Adventure Travel Photography Blog
So this morning I left Kings Canyon National Park and headed south to Sequoia National Park. On the way, we passed by the world’s largest Sequoia Grove. The grove covers five square miles and contains over 2,100 sequoias larger than ten feet in diameter. I wonder who counted that.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
Over the past year, I heard that Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks are as pretty as Yosemite, but without the crowds. Before returning to Texas, I thought I would see about that and drove 50 miles east from Fresno to the Northwest entrance of Kings Canyon National Park.
My first stop was to see the General Grant Tree, a giant sequoia. In fact, it is the widest known sequoia, forty feet across, and the third largest tree in the world in terms of volume. It stands 268 feet high, weighs 1,254 tons, and its circumference is 107 feet around. Its largest branch is 4.5 feet in diameter and its first branch is 129 feet from the ground. A few interesting facts about the tree:
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
Well, I survived the forest fires, fear of active bears, and camping roadside last night, though VANilla reeks of smoke and dead animal smell. Whew, I hope it goes away soon. I returned to Yosemite for one final visit. First I swung through the valley to take advantage of the only shower facilities in the enormous park.
I couldn’t believe how low the Merced River was flowing. In May, it was swelling out of its banks. Today, sandbars were poking up in the middle of the river. Many of the waterfalls appear to be seasonal as well, as I didn’t notice some of them today. For a waterfall lover, the best time to visit Yosemite would be as soon as all the roads open. I believe this is generally in May, though this year due to the heavy winter, I believe it was later.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
From Reno, I followed Highway 385 south to Mono Lake, located just east of the Tioga Pass entrance to Yosemite National Park. Mono Lake, nestled in a basin of sagebrush bordered by volcanic peaks is over 760,000 years old, making it one of the oldest lakes in North America.
The lake has no outlet. For thousands of years, streams have carried their minerals into the lake and evaporation has removed water from it. As a result, the mineral content has risen to almost 10 percent. The salty waters afford swimmers a delightful sensation of buoyancy. While fish can’t survive in these alkaline waters, it is still one of the most productive lakes in the world. It supports millions of brine shrimp, alkali flies, and migratory birds.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!