Mineral KIng

     If you have never completely believed a road sign in your life, and come upon this one....BELIEVE!!  To cap off our last day visiting Sequoia, we decided to venture off the grid a little and take a ride up to Mineral King.  In 1873, a small amount of gold was discovered in the mountains surrounding Mineral King, and the community of Silver City, CA became mostly a summer/fall community.  The 25 mile long, 2 hour journey, really begins shortly after crossing the Kaweah Bridge originally built in 1923.

 The gorge below shows evidence of massive amounts of water passing through the gorge, as there are some pretty big "bowls" carved out of the rock below,  From here the road get interesting, and can be described as a single lane road containing multiple switch backs, bearing 2-way traffic.  It did tend to get exciting meeting mostly Park Service vehicles "racing" down the mountain.  In addition, there are no guardrails, and over the edge means a drop of a few hundred feet, at least.  Got Debbie's attention a few times.      

     At about the 12 mile mark, we arrived at the pay as you go Ranger Station, where honest people pay the fee and get their pass to enter Sequoia National Park.  Since we are America the Beautiful Pass holders, we stopped only to stretch and read the local information sign.  It is really here that you get the first opportunity regain some sanity and seriously consider turning around.  But don't fall for the trick.  It's going to get better!
     Continuing onward and upward, we started moving out of high desert and into the forested area.  Through the trees we could see some of the vista waiting for us at the top.

     Soon we spied the Giant Sequoia's before us.  Though not as impressive as the colonies we'd seen previously, they were some pretty massive trees.  We passed a few primitive campgrounds operated by the Park Service, but most were already closed for the season.  The road is not maintained in the winter, and if you happen to get caught up here in an early snowfall, you may be on your own.  At about the 20 mile mark we stumbled on to the small community of Silver City.  There were numerous cabins scattered among the Sequoia's, some being pretty primitive and others under new construction.  We're not really sure how you can purchase land in a NP and build a camp, but it was being done up here.

 I pulled up in front of the only restaurant on the mountain after spotting something I had not seen since traveling up to the wilderness of Quebec as a child to go fishing.  I don't believe Debbie had any idea what it was.  If you're still wondering, it's a hand operated gas pump.  The lever on the side pumps the gas up to the glass cylinder on top which measures the amount of gas, and the gas is then gravity fed into your vehicle via the hose and nozzle.  There was a bucket of windshield washer fluid on the side, so i would have to guess that it's a working pump.

 I honestly can't imagine how they get a fuel delivery up this far.  I wouldn't want to drive that truck!
     Isn't that a beautiful baby Sequoia at the end of the porch?  Can't be much older that 1000 years or so!  The girl inside advised that the end of the road was only a few miles further, so we pushed on.  We soon cleared the forest and entered into the mountain meadows before us.  We were pushing the edge of the treeline, being just above 7000 feet, but we could see Sequoia's clinging to the rock faces of the mountains above us.

As we enjoyed a quiet picnic lunch, 2 deer flushed from the brush a short distance from us, and casually walked past us, looking a little disturbed by our presence.  Everywhere there were warnings of bear country, and fortunately we didn't have any close encounters.
     The Aspen had changed to a bright yellow, and the leaves were falling, reminding us of the Fall colors at home.

 Of course, nothing could compare to the brilliant reds and blazing oranges that cover the Adirondacks this time of year.       High up, we could hear the screeching of some sort of raptor, and after retrieving her binoculars from the Jeep, Debbie spotted 3 likely suspects.

 I think I pushed the limits of the zoom on my camera, but finally captured a picture of what I believe to be 3 Golden Eagles in the dead treetops above us.  How cool is that!  We spent an hour or so enjoying the views around us as I continued to work the camera.  Glad I don't have to develop any film.  Here's a few more shots of the scenes around us.

     So I guess the moral of the story is that sometimes it's OK to get outside of your comfort zone, The road up here is challenging but the reward at the end was well worth it.  I guess that's the point of being Rondackers on the Road.  Hope all is well with everyone. 

Sequoia-Kings Canyon & Mineral King

     When Debbie and I had originally developed our plans for a visit to Sequoia, we penciled in 4 days to see everything.  It has been our experience, since by now, we are seasoned travelers, to allow 2 days to visit any NP.  And that practice seems to have held pretty steady.  Since this trip would include both Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, 4 days seemed like a good idea.
     Each day we remained up here in the Sierra foothills, the weather seemed to improve, and each visit to Sequoia seemed to open vistas we didn't notice the first time through.  Each evening we would return to the campground to be greeted by the bears and usually new neighbors, and each visit pushed us further into the parks. The General's Highway connects the 2 parks, and the drive between the respective Visitor Centers takes about 2 hours.  We were reminded as we poked along the highway, of the fire crews and Rogue Fire, still working in Kings Canyon National Park.  We did not see any active fires or even encounter any smoke, but many side roads were closed indicating there were crews in the area.

