Mary and I spent the long July 4th weekend in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. We were looking for bears and flowers in Sequoia and we made our first trip through Kings Canyon to see the waterfalls. Here is what you might see.
Flowers
Because Sequoia has high meadows, around 7,000 feet, the wildflowers come in the summer. It has been a long wet winter and the snow melt run-off has created flooded meadows and dangerously rushing rivers. Here are a few favorites.
Bears
On previous trips to Sequoia, we saw five bears and seven bears in three days. On this trip we saw two bears while searching for them for hours over three long days of hiking Log Meadow, Crescent Meadow, and Round Meadow.
King’s Canyon
It’s 54 miles one way and a 90 minute drive from Wuksachi Lodge to the Cedar Grove Lodge near the end of Kings Canyon. It is a very winding road and a lot of elevation gain and loss as you transverse the mountain and drop into the Canyon. It was well work the trip.
Waterfalls
The two waterfalls in Kings Canyon are just off the road with good parking and just a short walk. They were running so big and fast that they were creating their own wind and prodigious amounts of spray. I came prepared with a towel and rain shell, but still got a soaking and it was nearly impossible to get a good shot. Mary was smarter and pulled back a ways and used a telephoto lens to do close-ups of the waterfalls.
Here is our very popular blog post – A Weekend in Sequoia.
To see more of (and buy) our photos, please go to www.pamphotography.com.
pamphotography 