Sequoia and Kings Canyon

For our summer trip this year we decided to stay in California because, really, where else could we go with better weather? Also, being new to the state we thought it would be fun to explore a little. We chose to camp for two nights at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and then head over to Legoland for a couple of days. It was a fun, busy trip. (I was hoping to get to the Mormon Battalion Historic Site and the beach as well, but that was just too much for everyone. We'll have to do that next time!)

The camping portion of the trip was really fun. It is just amazing to camp among so many giant trees! One really nice thing about this park was that there are several very short, easy hikes set up to get to the biggest trees so it is easy to choose a tree, find the path, and take the kids. They also had a Junior Ranger program there, which the kids really enjoyed.

On the way to see General Grant.

This was the first tree we hiked to - General Grant. It is 268 feet tall, 107 feet around, and the second largest tree in the world.

It was kind of crazy walking around in these woods because all the trees were so huge! I felt like we were in Giant Land. It made me think of that one Giant Land in Mario 3 (you know, on the old Nintendo). It was always my favorite.

This tree tunnel was also part of our first hike. It was huge and amazing and apparently had been there for a really long time! The first forest ranger lived in it for a while, soldiers had lived there, and I'm pretty sure we read they'd kept horses there too. It was big.

Family picture! Minus me. We were out trying to see the sunset. Sorry the colors are funky. I had to tweak things because it was so shadowy.

This was outside the Giant Forest Museum.

This was part of the General Sherman hike - a cross-section of a tree. The sign told about different rings and what they meant - when the tree had been burned in a fire, when it hadn't had water, etc. It was really interesting.  We also learned that when the forest was first explored, no one believed the reports of giant trees so they would chop them down and send cross-sections out to different museums as proof.

It almost made you dizzy to look up at the huge trees all around.

Another fallen tree on the way to General Sherman.

And here we are, standing in front of General Sherman - the largest tree in the world. Okay, so it's only Emily, Caleb, and Elinor here. And it's the largest tree in the world by mass only. There are other taller and wider trees. But still. By mass. It's pretty impressive. :)

Camping was fun. Being able to gather around a fire and sleep outside is always fun. The hikes were great, the trees were beautiful and awe-inspiring. It was a really good trip. I'm glad we got to see and learn to appreciate these trees!