We did come upon an overlook that really gave us our first glance to the east, and the magnificent vistas of the Sierra Nevada range.          There are no roads which travel east/west through the park.  Only the General's Highway that travels north/south along the western edge of the parks.  These incredible ranges, varying in height from 1500 feet to include 6 peaks over 14,000 feet in height, are over 400 miles long and 60-80 miles wide.  In Kings Canyon, you can venture a short distance into this wilderness by driving along the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway, but unfortunately the road was closed due to fire damage.  It will not be re-opening until the Spring.  At the end of the Byway, the only option is to venture out on foot, in order to experience the meadows, alpine lakes and Sierra peaks.  The Sierra Nevada range is larger than the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps combined.

 After a short pause at the visitor center of Kings Canyon, which is something we always highly recommend, we made the short drive over to view another highlight of the parks, the General Grant Tree.

 In 1867 this tree was named after General Grant and in 1890, Congress moved to protect the entire Grants Grove, by designating it as a National Park. In September 1890, just a week earlier, Congress had created the Sequoia NP.  In 1940, General Grant merged with Kings Canyon, and Sequoia and Kings Canyon have been managed jointly since 1943.  The General Grants towers 268 feet tall and 40 feet wide, and is estimated to be 1700 years old.  All the giants are truly impressive, and these photos really don't do them justice.  So I would urge all my readers, to take the time and get out and visit these magnificent parks.

     One of the most spectacular vistas we found in the Parks, was the one we experienced by venturing out on Moro Rock.   The trail climbs 300 vertical feet from the parking lot out to an elevation of 6725 feet, and it's straight down from there on all sides.  There is a tiny trail and steps that lead from the parking lot out to the top of Moro Rock.

 A small handrail keeps you from falling over the edge, and where there's no handrail, a series of rocks are set up to mark the way.  The trick is to look down at your feet and not to the sides, and you'll be just fine.  The vista awaiting at the top is well worth the temporary wrenching going on in your stomach.  From the top of Moro Rock, you'll understand why this area is our nation's second oldest National Park.  You'll also get the finest view of the General's Highway as it makes it way skyward from the valley below up to the Giant Forest at 7000 feet where the Sequoias live.

Across the valley to the East, is an incredible view of the Sierra Nevada Range.  Now those vistas sure make great selfies, but you always seem to find yourself holding on to the handrail.  Unless you are young and stupid, like to 2 guys who actually jumped the railing, and climbed out about 10 more feet, and really impressed to girlfriends!  You can't fix stupid!

From Moro Rock we again ventured into the Park to meander through the Giant Sequoia's.  We soon ventured onto a small grouping of trees named the Parker Brothers.  I took of photo of them, but it didn't capture the true picture.

Then Debbie wandered out from behind them, and now you can see just how impressive they truly are.  

And of course everyone who visits the Sequoia NP, has to take a drive through a tree.  I think we saw this on a Disney show back when we were kids!  It's still there and getting lots of photo opportunities.

A little further down the road we encountered  the Bridge Tree which was used as a bridge back in the day.  It certainly is wide enough to support vehicle traffic across it.  It looks like it has been retired a few years now, but again, is an example of their size.  

This guy just fell over one day.  It was a beautiful clear day with no wind, but gravity seemed to be the culprit.  As you can see they don't have a very deep root system.  Amazingly they do develop a wider base if they are growing too close to a water source.  I bet they do make some noise when they come tumbling down!  

Our last day will be a trip up to Mineral King which sounds like a very unique area.  Hope everyone enjoys the photos, and perhaps someday you'll get to see some video.    

Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park

     Debbie and I are certainly enjoying our visit to SoCal as MAE likes to call it.  The arrival of Liam makes everyday special, and seeing Ben, Joanne, and Jamo reminds us of how lucky we truly are.  But day after day off 100 + temps can take it's toll, and we decided it was time to find someplace in SoCal that was a little cooler.  After all, it's October.  The temps should be down in the 70's.  We took a trip down to the ocean to cool off, but it didn't seem any cooler.  Jean was out visiting from Pennsylvania, and it was time for us to hit the road for a few days.  Or as we like to say...we're starting to get a little trailer itch!  We had not had the opportunity to visit Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks yet, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity.  The only obstacle we could see.....was LA traffic.  Believe me, if you can figure a way to avoid LA traffic, take it!
     Sunday morning we headed north which proved to be just fine.

