Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks

We had a wonderful stay at Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.  We arrived at Azalea Campground in Kings Canyon on June 9.  We weren’t able to drive into Kings Canyon because the road was closed due to damage from the severe winter storms.  We spent most of our time exploring the giant sequoia groves.  I find these trees amazing.  You are walking in a normal forest and you come across these trees with massive trunks rising 250’ to 300’ into the sky.

Pictures from Grant Grove

Photos from Big Stump Trail, an area where many of the sequoias were logged in the late 1800’s.  We are standing on the stump of the Mark Twain tree which was cut down in 1891.  Cross sections of the tree were sent to the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the British Museum in London.

Photos from our hike to Tokopah Falls in Sequoia National Park

Photos of our hike on the Congress Trail in the Giant Forest at Sequoia National Park

Photos for our first hike up Moro Rock.

Photos from our hike at Crescent Meadow and Tharp’s Log.  Tharp’s Log is a fallen sequoia inside which Hale Tharp created a cabin.

Photos of our second ascent up Moro Rock.

Photos of Kings Canyon (as close as we could get).





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fairbanks (July 2024)

Image
Our next stop was Fairbanks.  We visited Gold Dredge #8, the Museum of the North, and Pioneer Park.  We took a riverboat ride on the Chena River with a stop at Trail Breaker Kennel, the kennel started by four time Iditarod winner, Susan Butcher, and a recreated Chena Indian Village.  We also had dinner with my cousin Jane and her husband, Jim, long time Fairbanks residents.  And as you might have guessed, we did manage to see a moose cow and calf in a pond in the Chena River Recreation Area. But first the pipeline: Gold Dredge 8.  Later in our trip, we got to see exactly how these monster floating machines transformed the landscape in Dawson.  They scooped up the gravel at the bottom of a stream bed, sorted out the gold, and dumped the remaining gravel in a long serpentine pile behind.  The last photo in this group shows a bit of these long piles of gravel in Dawson. Dinner with my cousin, Jane, and her husband, Jim, on the Chena River. Museum of the North - If you ever visit Fairbanks
Read more

Houston and Waco, TX

Image
Our next stop on our journey was Galveston and Houston, TX. Here is a shot of the brand new Carnival Jubilee starting its maiden voyage in Galveston. And an older ship in Galveston harbor. We spent a day at Space Center Houston.  This is the actual 747 which flew the space shuttles across the country.  The shuttle on top is a mockup. Photos of Mission Control for the Apollo missions. Photos of the Astronaut Training Facility Photos of actual Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules that have been to space. We happened to be in Houston for the opening day of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, so we decided to go. And then a trip to the Heritage Museum in Sam Houston Park in downtown Houston.  These are relocated historical buildings from as early as 1805. Then we headed to Waco to visit with our  friends Bill and Joyce Green. Photos of the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco. Photos at the Waco Suspension Bridge constructed in 1870 for cattle drives on the Chisholm trail to use as they crossed the
Read more

Anchorage (June 2024)

Image
We made it to Anchorage on June 26.  We camped at Bird Creek Campground on the Turnagain Arm south of Anchorage. Here are more photos from the Turnagain Arm. On Friday, 6/29, we drove to Whittier and took the 26 Glacier Cruise.  Prepare yourself for lots of photos of glaciers. And the glacier calves Note the boat in the photo below On Sunday we went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center Ben and Grace joined us Sunday night and on Monday we headed to Seward and Kenai Fjords National Park, but that will be my next post.
Read more