Today, I have a choice to make. Sequoia National Park borders another national park called Kings Canyon. This park protects the namesake canyon, a dramatic glacial gorge. Measured from the canyon floor to the top of the surrounding peaks, it’s the deepest in the world! Kings Canyon is an unusual park in that very little of it can be seen from a road. The trails are long. If I try to see much of it, I won’t have time for anything else. Reading my guidebook, Sequoia National Park also has trails into the backcountry, and they are shorter. I decided to hike where I am instead; this should leave time for more trees and a taste of Kings Canyon afterward. Lodgepole Campground marks the trailhead for a hike up the Marble Fork of ... read more

This morning, I continue south in Big Sur. The road has changed completely from yesterday. Fog rolled in overnight, converting the dramatic landscape into an incredibly atmospheric one, with the road and cliffs disappearing into the haze. Thankfully, visibility nearby is still good, or this road would be rather dangerous to drive. My first major site is another state park, Lime Kiln. This park is my chance to explore one of those ravines the road has to cross. The entrance to the park is rather absurd. Just after the bridge over the ravine, a side road drops straight down the side of the ravine and swings under the bridge. Unlike Bixby, this bridge isn’t interesting from underneath. The side road is very steep. It quickly ends at a parking lot. The url=... read more

Today, I am in one of California’s ultimate beach towns, Santa Cruz. Cities near Los Angeles get all the publicity in this department, because they are much larger, but the much of the culture started here. The Santa Cruz Museum of History and Art covers the story. Santa Cruz’s early history mirrors that of California as a whole (see August 26th). The first inhabitants were Native Americans. Those who settled here were very good basket makers. The first Spanish expedition arrived in 1592. The area became a center of cattle ranching. Spanish missionaries built a mission here in 1791, which gave the settlement its name. American settlers started to appear in the early 1800s, mostly traders. Things chang... read more