Having visited around ten of America's National Parks, I must say that each and every one of them is truly spectacular, in their own unique way. I'm very definitely of the opinion that if you visit the US, the big famous cities are nice, but it's the National Parks that you really have to see. These two are no exception.
We were camping in King's Canyon, and arrived a little later than planned, thanks to the ineptitude of Apple maps, and some of the thickest fog I've ever seen. There is definitely something quite fun about setting up camp in the dark, and then emerging from your tent in the morning, to discover the true wonder of where you are staying. There were trees well over a hundred feet tall and insanely wide, and the loos weren't nearly as far away as they had seemed in the unfamiliar darkness.
We started with a wander to see the second largest tree in the world, the General Grant Tree, which is by no means the tallest in the world, but the second largest by volume. Its trunk is estimated to have a volume of around 1,320 m3!
This doesn't really capture the scale.
Along the trail, we also walked through a massive fallen tree trunk.
Having David stand in there puts it in perspective a bit, doesn't it?
One of the coolest things we got to see, was the view from above the clouds we'd driven through on our way up the previous night. We took a walk up Moro Rock, to get an absolutely stunning view of the clouds flooding the valley below.
Bit of a climb it was, too!
The view from the top was truly one of the most spectacular things I've seen. I'm sure the normal view of the valley is pretty awesome too, but with the clouds, the blue sky, and the mountains, it was truly awe-inspiring.
A giant basin of clouds.
Kind of makes you feel like you're on top of
the whole world, it does.
Sunglasses reflections are cool.
That afternoon we took a tour of the Crystal Caves, of which I took no photos, because it was dark, and I would not have been able to get very good photos, so decided to simply enjoy myself and not worry about documenting things for later enjoyment. They were, however, utterly gorgeous, and much cheaper to tour than any New Zealand cave I've ever visited. The absence of weta was made up for by the threat of possible rattlesnakes on the path down to the caves. What with all the bears, cougars, and snakes I am continually warned about, I'm beginning to like camping in my safe little Aotearoa more and more. Fortunately none were encountered, only a few squirrels and chipmunks.
After the tour we went to see the General Sherman Tree, the largest in the world, and goodness it was massive!
Again, not capturing the immense scale.
One of the things about these giant sequoias is not just the size of them, but the sheer amount of impressively large trees there are in one place. Not only do the parks contain the biggest in the world, and the notable trees that you can walk through, drive through, park a car on, or build a house from, but everywhere there are huge trees, just hanging around on the side of the road, or along a path, that nobody really pays any attention to, because in this place there are just so many of them. Giant trees are everywhere here!
Sunday, after packing up camp, we took a drive to get a better look at King's Canyon. Once again I was blown away by how stunning America's national parks are.
Once again, not capturing the scale of incredible.
We didn't actually get the chance to go all the way down into the canyon, which was a bit of a shame, but what we did see was incredibly gorgeous. Guess that just gives me an excuse to go back another day!
Last stop before we left for home was a grove of giant tree stumps. Apparently I didn't actually take a photo of the whole thing, but here's two pictures of one stump, with David to put it in perspective. Keep in mind that I was also standing on the same stump when I took them.
Insanely giant tree stump! Fun to climb on, they are.
Camping in America is a little different to camping in New Zealand, I've discovered. I've been several times, and some of the differences are minor, some more notable. I think the biggest one is the bears. Fortunately I haven't seen one yet (other than running across a field in Yosemite in June), but needing to be wary of them, and store all food and scented items in these big metal bear boxes is definitely a bit different. Camping where the worst thing you might encounter is a weta* or a possum certainly has its advantages. I'm not overly fond of having to guard my food from bears, raccoons, and mountain lions. Keeping an eye out for snakes along the path isn't much fun either.
Overall, it was a very awesome weekend, and I'm already looking forward to planning my next trip to far away exciting lands, wherever they may be.
*Side note. I just showed David a picture of a weta, and he is no longer so keen on the idea of New Zealand outdoors. For any Americans reading, this is what a weta looks like. And yes, they can jump.
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