5/9/12

Today we went to the Sequoia National forest and King's Canyon.  Our goal was to see the most massive tree in the world, General Sherman.

We got up and were quite a bit more relaxed this morning than last.  No pressing deadlines, no long drives.  The campground here is awesome.  The noisiest things here are the woodpeckers. There is a beautiful rushing river a hundred feet from our door.  This place looks like a 'Go RV'ing' ad.  Beautiful with wholesome looking families on vacation.

Eventually we got it together and drove out to the national park.We drove in, meandering about the mountain and stopping at whatever caught our eye.  Eventually we found ourselves stopped by a man holding a stop sign at a place called Hospital Rock.  Turns out there was substantial road construction and a pilot car took groups through ever two hours.  The last group just left.  Good thing Sarah packed a lunch.  We ate our lunch and waited our turn.

Then we drove.  The vehicle size limit is 22 feet long due to the twisting and turning road.  We were in Flo.  She is 21 1/2 feet long.  IT got a little tight in places.  We wound up 5000 feet higher than we started and then we started hiking.  It was a half mile down to the tree.  The forest is a large pine tree forest sprinkled in this area, with massive sequoia trees.  They are easy to spot because of the orange/red trunks.  Oh yeah...and their massive size.  Winding our way down we read the informative signs.  It is a well laid out trail with lots of benches.  Nice park.

The tree itself is huge.  Although, if it didn't tell you you might think there were a few others nearby that were just as big if not bigger.  We wandered around and ooohhhed and ahhhhhed over the trees in the appropriate manner.  It is a serene and tranquil place.  Only interrupted by the occasional outburst from our children.  There weren't a lot of kids there.  Still school time I guess.

Then we left and drove home.  Dogs aren't supposed to be on the trails, although we did see a few.  So we wanted to get home at a reasonable hour for Satchel.  We waited another hour for the pilot truck, who was running behind schedule, to go down.  Overall I think it was a win.  I love the forests and Mom seemed to like it too. Except for the drive up. She said she didn't want to do it again because of the steep drops and no side rails.  So instead of further exploring the park tomorrow it seems we don't really have any plans.

We shall see what the day brings.