Below is a listing of images and standard gif images of our backpacking trip to King Canyon and Sequoia NP in Aug 2001.
Sequoia and King's Canyon are havens for the world's largest living things: The Great Sequoia. These enormous red-barked trees reach heights of nearly 300 feet. The largest, General Sherman, is over 100 feet around at its base -- definitely something everyone should see before they die. Sequoia is also home of Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the United States outside Alaska.
We started out car camping at King Canyon NP Cedar Grove campground. From there we day hiked about 8.4 miles (RT) to Mist Falls. Several spots on the trail are spectacular with high granite cliff craved by ice age glacier. A highlight on this trail is the huge stone face of the Sphinx. This canyon at over 8,000 ft deep and is deeper than the Grand Canyon.
Included are pictures of the General Sherman tree, the largest living thing, the tunnel log, and several other giant sequoias we saw on the way to our trail head in Sequoia NP. Note that the lower branches on these giant sequoias are over six feet thick and these trees can reaches up to a length of over 300 ft tall.
The last group of pictures is the climb up the remarkable Moro Rock and the spectacular scenes from the top. The climb consists of switchbacks, ramps, and granite stairs and is almost straight up. The view is great at all times, and is spectacular at sunset.
From the top we can see Granite peaks of the Great Western Divide which is situated along the Eastern boundaries of the park. West of the Divide are the Canyons of the Kaweah River. To the East is the North Fork of the Kern River. Just Beyond the Divide is the Sierra Crest, which includes Mt. Whitney, at 14,495 feeet, the highest summit in the 48 contiguous states.
By clicking on them you will bring up a larger JPEG view of them.
- Mist Falls Trail - Jin & Justin on the canyon trail to Mist Falls
- Trail View - A View of the surrounding granite cliff above the trail
- Mist Falls - A view of the water has it come off a 45 ft wide ledge
- Decision Time - Justin pondering whether to climb out on the ledge above the falls
- On the Edge - Still thinking about the last four feet. Judge the height of the falls by Justin size.
- Common Sense - Justin decides to climb down from the top
- General Sherman - Over 30 ft in diameter. Its the largest living thing on earth and over two thousand years old.
- Redwood Saloon - A fallen sequoia once used as a saloon and as a stable for horses.
- Tree Saloon - From this view, you can see how large the interior of the tree is.
- Giant Sequoia - One of the numereous sequoia on the side of the road. Notice the size of normal trees in the background
- Tunnel Log - Driving through a sequoia that fell across the road
- More Giants - Standing inside of a giant sequoia
- Giant Sequoia -
- Top View - A view up the tree, the lower branches over over 6 ft thick
- Moro Rock - Base of Mora Rock; the climb is the same as up the Statue of Liberty. Look closely at the people near the top.
- Moro Rock Peak - Jin & Justin on the the top of Moro Rock
- View Description - Layout of the mountain peaks in the far background.
- Northeast View - A view from the peak toward the Northwest. The high peak near the center is Alta Peak where we will camp at after a 7 mile hike.
- East View - A view from the peak toward the East. This is the Great Western Divide
- South View - A view south toward Barkerville, CA
- Southwest View - The view from the top covers over 270 degrees.
- Moro Panoramic View East - The view says it all
- Moro Panoramic View - SouthWest - It can't get any better
