Kings Canyon National Park

 Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks are right next to each other. In fact, the north entrance is for both parks. Sequoia was established first in 1890 to protect the magnificent trees. Kings Canyon was established in 1940. Between the two parks there are over 800,000 acres of designated wilderness. About 95 percent of the parks are not accessible by car. 

The first few miles of Kings Canyon is very similar to Sequoia with the main attraction being the glorious trees. After that, as you continue on the main road, the scenery changes dramatically. Kings Canyon's largest Sequoia tree is called the General Grant. It became the second largest tree in the world after the General Washington tree was severely damaged by fire in 2003. The Grant tree is 1,700 years old, 268 feet tall, a 40 foot diameter and 107 feet circumference. It is the world's widest known Sequoia tree. It would take 20 people spread out holding hands to encircle the tree. The base would cover four full lanes of traffic. Okay, enough facts, take a look! If you click on the picture to enlarge, you can see me standing by the sign. 

The back of the tree has quite a large burn scar. Many of the Sequoias have burn scars from numerous fires throughout their life span. The trees are very resistant to fire due to chemicals in their bark. 

Here are some more pictures of some of the other trees in Kings Canyon.

In this next picture you can see the difference in diameter of some of the trees. They put all their energy in growing tall first, and then each year grow wider as they age. Their roots are only about five feet underground, but each tree has roots that cover the size of a football field. There is not a tap root. 

We went on a ranger led walk with Mary. She was awesome and taught us a lot of the facts I'm sharing with you. She grew up in New York City and began her second career ten years ago at the age of 60 as a park ranger. How inspirational! She also taught us that the pine cones are only the size of an egg. Fire is needed for the seeds to grow.

This tree had a huge burn scar. A big part of the inside was burned, making it almost appear hollow. However, it keeps growing wider. In the second picture you can get the perspective of just how big the scar is. 

This one fell over a long time ago. It is hollow all the way through. In the early 1900s it was used as a saloon for loggers and then by the military for sleeping and sheltering their horses. 

This stump is called the Centennial Stump. In 1876 it was cut down to be displayed at the World's Fair in Philadelphia. A 16 foot section had to be cut into pieces to get it down the mountain and onto rail cars for transport. It was reassembled at the fair. People refused to believe it was from a single tree and called it the California Hoax. 

The Gamlin Cabin was built in 1872 by Israel Gamlin and his brother Thomas. They filed a timber claim to 160 acres and also grazed cattle in the area. Luckily, Sequoias have soft wood and are not the best wood for logging. The Gamlins left in 1878 after which the cabin was used as a store house for the cavalry and then quarters of the first park ranger. The roofing is made from Sequoia wood.

Moving on from the Sequoia groves, we headed towards Kings Canyon. Here are some views from the overlooks. Pictures just don't do any justice to the magnitude of the canyon. It is actually the deepest canyon in the US with a depth of over 8,000 feet. That's because it is surrounded by mountains, so the depth is measured from the top of the mountain to the bottom. It was formed by glaciers so it is wider than other canyons formed solely by rivers. The Grand Canyon is close to 6,000 feet deep, but is flat at the top, no mountains.

People built these cairns at one of the overlooks. Cool!!

A very winding 30 mile road took us to the bottom of the canyon where the Kings River flows. The water is amazingly clear!

We stopped at two waterfalls. Here is Grizzly Falls.

And this is Roaring River Falls.

The road ends at a ranger station down here. After this point, you need a backpacking permit to explore the thousands of acres of wilderness on foot or horseback. There were probably 100 cars parked down there, so lots of adventurous people out there hiking and enjoying nature.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!