Sequoias

This weekend Jon and I went on an overnight backpacking trip in the Sequoias (Redwood Canyon Trail in Kings Canyon N.P.) It was an amazing hike. The first 4 1/2 miles took us through 2 huge Sequoia groves in complete solitude. When we weren't in in the shadows of the gentle giants, we were surrounded by the spring wildflowers, dozens of species of blues, purples. reds, pinks, yellows, oranges. When we made it down to the bottom of the canyon there was a soft-flowing stream that we hiked by for another 4 miles before climbing our way up the stream bed (way harder then that sentence makes it out to be) and finding 2 30' waterfalls. We were lucky our packs weren't ransacked by bears before we got back to them....

The next morning we woke up to the sunlight shining through our tent and the sounds of dozens of birds singing to each other across the forest canopy. For whatever reason, it was much easier to hike with our packs on the second day, even though our calves were killing. After taking down camp, eating some PBJ for breakfast, we were on our way. A mile into our hike, I stop in my tracks, seeing a big black bear (he was actually brown-colored) on the trail about 45 feet ahead of me. We start talking loudly and he notices us and nicely scoots off our trail into the meadow to our left. Of all the times to not have my camera out! It was an exhilarating encounter and really made the trip. Such a big bear, but so innocuous that morning. We kept going, enjoying the cool morning air, the sounds of woodpeckers and songbirds. After our final stream crossing we started our ascent up the canyon to our car. It turned out to be much more moderate than I expected, and we passed through several Sequoia groves again. The Sequoia forests are so incredible, the sheer size of the tree canopies create a lot of space on the forest floor, allowing beautiful ferns to thrive in the shady environment. It is so quiet and shady. You really do feel tiny when every tree you pass has a 15' diameter and soars 200' in the air...