Sequoia National Monument
Summer, that magical time of year for road trips, camping, and visiting a National Park you haven’t been to yet. This past weekend, Clinton grabbed his bible study crew and headed up to Sequoia National Monument for a weekend with the boys.
Sequoia National Monument is best known for the huge Sequoia trees, but interestingly the park is a pretty amazing overview of the Eastern Sierra climate and landscape. It took about 4 hours from LA to get to the park. After setting up camp, we all jumped in the 4Runner (one guy designated to the way back) and headed off on some dirt roads to do some exploring.
Hiking near Sugar Loaf
We stopped at several places along the way to do some hiking. The weather was great and temp was in the mid 80′s. Not too far into our first hike we spotted a tree wedged between two other trees and figured … we should be able to ride that like a “see saw”! What ensued was comedy gold:
After a few hours of back roads and random road signs we found ourselves at the top of Tobias Peak(8,600′) with a 360 degree view of the entire park and Kern River Valley. Mary Ann has been the look out up there for over 20 years, and she was more than happy to take a couple of pics for us and give us the low down on how spotting forest fires works.
The entire crew at Tobias Peak Lookout - elevation 8300'
We rambled our way down the mountain and over Parker Pass, but were running on fumes by the time we got down so we had to do an extra 30 miles jaunt to get to the closest gas station and fill up. By the time we made it back to camp, the sun was setting and everyone was ready for some dinner After some burgers and dogs, we rallied the campfire and relaxed for a bit before cashing in for the night.
Bob piles up half the forest and get the campfire going
The next morning we tidied up camp, jumped in the truck, and headed out for the Trail of 100 Giants. One of the most notable attractions in the park, this grove of Sequoia includes some trees that are over 2500 years old!! Pretty cool to wander through the trail and check out the various giant trees (and get some fun pictures too!)
The crew at the Trail of 100 Giants
After the stop at The Trail of 100 Giants, we headed up the road to check out Dome Rock, a giant dome of volcanic granite that over looks the entire Kern River Valley.
The crew at Dome Rock
After Dome Rock, we rolled back to camp and packed up for the drive home. All in all a very fun trip. If you’re interested in heading up that way, it’s about 4 hours each way from Los Angeles. Here’s a map to help you get the visual of where we were:
Links:
- Sequoia National Forest, Southern Portion – Western Divide Ranger District:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/gsnm/gsnm-southern-portion.html - Full Grid Map of the park:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/maps/quad_maps/quad_index.html - Zoom map of roads we rallied in the park
0