Memorable Day

This Memorial Day Holiday we took to the mountains - again. We visited two most amazing pieces of real estate that are managed and maintained by the US Department of Interior - the Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.

Both parks are located around 150 miles due south / south-east of the SF Bay Area and reside amidst the southern flanks of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

As parks go these amazing stores of information and beauty are all over the United States and California has a large share of them. We visited Kings Canyon first and Sequoia NP the following day.

Kings River and South Fork merge in the valley in Kings Canyon NP

Entering Sequoia NP

As one of the plaques noted (image below) it certainly is a treat to simply visit with nature and gape.

As an aside I find that the word Sequoia (named for a Cherokee Indian credited with defining a written language) is fascinating in that it contains all vowels and is only 7 letters long.

The main attraction of visiting these parks is to see ancient giants, one being the world's largest single stem massive tree, and perhaps one of its oldest living beings. This honor goes to the General Sherman Sequoia in the Giant Forest Grove of the park.

Its individual branches are more massive than a large size oak or pine tree. Another competitor in terms of sheer volume of wood is the General Grant Sequoia (named after the 18th American President). This latter is located in the Kings Canyon National Park.

The General Grant

While a short drive away from the bay area we went from near sea level to cresting at around 7,500 feet in the mountain. From near 90 degree heat in the farmland of central valley and its orchards of nuts and fruits we drove into a near chilling 40 degrees amidst fog and drizzle one of the days at the summit. From a vantage you can also see a good snowpack at elevations exceeding 10,000 feet above sea level.

From jumbo jet size boulders and prismatic rock formations to soft cascading waterfalls to gushing rivers (in spite of a California drought) the landscape is as varied as the climate.