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Published: August 13th 2007
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Big Trees
The pictures just don't do justice to how HUGE these trees are! Oh, what an early start to the day. We got all our stuff packed into the Pacifica and went to Albertsons for the remainder of our essential supplies. Peanut butter, fruit, sunscreen, ice, and a cooler later, we hit the road by 8:15am. I drove us out of LA and then Allyn took over for the rest of the day. Traffic wasn't bad at all for which we were all hugely thankful. Then we got off the main highway and headed cross country on California SR 245. This was a tremendously hilly and curvy road. We climbed from a very flat Central Valley up 6000+ feet over the course of the morning. When we were 12 miles from the Big Stump entrance of King's Canyon/Sequoia National Parks, a restroom break was desperately needed by all. Conversation had led us to the possible eventuality of just going behind a bush or tree as there were NO facilities available.
But then a miracle happened and it shall be called the Mountain Saloon. We were in the "town" of Badger, CA (population 140) at an elevation of 3,031 feet. Upon entering, the bar was to the left and it had been branded with
Cosmo needed a nap
Cosmo had to be up 'n' at 'em early this morning. the brands of all the area ranches. A few tables were on the right, restrooms for guys and gals were in the middle of the restaurant, with a large lounge across the rear of the establishment. The lounge had a couple old couches and a pool table along with a big screen television. Across the rear of the building was a newly re-built deck which is where we ended up sitting.
Laurent didn't feel good cos of the drive so the waitress brought her some saltines as we all perused the menu. We did have to question what a "Badger Burger" was. Thank goodness it was named such because of the town, not the ingredient. Our food was good and set us up right for the rest of our drive.
We climbed and descended lots of hills and eventually made it to the Big Stump entrance. We purchased the annual interagency pass as it was cost effective for four people and it would also allow us access to Yosemite and the Grand Canyon (Our next trip is going to include Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and the Hoover Dam. Donations gladly accepted!). We again visited the loo and
Learning a new sport
Cosmo's clearing the table! checked out the gift shop and visitor's centre.
First on our agenda was to visit the General Grant Grove generally, and the General Grant Tree specifically. The General Grant Tree is a giant sequoia and is the third largest living tree. It's also known as the Nation's Christmas Tree. We also posed by/in the Fallen Monarch which is a massive, fire-hollowed trunk.
Next we set off to a place called Panoramic Point. It was only accessible via a very steep and windy one lane road--thank goodness we didn't meet anyone on our way up. The view at the top was just absolutely stunning and indescribable.
The view from Panoramic Point is of the main crest of the Sierra Nevada mountains. BREATHTAKING!!!!!!
But alas, we couldn't stay there all day so we climbed back in the car to head east across the King's Canyon Scenic Byway. It was gorgeous. I'm so glad that we were able to make the drive. It took about 45 minutes to reach the end of the road--and it literally was. We took some great photos and had a great ride. Since we didn't even start on our way until about 2pm,
Welcome to Badger
There has never been a more welcome sight than the Mountain House Saloon. we had to get back on the road so we could check out the sights in Sequoia. When we got back to the Grant Grove visitor centre we stopped for postcards and souvenirs.
Couldn't stay there all evening though cos we wanted to head south to visit the General Sherman Tree. The sun was already descending and we had no idea how long it would take us to reach our destination. We made a few little stops and had a picnic of sorts when we reached Junction View. When we arrived at the General Sherman Tree, it was definitely dark outside. There was just enough light for us to follow the paved walkway to get to the tree from the handicapped parking area. And then we did something bad. We got off the trail and actually went over and touched the tree and had our pictures taken with the tree. It took all of us awhile to figure out whose camera took the best night pictures and then we took as many shots as possible.
The trees can grow up to 24 feet in diameter and can have two feet of bark. When I touched the tree, I
expected the bark to be hard like most tree bark I've ever felt in my life. It was not. So gross. It was almost foamy and it was sort of hairy. We saw flashlights coming down the hill so we finished our picture taking and ran back to the car.
We continued on the drive and were amazed at how incredibly dark it was in the park. Granted, it is, for all intents and purposes, the wilderness so this should have been expected, but it really wasn't. As we came down out of the park, we ran into road works and had to just park and wait on the light to change to let us down the one lane road. We had to wait on traffic that was possibly headed uphill and the light was set on a 20 minute timer. We weren't there quite that long, but long enough to park the car and get out for a few minutes.
Then we headed down the mountain to our hotel in Three Rivers--behind the most moronic driver ever. The woman driving was going significantly below the posted speed limit and would not pull over into the MANY available
The Fallen Monarch
This tree has been used as a stable, a house and saloon, an employee camp, and a cafeteria of sorts for early visitors to the Big Trees. turnouts even with SIGNIFICANT prompting from us. When she finally pulled into her hotel's drive (probably less than a mile from where our hotel was) we, and the entire string of cars following us, honked our horns. We were just so glad to be rid of her! We got to the hotel and checked in and as we did, the receptionist informed us that during the week, the 20 minute light would be a 60 minute light--yet another fantastic reward for traveling on a Sunday! We got all of our stuff into our room and pretty much fell into bed cos we knew we had to be up early the next day to head to Yosemite National Park.
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Ruth
non-member comment
hugging trees and light?
look like you had fun hugging trees! i don't get the 20 min/60 min light bit???! do they limit electricity in the hotel??