I fell asleep so quickly last night that a) I forgot to pee before curling up, and b) did not clearly orient myself as to which way the toilets were. This made for a great adventure when I woke up in the pitch black desperate to go! I grabbed my flashlight (thanks Maura) and crawled out of the tent in search of relief. I walked the direction I thought it was and after a few unsure steps realized I was coming up quick on an RV. "No this isn't right." I walked a little to the right, took a few more steps and ended up in the trees. I pointed the flashlight around and realized I had come far enough that I didn't know where I had come from and still had no idea which way I needed to go. I went back towards the camper and quietly as I could I found the road in front of their RV. I just started walking. I knew if I stayed on the paved road through the little campground I would come to it. After a long scary hike up the road, making as much noise with my feet as I could to ward off any bears, raccoons, squirels, chipmunks, or serial killers...I found a bathroom! After the longest pee of my life I started back to our site on the road. I was amazingly close to the tent of course. On the upside...the sky was amazing! A million billion stars framed by the branches of the trees.
We had a slow morning, grabbed some breakfast at the little visitor center village, and made it to Grant Grove just in time to meet the park ranger for a walk through one of the King's Canyon sequoia groves. Our ranger was a tiny lady with a thick NC drawl. She was a science teacher most of the year so had wonderful information for us along the way. And again, I could attempt to describe what we were seeing, feeling, smelling...but it would not come through. The important thing to know here is that as awed as we were by the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite, the Grant Grove in King's Canyon was even better. Let me clarify. There were a lot less people there. The way the pathways were designed, you felt closer to the trees. The grove was thicker and the trees were bigger. I don't know why more people don't know about King's Canyon. I confess, I really didn't. Now I know, and I'm hooked.
(Inside a tree looking into the Grant Grove)
After Grant Grove, we wanted to see more of the actual canyon section of the park, so we headed to Road's End through Kings Canyon. They call it Road's End because the road (highway 180) actually stops there. A wilderness permit station and a parking lot are all that await you, but we wanted to see the canyon so away we went, picnic in the car, water on ice, go go go!
The first little side trip pull-off we stopped at was Hume Lake. "I want to see the lake," Mom said as she turned the wheel to the left and drove us down the path. What we found at the end of the road was a crystal clear lake surrounded by huge boulders and dark green evergreens pointing to the sky. All I wanted to do was swim, so I rolled up my pants and waded into the water. It was actually very warm. I could hear and see a few people but mostly felt secluded in the little sandy spot where I was. Mom sat under a tree while I waded in and neon blue dragon flies circled my head while tiny fish nibbled on my feet. Soon, begrudgingly, we hit the road again.
A little further down the road we saw a large sign shaped like an icecream cone and warning "DANGER! Ice cream ahead!" We came to Kings Canyon Lodge and stopped for some dangerous frozen dairy. Outside were "America's oldest double gravity gas pumps" with the name of the lodge hand painted on the side. We walked through the screen door and the word "dangerous" came clearly into focus as I began to register the massive amount of taxidermy in this very small room. Every surface had something dead on it; a head, a horn, skins, and whole animals. My favorite being the whole doe laying leisurely on top of the upright piano. (I promise I will add a picture here once I get home so you can share in this awesome vision.) After a couple of scoops and a rousing conversation about etiquette with the owner, we were back in the car.
As we drove deeper into the canyon the views became increasingly spectacular as the gray granite walls rose around us and Kings River opened up to our right.
Our next side trip was Roaring River Falls where after a short but steep hike we came to a low wide falls poring into a bright green pool surrounded by rocks of every size and shape. I just stood staring. We sat there until the silence was broken by others on the path. We enjoyed a picnic lunch, despite the 95 degree afternoon and drove the last few miles to Road's End. Having enjoyed a full day in the canyon, we drove back towards our campsite.
We made one last side trip driving dirt back roads to an area where the sequoias were logged just before the park became protected land. It was like driving through a graveyard or a battlefield. But even as blackened stumps the size was unimaginable. A monument to conservation.
Back at the village, we discovered a pizza place and while we waited much too long for it, the food tasted delicious with a cold beer at the picnic table back at our campsite.
Before I end this day, I just want to say how truly amazed I am by Kings Canyon National Park. A place I had never really heard of, turned into one of my favorite destinations. It has the beautiful High Sierra, the deep glacial canyon, the green clear river, falls, and lake, and the sequoia trees. The campground was clean and quiet with big sites. The village had a grocery, two restaurants, post office, and free wifi in addition to the regular NP visitor center. It was great. I will be back.
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