Day 117 (October 17): Really Big Trees ft. SNAFU

We had done everything right. We had put in two days of hard driving, first from the Grand Canyon to Barstow and then from Barstow to a lovely remote RV Park just outside Sequoia National Park. We had facilitated a calm morning and encouraged the kids with news that we'd have lots of park time and relatively little parking.

Then we found out that the park service advises against vehicles longer than 22 feet using the road ahead. Maybe it would have been fine. Maybe we could have found an RV blog that explained how risk averse the NPS advice was (after all, it was advisory, not regulatory). But the downside of failure was too great to risk and we turned around.

Next came a two hour detour. This included an unwanted and unenjoyable lunch stop. Finally, though, we approached the entrance, this time of Kings Canyon National Park. Quickly, we reached our target, the Grant Grove that is home to one of the mighty sequioas.

This was everything we hoped for. There's a negligable walk and then nearly limitless clambering, gawking, touching and feeling awestruck. Pictures can't do this justice but our attempts follow below.

We finished our hike, completed our junior ranger programs and headed to the visitor center/ranger station. Which had just closed. It was 4:07. Now, on one hand, we could manufacture a way to be at the ranger station in the morning. 1) Camp in the park knowing that it would be about 30 degrees overnight (and we are basically unprepared for low temperatures); 2) Get rooms in the park lodge 3) Drive an hour to the nearest campground in the valley below and drive back the next day. None of those appealed. So we took the other option: skip the junior ranger program.

We left the park around 4:30 and drove for almost 3 hours to reach a decent-looking KOA in California's central valley. Quick dinner, first campfire in weeks and a few episodes of Carmen Sandiego later and the day was finally over.

Fortunately, we don't take pictures of the miserable parts of a SNAFU day. So the photo log of day #117 is entirely about the awesome hike in Kings Canyon NP. And tomorrow is a new day!