Big Trees & Big Holes

June 12 - 15 - The drive back across the heart of Cali seemed easier this time. I was pumped for Sequoia and Kings Canyon and had no idea what to expect.

We managed to pull in at a decent hour (I know, shocking) so we had time to explore on Sunday. We maxed it out. The win was finding our camping spot BEFORE we did the exploring.... so no pressure on the back end.

The first thought I had that hit me a like a hammer was NO CROWDS!!! I can breathe!!!! It was a beautiful thing. I really didn't realize how much crowds repelled me. OK, I did, I've just never vocalized it so much. With less people came a much, much cleaner park - an unfortunate relationship.

Our first "touristy" stop was to the General Grant Tree - the biggest tree in this section of sequoia groves. Then I looked at the time (about 3pm) and decided we had to try to make it to the end of the road in Kings Canyon. Realizing as I write this I've made a lot of decisions on this trip where I just had to fit one more thing in..... these poor girls!

A random burn section on our drive. Not much survived.

Trying to capture perspective of the size of these trees against that car

We explored the inside of the tree

Climbing through another tree

Beautiful roots

As we drove, we passed by Hume Lake, as I just can't drive by these things, we stopped for a bit. I was shocked to learn this beautiful lake was once plugged with trees as earlier settlers decided to tear down the beauty and profit from it. Dare I say we've made progress since then? I think we've tipped that scale in other areas, though it was nice to see the area "restored".

The drive was GORGEOUS (it's an out-and-back drive, about 30+ miles each way) and totally worth it. I think the girls are humoring me with their "wow!" and "it's beautiful!" comments and are tiring of rocks, rivers and mountains. Me? Never!

Amazing Kings Canyon

We followed the Kings River up the canyon and could hear Dan in my head begging to pull over at every rapid to check it out.

These mountains were intense

On the way back it was sunset and amazing. Every turn seemed so beautifully unique. I could hear my 15-year-old-self: "MUM! It's the same view as 5 minutes ago! Can we just get back already?" I wonder if that wonderful personality will circle back in either of the girls.

We saw this little guy as we were headed back. We sat and watched him for a while, very cool.

Kings Canyon is beautiful, drastic, remote and seriously untraveled. I was a big fan.

To give perspective, you can see the RV in the bottom, middle of the picture for the road we were on.

The girls waiting while I take just one more photo

Nope, the color isn't off, that's the color of the sunset on our faces

The campsite, though technically out of the National Park, was the 1st one we came to when we came through the entrance and was perfect. I wish more campgrounds were this private and huge!

Azalea Campground

The plan for Monday was to drive out the south entrance (we'd arrived through the west entrance) and make progress to our next stop - which was still undecided as to location and route. Do I gamble on Death Valley? Do I make a stop out of Lake Mead? Decisions...

Getting out of Sequoia proved difficult because it was so cool. We kept stopping at cool trees and checking things out. We made it to the General Sherman tree which is the biggest tree in the world. Talk about impressive! What kills me is at 2200 years old, this tree (and any other sequoia) demands so much respect as it has lived through more than anything living today, and yet humans still carve and litter. Am I naive? Does respect not exist anymore? We spent hours exploring and wondering.

So big we can't fit it in the frame

Beautiful and captivating

Standing among giants

General Sherman Tree - biggest tree in the world

To help understand how it's not the tallest, or widest, but is the biggest

Mckenzie is showing me how many rings makes up just 10 years..... such a beauty

Tunnel Tree

On the way out we traveled up a total sketchy road looking for the East Fork of the Kaweah River - a river daddy had kayaked back in the day.

Standing above the East Fork of the Kaweah, only to find out he did a different section of the river. A+ for effort!

Then, we just started to drive, still unsure 100% what the plan was. We drove until I was forced to make a decision if we were going north or east. And then we camped - in the Mojave Desert. It was a truly hot and miserable nights sleep.

Stoked to not be camping in the sand

Barren country

Just after leaving our campground I saw a sign for a ghost town... I thought we should check it out. It was cool, but a bit commercialized.

It looked like this for many hours.

The highest we saw (so far) was 109.

I have paid for the most expensive gas, in CA just before hitting the AZ

When we woke we still had at least 5 hours on the road. The good news was I'd at least chosen our destination - the South Rim of the Grand Canyon via Highway 66. The detour from Kingman to Saligman on Historic Highway 66 might have been built up just a bit with images from Pixar's Cars. While there were a few sights to see along this stretch, I might have set my expectations high.

Out of the Mojave Desert - the scenery has changed. Albeit slightly, but somehow more inviting.

Signing the truck

I'm not sure how much of this was "just left" from the way it was vs being staged.... just a little

Refueling

We finally pulled in to the Grand Canyon National Park only to find the park was fully packed. No surprise there. The ranger suggested a state campground a few miles back, Tenx. We have yet to run in to a full state campground..... until now. It was so full that they left a sign for the homeless like us, suggesting a state forest road a mile away. In AZ you can camp on them for free. Score! This place was awesome! Sierra learned what it meant to pack it in and pack it out.... leave no trace baby! This was my kind of car camping.

Home for the night. Forest Rd 688.

Our lives have never been so documented. Here we are, eating mac & cheese.

The next morning I wanted to wake up early to try to catch sunrise. The only problem was I had no idea exactly how far we were from the 1st view point, but we were going to try. Just as the alarm went off at 4:45am a giant pack of coyotes started howling - it was awesome. (I tried to catch it on video but you can't hear anything)

I pulled the girls from their slumber and packed up in record time. With minutes to spare, we made it. It was spectacular and worth every sleepless minute.

Awake. Barely.

How many pictures can one take of the sunrise? I have about 50! The sun just peeking over.

Before getting to the Grand Canyon I didn't plan much time for it because I envisioned us getting out of the car and saying "yup, it's a giant hole in the ground" and moving on. The second I saw it I couldn't take my eyes off it. As we drove around, I was taken back by how much perspective changed everything about the giant hole. It looked different at every viewpoint and I couldn't take it all in. One thing I'm sure of - my curiosity has been piqued and my next visit will be on the Colorado looking up.

Appreciating the view

I mean honestly, how do you just leave this behind? What is wrong with people?

This tree was amazing to me. It had the ability to grow straight up, but instead, chose to hang out over the edge. I'm sure there's a message here somewhere.

As we drove around the rim, stopping at the different viewpoints, I was asking the girls about what they saw, when Sierra answered that she hadn't really paid attention, I decided at the next stop we would take just a few minutes to sit by ourselves and look and wonder.

Hanging out, talking about the view

One of the many Navajo shops on the side of the road.