Kings Canyon National Park Day Two

We decided to return to Kings Canyon for one more day to take advantage of two hikes that looked interesting.

Our first stop was the Big Stump picnic area. From here you can hike to an area where there are lots of huge Sequoia stumps which were cut down over 100 years ago. They are still in remarkably good shape as their wood is very resistant to rotting. Logging was only done here for about six years. They discovered that the Sequoia wood is very soft and not good for much. It was actually used to make pencils and toothpicks. What a waste!

There are still a few giant Sequoias in the grove with the stumps. These trees have a very limited area in which they grow naturally. They grow along the western edge of the Sierra Nevada Mountains from an elevation of 4,000 to 8,000 feet. Over 200 years ago, seeds were transported all around the world, so there are some trees in other places that have grown. None of them are thousands of years old as the ones here in California.

Kevin is walking on the path next to this giant

Our next hike was the Buena Vista trail. It was one mile each way with an elevation gain of 400 feet. We're at almost 8,000 feet in the park, so we needed plenty of breaks to catch our breath as we are not used to this elevation. At the top you can look across to Redwood Canyon. This canyon was mistakenly named Redwood many years ago, and hasn't been changed. In the center, you can see a huge path of totally burned trees. Last September there were three separate fires in these parks, all caused by lighting strikes. They think they have lost about 20 percent of their Sequoias in the last two years due to fires. 

Here is a panoramic view at the top. The layer in the valley is partly fog and partly pollution creating smog. It has been quite hot in the lower elevations. Our campground is at 2,000 feet, and we've been near 100 degrees each day. In the parks, it is about 20 degrees cooler. So, we left our RV early each day and enjoyed nice weather for hiking and touring.

These pretty flowers were growing along the path. There is very little rainfall here in the summer. Most of the plant life gets its moisture in the winter from the heavy snowpack. 

Many huge granite boulders were along the trail. In fact, the lookout was on top of a big granite mountain. Thank goodness I came along to hold this one up. It seemed to be precariously perched on the smaller rocks. I wonder if this is the type of granite used in making countertops. It's not very pretty.

Our campground is in Dunlap, California, a town of just over 100 residents. Squaw Valley is about 6 miles west of us. They have over 3,000 people including a Napa Auto Parts Store with three service bays. Our truck has been giving us some trouble. We think it may be due to the fact that Kevin put in biodiesel fuel at the last fill up before we got here. He knew our truck could use it, and thought it was fine.

Our first day in the parks, the truck died and the check engine light came on. There is no cell service in the majority of the parks. He got it going, and we headed straight back to the Napa store without further incident. They checked the code, and it had to do with fuel injection, but they didn't think it was a big deal.

The next day in the park, it died again, but the change fuel filter light went on. Kevin checked and it showed the fuel filter at zero percent. He reset it to 100 percent and it started right back up and ran fine the rest of the day. We got back and he went back to Napa and had the filter replaced.

The next day in the park, it died again. Same fuel filter message. He reset it, and no problems the rest of the day. We discovered on the internet that using biodiesel in an older truck (2012) can cause debris to come loose in the fuel lines and plug the filter. Also at higher elevations there is more fuel pressure which can also dislodge debris. He has now filled it with the regular diesel, so we hope the problem will go away. We may have to replace the fuel filter again. Thank goodness Kevin worked in the automotive industry his entire career, and knew how to keep us going without needing to be towed out of a national park in the middle of nowhere with no cell service. 

Traveling is great, but it's not always fun and games!

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