Heading to Sequoia

Morning of June 15th, packed up the Jeep and took down the pop-up so we could hitch it back to the Jeep and head for Sequoia.  On the way, we would have to stop somewhere to get the front brakes of the Jeep looked at and possibly replaced -- shop in Marina had recommended they be replaced and rotors turned (opted to wait but, small squeals at times made me think it time to have them done).  Biggest town nearby was Modesto and we ended up there after dropping the trailer once at a previous place only to discover they didn't have the parts to do the job.  Midas across the street from a Fudd Ruckers seemed to be great as we headed for an early lunch while the work was being done -- think we had Buffalo Burgers with some tasty fries (better than what seemed to be coming off the grill when we were in the pop-up).

From there, we headed down route 99 through Merced, Madera and Fresno before getting on 198E for Three Rivers.  As we drove (or as I did), it seemed I would constantly hear Tim "grazing" on food or that big bag of chips -- the activity in the parks seemed to spark his appetite -- happy to see.  We arrived late afternoon at Sequoia RV park and were given a spot right next to the small stream and the end Tim slept in had a great view of the stream where people were swimming and fishing.

Next morning we headed out for our one full day at Sequoia -- only had the campsite for two nights and would then head for the Pinnacles.  We made it into the park around 9:00 or 9:30 but, had to wait for road construction to allow us to go forward (around 10:00 am) to "The General Sherman" Sequoia (the largest living thing on Earth).  It is approx. 30 ft. in diameter.



"The General Sherman"



"Sentinel"

First though, we saw the "Sentinel" just outside the visitor center (and restrooms) and then hiked around a nearby meadow where "Ed by Ned" was situated at the southern end.  A ranger had informed us that he had seen a mother bear earlier in the meadow and that her two "light-haired" cubs were with her -- our hopes of seeing a bear sparked us forward.  Once again, no wildlife was seen other than chipmunks and birds.

"Ed by Ned"

...by the meadow

MINERAL KING - After visiting the Giant Sequoias, we headed back out of the main park and back down the road to the entrance to the Mineral King area in the southern end of Sequoia National Park.  While we ate some lunch on the way we discussed how we would hope to get far enough into the park so we could get a look at some of the still snow covered peaks -- had heard the road was totally open now but, many trails were snow covered and probably closed.  Tim took over driving up and back on the winding, treacherous one and a half lane road -- to the real wilderness areas with Mt. Whitney at the far east edge of the park (not accessible by auto from this side -- only by taking a 20 mile hike to the east).  This road was so poorly maintained and didn't have any guard rails with steep drop offs a constant threat.  We did pass one accident at one of the tight turns on the way in and nearly 5 hours later it was still there (police appeared to have just arrived on our way back).

We passed the Atwell Mill some 20 miles into the trip in and after some 25 miles the road turned to dirt.  We only continued a couple more miles and tried stopping a couple times to see if we could get some better views by hiking onto nearby hills -- the huge trees seemed to hide the views from us -- and the shack we came upon shows what we faced.  The huge stump near the shack looked to be nearly as big as the General Sherman -- couldn't tell for sure.  We decided to give up and turned back with thoughts of having dinner at a restaurant by the river in Three Rivers.  A cold beer and tasty dinner on the deck overhanging the river was a small reward for surviving the terrible road -- nearly 6 hours after setting off toward the wilderness, we were full and could breathe again.

During our time in the woods we came upon many of the huge Sequoia pine cones layering the forest floor.  These cones were more than 12 inches long and 9 inches in diameter -- just huge like the trees.

See the shack?

Tim by "Dead"




Breathing again - Ahh