Sequoia - Day 7

John Muir Lodge

We drove home today. We left John Muir Lodge at 5:50 am and arrived home at 11:45 am. From Grant Grove, we took 180 to 63 to 99, which is the west entrance and has fewer twists and turns. Two stops: one for breakfast at Marie Callender's in Visalia and a 10-minute stop at the Shell station south of Bakersfield just before the Grapevine.
Smooth drive. Just arduous.

After we got off the freeway, we stopped at Trader Joe's for bread and milk and tomatoes and apples and peaches and bananas and everything else.

Sequoia - Day 6

Wuksachi Lodge

Woke up at 6:00 and trees and ground were still snow-covered. It's a winter wonderland. Sun came over the mountaintops at 7:30 and glistened off the snow-covered trees.

Near Wuksachi Lodge

It's very cold so the snow is not melting. Our car was covered with snow. It's very cold - even after the sun hits cars, the snow is still on them.

More construction work in the parking lot. Constant grinding and beeps. They are working on the water line. There's some kind of problem and work has been on-going, by a contractor, so the lodge manager can't go out and tell them to stop making a ruckus.

10:30 - Left the Wuksachi and drove to Grant Grove, 25 miles.
11:30 - Arrived at Grant Grove after a few stops. It's an hour drive - can average only about 35 mph because of the twists and turns in the road.

John Muir Lodge

John Muir Lodge

I bought several books at the Grant Grove Visitor Center -- all the ones that I don't already own. All biographies of early pioneers in the area.

Grant Grove

We walked the Grant Tree Trail. It has some of the most beautiful giant sequoia trees. I seem to say that about every trail. Walked through the Fallen Monarch and that really shows how huge the trees are. There are new signs this year. They are in English and Spanish and have more descriptive information.

Fallen Monarch

Sequoia - Day 5

We drove out on the newly repaved road to the Crescent Meadow and Log Meadow trailheads. The National Park Service paves some of its trails, both to prevent the trails from washing out and also to make them accessible. The ones that are identified as accessible are so only if Arnold is pushing one's wheelchair, if you ask me. But the Crescent Meadow trail has always been one of my favorites because it has no asphalt sections. It is crushed pine needles all the way.

We took the cut-off to Log Meadow and I went all the way to Tharp's Log. It would take a hardy soul to live in so humble a shelter, even if it was only for summers.

We headed back for lunch at 1:30 and enjoyed hot sandwiches and sweet potato fries for lunch.

Tharp's Log

6:00 pm - walked to dinner in late afternoon sunshine - clouds were moving down over nearby mountaintops. 7:00 - snow began blowing sideways while we were at dinner. By 7:30 we could see that it was accumulating and we walked back to our room in the dark, through snowfall, hoping that it would still be there in the morning at sunrise so that we could enjoy it in daylight.

Steve - Log Meadow

Sequoia - Day 4

Cathy - Congress Trail

All of our fellow visitors are retired folks or they are international travelers, from Germany, France, Holland.

This morning we hiked the Congress Trail. It was 52 degrees when we started and there were only patches of sunshine but walking kept us warm. Started at the south end and walked to the McKinley Tree because we were hoping to see more birds like yesterday but there were none. Coming back, we heard two gun blasts -- rubber bullets -- which were used to scare off a tagged bear that was spending time near the Sherman Tree.

Yellow-bellied Marmot

After lunch we returned to Round Meadow. It was 42 degrees when we arrived and there was little sunshine. I walked around the trail and took photos every 50 feet or so. 

Steve stayed at the trailhead and took photos of trees and birds and three Yellow-bellied Marmots that frolicked about the meadow. They were very entertaining. 

Chipping Sparrow

And we took many photos of a Chipping Sparrow, a pretty little thing. It was very cooperative and let us take photos for about five minutes. It didn't mind us a bit.

Towel Origami

Yesterday, the housekeeping staff gave us a flower towel origami. Today's was a surfer, I think.

Sequoia - Day 3

Congress Trail

This morning we hiked the Congress Trail. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny morning.

One section of the trail is closed - from the Senate Group to the House Group - because a branch caught fire and fell to the ground and there are still flames.

On the second half of the trail, we saw a Brown Creeper, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Chickadees. But again I could not get any good pictures.

An adult bear ambled across the meadow in front of the Sherman tree. This was the first and only bear we saw on this trip. It looked good and healthy. It was tagged and the next day while we were on the trail we heard rangers firing rubber bullets to scare the bear away from the Sherman Tree. So once again it was too close to humans.

Several deer have been browsing in front of the Wuksachi Lodge when we come and go.

Sequoia - Day 2

Breakfast at Wuksachi Lodge.

Walked around the Wuksachi Lodge area and saw a Green-tailed Towhee and many White-crowned Sparrows. Red Fir have lots of cones at the tops of the trees. Pines have cones but they aren't necessarily all clustered at the top of the tree.

Round Meadow

Summer is over and wildflowers are gone except for a rare holdout here and there.  We've spotted one scraggly Indian Paintbrush and one scraggly Meadow Lupine so far. Except for some bracken ferns still holding out in shady areas, the lush understory plants are gone.

I walked around Round Meadow again. The sun is warm so it feels like shirtsleeves but when the sun drops it's cool.

Sequoia Day 1

We pulled out of our driveway at 6:00 am and arrived at the Wuksachi Lodge at 12:15 pm. From Visalia, we took 198 into the park to enter the park from the south, through the Foothills Entrance. Our room is 111 in the Stewart Building, our favorite.

We stopped at Santa Clarita for breakfast - 30 minutes. Also stopped for gas at Exeter, just outside of Visalia, and at the Foothills Visitor Center for 30 minutes. Weather was cool, dry, some sun some clouds, all the way.

Cathy - Sentinel Tree

After lunch at the Wuksachi, we drove to Giant Forest and the Sentinel Tree and then walked around the Round Meadow Trail. The sky was completely overcast and that's the best lighting for photographing Giant Sequoia trees. Took lots of photos. Drove to Lodgepole but Visitor Center closes at 4:30 so we missed talking to a ranger. Back to the Wuksachi.

Dinner reservations at 6:15. Very cold by then. We wore winter coats and were glad to have them. WiFi in the rooms is so slow that it doesn't really work so we tried it in the lobby but it was no faster there.

Cathy - Round Meadow