Day 119 - Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks

We left a little later than planned, at about 10:00, and hastily made our way about 1hr 15mins to the entrance to the National Park. We paid the $20 fee and continued to our first stop of the day – Moro Rock.

Before we got there though we had to drive a while and wait while before the road was opened to traffic due to massive road maintenance work being carried out here. At 12:00 we were allowed through and the huge snake of traffic meandered its way through the 3 or so miles of muddy road. Danny was unimpressed as this was “tainting the beauty of such a sexy car” and he swore to get it cleaned after our National Park adventures were done with.

The walk up the steps was challenging but incredibly worthwhile once we made it to the top. The 360 degree panoramic view was breath-taking and by far one of the most amazing views either of us have ever seen. We could see for hundreds of miles around, with snow topped mountain ranges on one side and vast hilly countryside on the other. We even saw what we believe to be a beaver sat atop one of the rocks right at the top of this spectacular viewpoint with us. We stayed a while here taking snaps and simply just taking in this wonderful scene before making our way back down.

A short drive took us to the Tunnel Log which we drove through before then stopping briefly at the Auto Log.

We soon pulled over again and made a short walk to the General Sherman Tree (a sequoia tree). This is the world’s biggest tree; not the tallest or the thickest but it has the most wood mass which makes it the biggest in the world! We also saw a few chipmunks here too.

The next quick stop was at a viewpoint called Overlook after about a half hour drive of yet more amazing scenery that this area is entirely comprised of.

NB - The dirt on the car was clearly not detracting from its pure awesomeness as countless passers-by: stared, pointed, and talked about it as we chugged past and pulled into car parks.

We then made it to the General Grant Tree (another sequoia tree) which is the third largest tree in the world, by volume and so stopped to take pictures in its shadow before moving on.

We then had a remarkable cruise along the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway all the way to a viewpoint right near the end of the superbly picturesque road.

On the drive back along the byway we stopped to have a quick look at the Grizzly Falls, though we, thankfully, didn’t bump into any bears whilst here.

We took an alternative route back to the hotel so as to experience more of the epic backdrops and returned in time to dine out at a very nice café in the town.

Today was such a contrast to the: busy, loud, smoggy cheesiness of Los Angeles that it was hard to believe we were in the same country! This is definitely a place we could spend more time and would definitely recommend this area to others.