Sequoia

seki03 — Princess Meadow in Sequoia National Forest

As a final post about our recent trip to Sequoia and Kings Canyon, I wanted to add to my “occasional series” on campgrounds and lodging. I had originally decided on Kings Canyon for our Labor Day weekend trip specifically because most of the campgrounds in the national park proper are first come-first serve, so I could be late to the planning party but at least in the same boat as everyone else! As the week went on, I got a little nervous we wouldn’t make it in time from the Bay Area to secure a campsite Friday afternoon, so I started checking for cancellations and snagged a reservation at Princess Campground in Sequoia National Forest. FYI, there was in fact still availability in the NP around 5 pm when we arrived, but it definitely filled up sometime that evening.

seki06 — Peeking back at our campsite from the Indian Basin trail

seki32 Princess is in a great location just about a 10 min drive past Grant Grove on CA 180 and a half hour from Cedar Grove. It is technically in the National Forest, but you do have to pay the NP entrance fee to get to it by road. It was actually a great location for being able to explore both Sequoia and Kings Canyon parks (at least those areas accessible by road from the west). The campsites were generally more spread out that what I saw in Cedar and Grant Groves, and some had a decent amount of privacy among the trees. We were in the “Shining Cloud” loop at site #50, which was ideally situated between some trees and had a nice open area out the back leading toward Princess meadow. The sites on either side of us also seemed pretty nice, although they were nearer to the other loops on one side or the bathroom (pit toilets) on the other. At the campsite, we had company from chipmunks, Douglas’ squirrels, and a little bat in the evenings!

Behind the campground is the meadow, which was quite pretty with a little grove of birch trees. The “Indian Basin” trail is a short interpretive walk around the area (a shorter paved loop and a longer partly unpaved loop). When we took it Friday afternoon when we arrived, we saw some grazing cattle and one of the highlights of the trip – a bear! I haven’t seen a bear in CA in several years, and Jason never has, so this was quite exciting. We and the cows watched him meander by on the hillside to the far end of their grazing grounds. Good inspiration to be vigilant about using the bear box back at camp!

cows — Cattle grazing on the Indian Basin Loop

bear! — Bear sighting! Didn’t manage to get my zoom on before he went behind the trees.

All in all, I’d definitely return to Princess on my next trip to the area, but they are only open in the summer and closed after Labor Day this year, so it’ll have to wait until next season!

seki31 — Beautiful morning out the tent door!

Finally! It may have taken until Labor Day, seki34 but I finally got a to take a long weekend this summer to visit a new (to me) National Park. Parks actually, since Kings Canyon and Sequoia are two adjacent National Parks managed together. I love the Sierras, and these parks just may rival Yosemite as my favorite NP! There were so many highlights to this trip, that this will have to be a multi-part post.

Giant Forest

First, the “main attraction” of Sequoia National Park. Giant Sequoias are ridiculously huge, and the park has several prime examples of these trees, which are native only to limited areas of the Sierras and live for millennia. Leave it to a Giant Sequoia to make even the 200-ft sugar pine beside it look tiny. The Giant Forest is one of the most accessible groves in the park and home to the “General Sherman” tree, the most massive tree on Earth! There is parking at the Sherman Tree, and it’s also a stop on the park shuttle, which runs every 15 min in summer. From General Sherman, there are paved and unpaved trails that loop through nearby trees. The popular “Congress Trail” has several named trees and groves, including the President, the House, and the Senate, but in all honesty, it’s just as easy to be impressed by the unnamed bystanders. From points along the Congress Trail, there are also trails that lead further into the forest as well as a ~2 mile-trail back to the Giant Forest Museum (if we had planned better, i.e. carried snacks for me, we would have taken the shuttle one way and hiked back).

General Sherman, the most massive tree on earth. He adds the equivalent of a 60-ft tree to his trunk per year.

The Senate group on the Congress Trail (I think – I ended up with a lot of pictures of trees…)

The President, looking quite stately. Chief Sequoyah, also impressive, was just behind him.

Of course, the sequoia groves also provide ample opportunity to spot several little forest critters. We saw several chipmunks, squirrels, and birds, including the white-headed woodpecker below defacing the McKinley tree. While dwarfed by the giant sequoias, it’s also worth noting the other trees of the ecosystem such as the sugar pines, with their long pine cones hanging off the ends of tall branches.

Lodgepole

seki08 Further into Sequoia National Park is the Lodgepole area, which has a visitor’s center, campground, market, and other facilities. Lodgepole is one of two places where you can get tickets for the Crystal Cave tour (the other is the Foothills VC near the southern entrance), but we didn’t have time for that one this trip. If you do plan to go into the cave, read the current restrictions on clothing and equipment before you go as efforts are underway to prevent the spread of white-nose syndrome from bat colonies in the Eastern US.

From Lodgepole, we got our hiking legs warmed up on the trail to Tokopah Falls, a relatively easy 3.6-mile (round trip) trail that departs from the bridge at the end of the Lodgepole campground area roadway. While the waterfall was dry, the trail is a nice shaded path that follows the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River with a little bit of uphill, particularly as you approach the falls area. At the beginning of the trail, we could see where the campground continued up the other side of the river, and it looked like there were some pleasant campsites there. In the late morning, there didn’t seem to be too many insects, which was not the case everywhere in the park – definitely needed some bug spray on this trip!

seki11 — Who needs waterfalls when this is the view in the opposite direction?

The Generals Highway
This scenic main drive winds its way through both parks and allows you to see most of the crowd favorites. Of course, the highway really only graces the Western side of the park, so there’s plenty more to explore on future visits (perhaps if my friends succeed in making a backpacker out of me…). Along the Generals Highway, you can whet your appetite for the backcountry by stopping at some pretty nice overlooks like these:

seki22 — Sunset over Fresno from near Grant Grove

Sequoia Passport Cancellations

Passport stamps are available at Lodgepole & Foothills Visitors Centers (nice bonus stamp, too) and at the Giant Forest museum. There are also reportedly stamps at the Crystal Cave and Mineral King – guess I’ll just have to go back!

Parks & Lex

Princess Campground, Sequoia National Forest

Sequoia & Kings Canyon: Part 1 (Giant Forest, Lodgepole, and the Generals’ Hwy)