Sequoia National Park 

Three Rivers, California: It was pouring this morning! No kidding. Yesterday it was 90 degrees and not a bit of wind. At three o'clock this morning I heard rain and went around closing windows, vents, etc. It rained very hard, but only for about 10 minutes. At eight o'clock it started raining again and it has not stopped.

Our Swiss neighbors stopped by this morning with a lovely drawing by Patrizia of EVERY Disney Princess as a thank you for their chocolate ice cream last night. They headed out of the campground - another friend made on the road.

We didn't leave Kaweah River Resort - we were in the Honda today - until 11 o'clock this morning. It just would not stop raining and we didn't think it was going to stop. There was a decision to be made - risk going up to the park and seeing nothing but clouds, or risk staying here and being swept down-stream in the flooding Kaweah River. We were soaked just getting to the car - and then I realized I had forgotten my glasses, so I had to get back out of the car and get re-soaked! Today, I wore a pair of long pants - and socks - for the first time in weeks!

Our first stop was the Sequoia National Park Visitor Center. But, everyone was talking about another park. Yosemite National Park was closed and they were evacuating campers and tourists due to terrible flooding.

Sequoia National Park was not what I expected. I suppose, as we have visited Yosemite so many times (it is in the backyard of Merced), I was expecting something similar here. After all, Sequoia isn't that far south of Yosemite and they are both in the Sierra Mountains. Wow, is all I can say. Sequoia is so different from Yosemite! Sequoia has so many different climate zones, it is like visiting several different parks in one. We started in a desert-forest - complete with cactus and yuccas, then went into an extremely lush tropical-feeling deciduous forest. With the jagged rock formations and jungle-like foliage, if someone had brought me here blindfolded - I would have thought I was back in Taiwan when I opened my eyes. Well, except there was no litter.

Just when you think things can't possibly get more beautiful - you get about 6,000 feet and see the Giant Sequoia trees. Thousands of years old. Above the the timberline - nothing but rocks. It was an amazing day. Please enjoy the photos!

Our first view, arriving into Sequoia National Park in the rain

The road through the park is an engineering miracle - we climbed from 800 feet to over 7000 feet in 50 miles! (This route would be impossible in our motorhome.) Today, our route would be an out-and-back, so we didn't stop at every site on the way up, planning for better weather in the afternoon. It had stopped raining by the time we reached the Giant Forest Museum.

It was snowing!

The Giant Forest Museum was quite informative - describing how those pesky European immigrants came in with saws, etc. They were smart enough to leave one giant alone: The General Sherman Tree, named just after the end of the Civil War, is (according to the National Park Service) the Largest Living Thing on Earth. The tree is between 2,300 and 2,700 years old, 103 feet in circumference, 275 feet tall and the trunk (only) weighs approximately 1385 tons. He is a Big Boy! The puny little thing in front of The General is me.

 
The Largest Living Thing on Earth - The General Sherman Tree


Clover Creek


A snowy road


The Parker Grove - eight Giant Sequoias


Inside the Parker Grove

  
I loved the color of this moss: Close, closer, closest


The Parker Grove, again


The Honda in Tunnel Log. This tree fell in 1937.

 
Taiwan, or Sequoia?

Later in the day, the sun actually tried to come out. Still, we decided to not hike to the top of Moro Rock because it was totally covered in fog. If we went up there, we would not see a thing. (If I am going to walk up 400 steps - I want to see something.) We will try again in a few days - the weather is supposed to be improving.

Our route today - what a road!

Ok, now, here are a lot of photos of flowers. Sorry. Sometimes, I just can't help myself. I am my Father's Daughter. The most memorable thing to me about this amazing National Park? The incredible smells! The flowers, the lush rainy odor on the plants, the piney-pitchy smell in the forests... simply intoxicating! Sorry, I do not have Smell-O-Vision for these photos!

Buckeye


Close-up of Buckeye


Hillside covered with coneflower, lupine, clover and more


"Your Lupines or Your Life"
(Monty Python fans will understand.)


California poppies - closed due to the rain


Mariposa Lily


Yuccas in bloom along the road in the lower elevations


On the way home: Tunnel Rock


Moro Rock finally showed herself!

On the way back to Our Intrigue, we took a three mile detour to see the historic (still in operation) Kaweah Post Office (93237). The town of Kaweah was founded in 1886 as a utopian community. I don't think the area has changed much. There are many organic vegetable and fruit farms in the area and the "Welcome to Kaweah" signs claims the population as "480 Souls".

Kaweah Post Office


Kaweah Post Office


Inside the Kaweah Post Office

Back in the campground, we found the river quite changed! It is now about two feet higher and the once-clear water is brown and mucky! DT grabbed a chair and sat down by the river while I cooked dinner. He said an incredible amount of debris - mostly logs - floated past. I prepared a great dinner - we were both so hungry! (None of the restaurants are open in the park yet, so our "lunch" was a teeny bag of chips and a few Fig Newtons!) The Greek Salad, grilled sausages and roasted potatoes I prepared were quickly devoured.

 
Yesterday and Today: What a difference a day makes!

RV Park: Kaweah Park Resort