Day 6: Sequoia

We said goodbye to our adorable little cabin in Kings Canyon Park and headed to the Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia National Park. It’s only about a 45 minute drive but we stopped halfway to get gas and do our laundry at some pretty run down facilities that made me very grateful for the clean and comfortable setup in Grant Grove.

Our check-in wasn’t until 4pm so we joined a ranger-led hike through Giant Forest and around Round Meadow. The girls just ate it all up, and we learned tons about John Muir, the importance of occasional fires in the park, and the reproductive habits of sequoias. I am so proud of how they have behaved at these programs! They listen attentatively, ask intelligent questions, and stay silent while others are talking. I only wish I could say the same about all the other park-goers. I also got a kick out of Diane earnestly whispering to me at the start of the walk that, “it’s good she speaks English,” in reference to the ranger. I guess since most of our trips have been to non-English-speaking countries, she doesn’t take it for granted that everything will be in her own language.

A Sequoia seed. Amazing that something this tiny can become such a giant!

Cool designs made by wood boring beetles in Sequoia bark. Melina found this and the guide kept it to use as a prop for future walks!

After the hike we thought we’d sneak over to the General Sherman tree: the largest living organism in the world (by volume). Parking lots and visitors centers have been filled to the brim with people around here but once you get on a trail you are practically alone. So we hoped it would be the same with this must-see site. We were wrong. It was packed, and as usual, dealing with the general public quickly saps the magic out of experiences for me. But it was still cool to see this massive tree and to apply our new-found knowledge to point out other young sequoias in the area. We decided against waiting in line to take a picture at the one spot where the fence approaches closer to the tree, but Zach had fun trying out his panoramic settings in a vertical format.

When we finally checked in and ate dinner, the girls clamored to go to yet another ranger talk, this one entitled “It seemed like a good idea at the time.” It was about things that people did in the early days of the park (like leaving garbage out for bears and surrounding it by bleachers for spectators) and even the more recent years (like introducing fish to high altitude alpine lakes where they have decimated frog populations). Diane was beside herself in agony over these bad decisions and I could see her resolve to protect her forest “neighborhood” firming even further.

After this talk it was almost 9pm but the girls begged to go to yet another talk on the night sky, and I’m so glad we did! We were led away from all the lights and lay down in an empty lot while a ranger pointed out planets and constellations. It was a beautifully clear night so we could see Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, the milky way, and many famous constellations. I had a girl snuggled up on each side of me and Zach took some fine pictures of the night sky. We saw many shooting stars, and Melina later reveled in telling us all of the ranger’s errors in his retelling of the Greek myths about the stars. Unlike the other programs we have done, this one was a large group so there were annoyances: people shining flashlights in our eyes, checking their phones every few minutes and blinding us with the screen lights, passing gas loudly and then laughing hysterically about it, and my personal favorite, the guy next to me who kept whispering to his companion at a stage whisper volume, drowning out everything the ranger was saying. But still, it was amazing, and a highlight of the trip for all of us (even Diane, who fell asleep on my arm in the first five minutes).

The Milky Way and a shooting star!

I hope we can get enough sleep for an early hike in the morning to beat the crowds!