The new John Mayer album, appropriately named Sob Rock, is very good except one song that Abby and I cannot get behind. The song is called "why you no love me" which was a bit upsetting but then...we found out that is the actual chorus of the song. "Why you no love me, why you no even care". We had to turn it off but the rest of the album was quite good.
We expect to enjoy Sequoia more than Kings Canyon as it is the bigger more famous park, but yet again, we ended up liking it more. It had the second biggest tree in the world (by sheer mass) and we did a .5 mile trail to see it. It was called General Grant and we saw a ton of other amazing trees on the way. One tree had fallen and people used it in the year 1900 to camp under. We went under that same tree and walked through it. How weird is that?! 121 years later and that tree is still able to be used to camp under. My idiot light is still shining bright and we meet another family who is traveling the country to see as many national parks as they can. They are from Philadelphia and are on week 4 of their trip, just like us! They are doing Yosemite on Monday though so we're a bit backwards in our trails and they are using an RV. When I asked if they would do the RV again, they hesitated and said it was good and bad and it was expensive to park and stay anywhere or dump their bathroom buildup at the dump stations. Good to know that our conundrum was the same and that there was no "right" answer.
When we had started the day we had hoped to get to a creek/river/stream to stop and put our feet in for awhile. Nearing the end of the Kings Canyon road we come across Indian Creek which is a beautiful 5 mile stretch of water/sand. Lots of families are stopped and playing in the water. Some have bathing suits and lunches and are spending the day. We find a spot to stop and make it down to the water. It is super chilly but also refreshing. There are a ton of bees eating something off the shore but we are able to get through them and enjoy the water. There are some fish in the water too and Gideon works hard to catch them (but doesn't). It was a really nice break and a reminder to dive into the parks a bit more and fully engage in all there is to enjoy!
The road up and down Kings Canyon is terrifying and poor Adam dealt with a lot of me freaking out at how close we were to the 7000 elevation edge of the mountain. We made it safely up and down the mountain and moved onto Sequoia where the biggest tree is. Sequoia has less overlooks and though the trees are absolutely incredible to see, there isn't much variety in the views. We don't stop as often and push towards General Grant - the largest tree. We get there and find parking pretty easily and start the 1-mile trek to the tree. My leg is feeling good but I haven't gone 1 mile yet and have already done .5 mile today so I bring my walking stick. The walk is a steep downward to a viewing platform (.75 mile) and then .25 mile to the base of the tree. By the time we get to the viewing platform, I bow out for the last section. The most pain comes with two things: 1) walking downwards and 2) stairs. The trail is 100% both those things. I take a few pictures of General Grant who is just so incredibly strong and tall and magnificent. I then sit on a bench to wait while Adam and the kids go down to the base. As I am sitting there, a woman comments on my rainbow strips on my pants (Abby and I have matching leggings) and said to her husband "I told you, you can find ALL types here". At that, I decide it is time for me to start walking back upwards towards the car. I'll move slower than the kids and Adam and at 7000 elevation, air is a bit harder to come by. I make it back up to the top before Adam and the kids get there and am glad to have not slowed them down. They tell me about the base of the tree and share some pictures.
On our way out of the park we see a few areas that are named very interestingly:
1. Giant Forest - Ok really? This is the best you could come up with?
2. Big Tree Picnic Area - No effort was made.
3. Big Baldy Trailhead - Uhm. What? And yes, we got a picture of Adam in front of this sign.
It is getting late at this point and we still have a bit of a drive to the hotel so we head out of the park. It is a laundry night too and everyone is very tired. We get back to the hotel and do 4 loads of laundry again, repack everything for the next 4 days and get to bed. One of my favorite new things is that we all go to bed together. As we are all laying there trying to fall asleep someone usually says something to make the others laugh and we all giggle and joke ourselves to sleep. I remind myself to cherish these moments because time moves to fast. "Stop this train... I can't take the speed it's moving in" - John Mayer.
Summary: Big trees are all male, national park people are not too creative with names and my idiot light is still shining bright. Ended the day at Holiday Inn, Porterville, CA.