Day 33 Summer 2010 Park to Park Road Trip

Today we are returning back to Sequoia National Park. Our objective today is to climb to the top of Moro Rock with our friend Patty. She is an avid hiker, so Karen and I are a bit sceptical and unsure of our ability and if we are up for this challenge, but I think if we stop and rest frequently that we will be just fine.

This is a photo of Moro Rock and what lies ahead of us.

Fortunately, we are not going to climb from the base all the way to the top. There is a parking area about 400 feet from the top, and that will be our starting point. Still quite a challenge as there are winding narrow trails and over 400 steps to climb. So up we go, one step at a time.

Up some more.

Time to stop and take a break and look around us.

And up some more. The pathway is very steep and narrow, often we had to stop and let people coming down get past us before we could proceed upwards.

And then we made it… the top of Moro Rock. We are standing on top of the world. The smiles on our faces tell the story, we are pleased that we stuck to it and climbed to the top and it will be an easy downhill, down stairs walk back to the car.

The climb down was easy and relaxed.

From the roadway below we got a good look at Moro Rock and where we had been, right at the top.

Our second stop today is to visit Tunnel Log. In 1937 this giant sequoia tree fell across the road and the park officials cut a passage way through the tree so that the traffic could get through. You can see me waving as I drive through.

We drove back out of the park and headed back to our hotel in Visalia CA. This evening we had dinner at the Olive Garden and topped off the evening with ice cream at Baskin Robbins.

Tomorrow we will part ways with Patty, she is going to visit relatives in this area and we are going to drive through Death Valley. We will meet back up with Patty on Monday afternoon.

To see all of our photos from today, click on this link to our FLICKR site.

Day 32 Summer 2010 Park to Park Road Trip

Today we are going to visit Sequoia National Park. This park is famous for its Giant Sequoia Trees and we are going to see the largest tree in the whole world today. Yesterday we saw the second largest in the world in Kings Canyon National Park.

We entered the park and showed the ranger our park pass.

We passed by Tunnel Rock. At one time, you could actually drive under and through this rock, but with the size of todays cars and the stability of the rocks, this is no longer possible.

The park roads are edged with these really nice guard rails, made from the natural rocks found in the park. They are so colourful.

Next stop is Hospital Rock, and the petroglyphs.

Then it was onwards and upwards to the parking area so that we could walk on the Sherman Tree Trail.

And here it is… the largest tree in the world… The General Sherman Tree.

The tree is 275 feet tall. It isn’t the height that makes this the biggest tree in the world, it is the volume. 52,513 cu ft and weighs (estimated) in at 2.7 million pounds. I had to stitch together several photos to come up with this shot of the whole tree.

Further along the trail we came to a fallen sequoia tree that had an opening carved out of it so that the pathway could continue.

Stopped at the Lodgepole Visitor Center to get our National Parks Passport Book stamped and to buy some souvenirs.

Then it was time to head out of the park and get back to our hotel. We met our friend Patty at the hotel, she had just arrived from San Francisco. The timing was perfect. We visited for a bit then went out for dinner and shopping to replenish our basic supplies that we always travel with.

Tomorrow the three of us will return to Sequoia National Park.

If you wish to see all of our photos from today, you can click on this link to my FLICKR site.