' as Ele was beginning to show some wear and tear from the bumpy dirt roads, and apparently the volcanic rock absolutely SHREDS tires...

 

Stacy loved this place, and no, this isn't fake.

Someone got dirty laying on the ground shooting the "moving" rocks....

We were gifted a beautiful sunset on the drive out.

Hike/scramble up Mosaic Canyon.  The aggregate is polished smooth over centuries.

So, that was Death Valley in 5 days.  At this point it was just days before Christmas, so we began our drive to met up with friends and family in South Cali.  One last stop on the way at Manzanar National Monument.  This is one of the ten WWII Japanese internment camps, and the preservation of this place really educates while tugging at the heartstrings.  I recommend a visit if you are in the area.  Mt. Whitney is somewhere in the background....

Until next time-

-K