 Traffic was minimal, and we arrived at Three Rivers without any problems.  Monday morning we were up relatively early for us, and after a filling breakfast, we headed for the park just a few miles away.  As usual, Debbie packed a great lunch as we didn't want to waste time looking for a diner.  As it turned out, it's fall up here, and a lot of the park services had closed for the season.  But the big advantage to traveling this time of year is minimal tourists.  Kids are back in school, and it seemed that we had most of the park to ourselves.  We cruised through the entrance after showing the Ranger our America the Beautiful Pass, we soon encountered the historic Indian Head entrance sign.  Since I do enjoy playing tourist, the car was stopped and the camera came out getting our first pictures of the park.

      Continuing along the General's Highway, which was named after the two most famous Giant Sequoia trees, General Sherman and General Grant trees, we soon came upon Tunnel Rock, which created a tunnel until the road was rerouted.  As with most of these pictures, it's hard to appreciate the size of everything without having something to gauge off of.  Some pics will have nothing to gauge from, but believe me, everything is huge!

     And the General's Highway is curvy.....really curvy!  The speed limit is 15 mph, although sometimes it does increase to 25.  I seem to think the altitude at the entrance was around 400 feet. But the real story begins at about 5000 feet, when you start to enter Giant Sequoia country.  So relax on the drive up.  It takes about 40 minutes to work through all the switchbacks and make the climb up.  Our first day was a little rainy, and as we made out way into the clouds, the temperature dropped to a very comfortable 43!

Debbie pulled out her wool sweater, and was just perfect.  The NY polar fleece vests were quite comfortable, and we both smiled as we saw millennials scrambling to find some warmer clothing.  But they looked good, and I'm sure those cell phones must throw off some heat!
     At 6000 feet. we got our first look at the Giant Sequoias as we past through the Four Guardsmen and entered the Giant Forest.

And then there you were.  In a magnificent grove surrounded by massive Giant Sequoias towering hundreds of feet into the air.  It tends to humble you, especially when you realize that they are anywhere between new growth and possibly up to 2500 years old!  

     Here Debbie is holding a pine cone from one of the Sequoias.  As you can see, they seem to be quite well protected from just about anything, not like a typical pine tree cone.  

Back in the 60's, the Forest Service discovered that the groves of Sequoias were not reproducing, and we were to blame.  The forests need fire to start the process.  Fire cleared the underbrush which choked out new seedlings, but it also opened these cones, to allow the seeds to fall out.  A Sequoia seed looks like a single flake of oatmeal when it comes out of the protective cone.  Each cone contains about 200 seeds.  Amazingly, if the seeds are able to germinate, they grow at a tremendously rapid rate, growing to their full height in only 600 years! That's right...600 years.  After that they stop growing up, and start growing around.  Kinda like me! That's why after a few thousand years, you get trees similar to this.

     Up until the 1970's, this area actually included a gas station, a market, a motel, and nearly 100 cabins for all the tourists visiting.  There are minimal services still operating in the parks, but no gas stations, and no motels.  The pollution was just destroying the park, and thankfully the NPS stepped in and closed everything down.  

     Our first day pretty much concluded after our visit to the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in the world.  

It is not the tallest tree in the world since it stopped growing upwards at about 275 feet.  But each year it continues to increase its diameter, and grows enough new wood to make up a normal sized tree.   The Park Service is not going to let you have an easy time viewing the General Sherman.  Through this path starts the trail down, down, down to the General Sherman.  It's a piece of cake going down, and all the visitors are visiting playfully as they descend the trail and stairs leading to the tree.  The real problem begins when it's time to return to the parking lot. Seems that the trail descends about 1/4 mile down at a pretty good clip.  But you have to factor in the 7000 foot altitude and the thinness of the oxygen.  There are plenty of rest areas for the trip up, and I took advantage of every one of them.  There is good news for those with handicap placards on their vehicles.  There's parking for you about 200 feet from the tree, and a paved trail leading up to it.

     It is truly a massive Sequoia, and actually stands out from other pretty massive trees around it.  The last picture shows its incredible base, stretching out 109 feet at the ground.  These trees have a very shallow root system, and are prone to just falling over.  I'll show some pics of their root system next time.
     We have a few more days to visit these parks, and lots more pictures.  We hope you're enjoying the show!