Wicked Big Trees, Dude. Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Park – Part 1

June 25th - 27th, 2021

We arrived at the Riverbend RV Park in Sanger, CA, Friday evening. I must admit, we’re becoming darn efficient at setting up Destiny. We’re also so thankful for her steady air conditioning in this constant 100 degree heat. The Riverbend RV Park sits at 400’ above sea level. I was shocked at how low we were, so I jumped on Wikipedia and learned a little about California’s geography. Turns out, the Inland Empire, aka the Central Valley, was once a massive lake/inland sea. Now it’s irrigated by the rivers of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and produces an ungodly amount of fruit, nuts, grapes, and other crops. It’s not uncommon for us to see bumper stickers that read “My Job Relies on CA AG”… Agriculture is big business here. 

We had 6 nights booked at the Riverbend, and so we got comfy, and planned out the following couple of days, which would take us into Kings Canyon National Park. Quick note: Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park are separate parks, but managed jointly.

As has been common of late, our first morning found us tethered to WiFi and a few hours of SolSeed desk work. But we cut free, and drove the hour and change to the Big Baldy Trail Head. The road that led us to the parks, passed right by our RV park, so it was one left, and straight on to the Ranger Station. Sounds easy… if it weren’t for the 6,600’ we’d climb just to reach it! The curvy mountain road had mile-marker like signs noting every 1000’ of elevation gained. If you’ve never driven up a few thousand feet, take my word for it, don’t point the sunscreen at your face when you first pop it open at the new, higher altitude. We expected long lines at the ranger station, but got in after 10 minutes on a Saturday, and found our trailhead parking easily.

The Big Baldy trail was really quite nice. An “entry level” hike of only 6 miles, mostly along a ridge with terrific views back down to Sanger, now over 7600’ below our feet, and then west out over still unfamiliar jagged peaks, towering another 4000’ over us. The scale of things out here simply doesn’t compare to back East.

After the 2.5 hour hike, we consulted the map we received at the gate, and determined that Lake Hume was close enough to drive to. We were caked in dust, a common theme for these parks, and had a cooler full of snacks. The drive down to the lake is very scenic, and we arrived to find a busy afternoon of recreation: fishing, kayaking, windsurfing, and biking, were all on display. After washing our legs, splashing cool, alpine lake water on our faces, and polishing off a jar of salsa, we hopped back in Phoenix and headed out. We hadn’t seen the BIG TREES yet, after all.

We’d head for the General Grant tree in Grant’s Grove, and our route would take us around much of the perimeter of the lake, revealing better parking spots for post-hike rests, a massive summer camp and village, and then another harrowing, but beautiful, mountain pass road. The entrance road to Grant’s Grove was our first time really seeing the Giant Sequoia. Awe struck. And that wouldn’t change over the next 5 days. Simply, stunning. Religious-like experience. We parked and walked the 1 mile paved loop among the preserved forest. A bit hectic for our taste, but the trees overtook any attention we’d otherwise direct at unwanted crowds. The General Grant Tree is big. We’d see many big trees. Hard to say how they determined which are the biggest, besides measuring and math. But to a casual wanderer, the largest of the Sequoias are difficult to differentiate from those that come in a close 5-50^th in size. Our curiosities were sufficiently piqued, but we were tired. So down the mountain we went, back to Sanger, to rest and plan a day in the woods with trees that, for me, are now the standard bearer for the entire woody plants world.

Day two in Kings Canyon would be spent mostly in the Redwood Mountain Grove, and then another stop at Lake Hume. Redwood Mountain Grove is the largest single grove of the dozens that spot the Sierra Nevada’s. The Giant Sequoia grow between 5000’ and 7000’ feet in elevation, the tallest is over 300’ tall, the oldest, estimated at over 3000 years. So… the grandfathers of these trees could have been alive before the pyramids were built. The “teenagers” we’d see won’t be “old” until the year 3600. Nature has a way of making you feel small and relatively insignificant. The oceans are too big, the mountains too tall, the earth too old… but to be in the presence of living organisms of this size and age, is to be humbled in a way unique to all those I’ve previously experienced. It’s funny the emotions that are stirred, often contradictory. Sadness that I’ll never know the mature version of a younger grove, happiness that they exist at all… and especially happy that we stopped cutting them down in the 1870s. It’s wonderful to experience these emotions under the 200’ canopy these giants hold up for you, in a wild setting. If life were a college course, and I the professor, this walk among these trees would be required reading.

By now you’re wondering if I’ve been sampling all the recreationally legal things California has to offer. Honestly, it wasn’t all sunshine through impossibly high limbs… it was 85-90 degrees down at “only” 5000’ in altitude. Both Kristin and I ran out of water with 45 minutes of hike left, and we expected 7 miles, but walked closer to 9.5. Well worth it though. We had some views back to Big Baldy, from the day before, and we explored a cabin an early settler had built into a fallen Sequoia, one of a half dozen such examples in the parks. This brings a whole new meaning to “Log Cabin”, as in, singular log. I was personally very interested in what happens to these trees when they do fall. And I was able to climb around on some examples. The answer is, they break into segments under their own weight, following the contours of the land they fall upon. They take FOREVER to decompose, for some of the same reasons they live so long: high levels of pest and fungus resistant tannins in the wood, and super insulating bark. But eventually, periodic wildfire, pests, and fungi break them down. Oddly, often from the inside out, leaving cavernous logs on the ground.

After finishing the afternoon in the woods, we headed straight back to Lake Hume to take advantage of the better chill spots we’d scouted the day before. A hammock was strung up. Another jar of salsa was cracked open. Swimsuits were donned to facilitate a more thorough removing of the caked dust. This time we brought a couple local brews with us. We’d hang well into the evening light, leaving time to get down the mountains before dark, but resigning to microwaved dinners after another super rewarding, yet long day. 

Our experiences in these first two days solidified a suspicion we had: we would have to leave Destiny for a night, and drive deeper into Sequoia National Park, to reach higher heights, and see the biggest of them all, the General Sherman. So we booked a tent site at the Lodgepole Campground for the following night. The Lunar Lander would have to decouple from the Apollo in order to explore further reaches.

To be continued… 

For more pictures from our time at Kings Canyon National Park, click here.