{"id":1719,"date":"2013-07-18T15:22:28","date_gmt":"2013-07-18T22:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.immakulate.com\/meowandribbit\/?p=1719"},"modified":"2013-07-18T23:35:51","modified_gmt":"2013-07-19T06:35:51","slug":"great-westcoast-road-trip-of-2013-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immakulate.com\/meowandribbit\/great-westcoast-road-trip-of-2013-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Westcoast road trip of 2013- Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 6-7 Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park<\/strong><\/p>\n

California is famous for its mild weather, the sunny beach, and it had been exactly that for the first few days of this trip. However, everything changed when we started to drive East into the mountains into the Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. I first heard of the Sequoia National Park on the BBC Animal Planet series for their famous giant Sequoias. Upon further research, it has become apparent to me that the largest (by volume) known living single stem tree on Earth resides within Sequoia National Park, and its name is General Sherman. So when I was planning this trip, I decided that this has to be one of our stops along the way, I mean, it is a record-setting tree!<\/p>\n

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Here are some fun fact about General Sherman followed with some pictures:
\n– The General Sherman Tree is neither the tallest known living tree on Earth, nor is it the widest, nor is it the oldest known living tree on Earth.
\n– Its height is 275 ft (83.8 m), diameter is 25 ft (7.7 m), an estimated volume of 52,513 cu ft (1,487 cubic m), and an estimated age of 2,300-2,700 years.
\n– General Sherman was named after American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman, by naturalist James Wolverton, who had served under Sherman.<\/p>\n

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During our drive inside the Sequoia National Park, we passed by a stretch of Giant Sequoias, and man, they were giant alright! I must confess that almost all of my photos do not do the size of the trees justice, there’s really nothing like being immersed by what feels like a million 500ft tall trees. I can’t help but wonder how long these trees had been growing so quietly before the invasion of humans (disturbing their peace). Being surrounded by wonders like these trees is majestic and calming, it shows the awesome power of God’s creation, and how its survival is irrevocably tied to the behaviors of us ant like creatures crawling at its feet. There are also other parts of the park that shows not only how tall but wide these trees are. We visited this tunnel log where a car and fit through it!<\/p>\n

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We stayed a night at the Wuksachi Lodge, at an elevation of 7,200 ft, one of the very few lodging options within the park itself. Upon check in, the front desk person alerted us there had been a bear sighting just earlier that morning, and of course, that got me really excited, but we never saw any during our time there.<\/p>\n

The two parks, Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park, are amalgamated, so on the drive leaving the Sequoia National Park, we passed by these sights of the Kings Canyon, and it was a beautiful surprise. It was still very cold out because of the elevation, but the sun had peeked out from behind the clouds as we were passing through the canyon. The temperature warmed up more and more as we descend the mountains, ohh, and did I ever mention how amazingly wonderful California oranges are? My mama needed, yes, needed, not wanted, to stop by a fruit stand to pick up more oranges before we go any further into our journey. I sneaked out across the road and pick up some oranges that were left under a orange tree, and they tasted amazing! My dad snapped this picture and named it “the orange thief”, LOL. Ohh, and there are some shots here of the clearing sky as we drive towards the Yosemites, and standard “road trip” shots.<\/p>\n

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Day 6-7 Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park California is famous for its mild weather, the sunny beach, and it had been exactly that for the first few days of this trip. However, everything changed when we started to drive East into the mountains into the Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. I first heard …<\/p>\n

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