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Published: June 10th 2009
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The General Sherman
The world's largest living thing. After we left Yosemite National Park we drove to Kings Canyon National Park. Unfortunately it was closed for the closed for winter but we were able to get a fantastic view over the park on our way through a very small section. We really didn't miss too much as Kings Canyon National Park is similar to Yosemite National Park.
So on we drove to Sequoia National Park where we hoped to see more of the beautifull sequoia trees. We had to race against time to get there. We could still see the park as long as we wanted but we had to get our map and cloth badge from the visitor centre which would be closing at 4.30pm. We raced into the park to got what we needed and then the pace slowed right down and we were able to enjoy the wonderful scenery.
We headed to the Giant Forest to visit the Museum and to to find the General Sherman Tree. There were so many giant sequoia, it was breathtaking.
The General Sherman tree stands at 275 foot tall and the trunk weighs an estimated 1,385 tons and the circumference at the ground is almost 103 feet.
It was huge!! The General Sherman is the largest living thing, by volume, in the world.
From there we continued to drove there the amazing park, consistently spotting sequoias among the other small trees. The road would wind around the trees, bend after bend, then just before the end of the park boundary we drove through the Four Guardsmen Sequoias, just beautiful.
We drove a little further to a town called Lindsay so we were closer to Death Valley National Park. This also meant we could get started on the road a little later today.
It was the worst 2 hours of driving on the whole trip. Never mind getting stuck in the snow in Montana, this road curved and swerved and curved some more. It just kept going and going, both Stephen and I suffered car sickness - it was horrible.
Arriving in Death Valley National Park was a bit of fun as well. We somehow entered through the back entrance and it warned you “rough, narrow, winding road, not recommended for vehicles longer than 25 feet.” Boy was it narrow in places we had to hold our breathe through the various sections. Death Valley
Sequoia National Park
Some of the giant Sequoias in the Giant Forest. is a mesmerizing medley of rugged canyons, sand dunes, ghost towns, oasis and colourful mountains. It holds the record for the lowest point in the USA.
We drove into Stovepipe Wells Village, brought our badge and map, and drove on - passing sea level as we went. We drove past the sand dunes, like any others we had seen before.
After that we stopped off at the Salt Creek Interpretive Trail. It was a boardwalk that looped the salt creek. The special thing about this creek was it was home to the devil pupfish, which is the only location where they lived and are listed on the endangered list. From there it was onto Furnace Creek Visitor centre and on to the Artist Palette Drive. The drive consists of mountains and canyons of many colours. The mountains would have tones of browns (dark to latte) and greens and pinks. It was so beautiful.
We left Death Valley after sunset and found a nice little place to stay the night. The town we stayed in was called Tecopa. It had a café, petrol station and a motel / caravan park. You could actually see the light pollution from
Sequoia National Park
Some of the giant Sequoias in the Giant Forest. Las Vegas glowing over the hill. It was terrible. Although this is probably the smallest town we have stayed in it was actually quite typical of all the small towns we had stayed in so far. But it gave us great opportunities to talk to the locals and get a feel of the place.
Tomorrow we drive past Las Vegas and on to the Grand Canyon.
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