This was our first day at Kings Canyon. There was no National Park sign at the entrance we used, so we used the sign at the gate as our beginning of the park.
Our first hike was in the General Grant Grove. This tree fell over a century ago. It was so large that people used it as a shelter against the weather. Here you can see the size of the entrance to the inside of the tree.
Here are some steps built at the other end to provide an exit on the opposite end. You can see the small point of light in the previous picture. That small spot is the exit in the picture below.
The centerpiece of the Grant Grove is the General Grant Tree. It is the second largest tree in the world by volume. It is hard to get the whole tree into a single photo.
Sequoias are not only large, mature trees can be very old. Many of the trees are over 1500 years old. After an initial growth spurt that makes a sequoia tall, they begin to grow in diameter more than in height. The General Grant tree is unique among the largest trees in the world because it is relatively young in comparison to the other top ten trees. It is only 1700 years old compared to others that are over 2000 years old.
Sequoias are very fire resistant. Because of their age almost all of them show fire damage. Some are so damaged by fire that it is amazing they still survive.
Here was another attempt to capture the General Grant tree in a single photo.
After we stopped trying to get the tree in a single photo, we found a place about a quarter of a mile away where we could see it all in one shot. It truly is a massive tree.
On our drive to our next hike, we got to see some of the mountains of Kings Canyon.
We also saw numerous streams in the mountains.
We then arrived at Grizzly Falls. Our hike turned out to be a very short walk to a fairly large waterfall.
We needed to get some distance between us and the falls to capture its full height
We finally found the national park sign as the road took us out of the park on our way to the next hike. It was interesting that this section of the road left the park and then returned into the park without ever intersecting any other roads. That was why there was not an entrance station at this location.
We were headed into Kings Canyon. This is a view of the entrance into the canyon.
Within Kings Canyon, we were headed to Roaring River. While this photo does not look like a roaring river, from here you could tell why it was called roaring river. There was a loud noise of rushing water very near by.
This was part of the reason why. The river is running down the side of the canyon. There are numerous waterfalls along its path.
Some of them are large with pools of water at the bottom.
Some of them are short cascades over numerous boulders and rocks. The combination of all of them was loud as the water fell several hundred feet over a very short distance.
Our next hike was at Road’s End. When you reach a point in the canyon, the road ends and a hiking path is the only way to go deeper into the canyon. Unlike the Roaring River that pours over the side of the canyon, the river at the bottom of the canyon is peaceful.
The hiking path is another story. As the canyon narrows, the hike becomes rockier and steeper.
The walls of the canyon grow closer together.
We had some fun at this location where we were able to support a very large tree.
After our hikes were done, we spent the evening at our hotel in Kings Canyon. We enjoyed a dinner on our patio by the river that runs at the bottom of the canyon.
It was a very nice room and a very serene view.
We completed our evening reading by the river.
We were very fortunate that we were not here a day earlier. We learned during our stay that someone had cut tires on several cars the night before. The person had sliced two tires on each of the cars so that the cars had to be towed out.
We were concerned about staying, but we were informed that the rangers had a good idea about who it was. The rangers said that one person working in the area had “disappeared” the night of the vandalism. The rangers were also patrolling the area frequently. We were relieved to find our car undamaged the next morning.