May 19, 2012 - Kings Canyon (Day 2) - Driving Tour

(Ron Writing) The weather was beautiful again today so we decided to get out and enjoy it. We drove about 35 miles east on Hwy 180 all the way to where it ends at Zumwalt Meadow. This is an extremely scenic drive – perhaps the most scenic drive one can take down into a canyon in the USA. From our campground at 6,500’ the highway first climbs to 7,000’ before starting a steep winding descent into the very rugged canyon of the south fork of the Kings River. There are long sections of the highway that are little more than a notch carved in the...

May 18, 2012 - Kings Canyon NP - We Found Cool Weather

(Ron Writing) After breakfast we left Porterville heading north on CA-65, and then jogged west on CA-198 to Visalia where we stopped at Costco for gas. We continued north on CA-63 and then east on CA-180. Highway 180 climbs out of the valley up to Kings Canyon National Park. Just a couple miles past the entrance station is the visitor center at Grant Grove Village. We pulled into the Azalea Campground ($9/night, no hook-ups, senior rate) at Grant Grove. We’ve stayed here many times over the years and it’s become our favorite campground in...

Aug 24, 2010 - Kings Canyon National Park

Guess I had better stop being lazy and fill you in like I promised a few days ago… We had a nice week in Fresno and was just starting to find our way around when it was time to leave but first; We had signed up to have someone come and wash our Big Sky after the thick layer of dust and sand we got on it at our last stop… We waited a couple of days longer then promised but the weather was so hot that we could understand why things were slowing down… I know we both slow down a lot in 100 degrees… Well they finally came and we decided that it...

Jul 30, 2010 - On to Kings Canyon National Park

We were about 50 miles from Kings Canyon National Park and had an early start to see it all. This park is entirely different from Sequoia NP even though there are sequoia trees in the park. Most of the park is wilderness in the high Sierra with Mt. Whitney - the highest peak in the lower 48 states at over 14,000 feet. We drove to the end of the road in the park and saw wonderful open views of the granite canyons and swift running snow melt King River. Micheal had to feel the water so he did a little wading--see the photos. No bears today...

Jun 29, 2010 - Garden Grove, CA - Back For a Few Days

(Ron Writing) It was much warmer when we got up Sunday morning than it had been on other mornings. We had a relaxing morning and left our campsite at about noon. Dallas and Alice stopped over to see our "mini-mansion" and we had another short visit before they took off for home. We drove as far as Bakersfield where we are spent the night parked at Sam’s Club. It was hot in the valley today. At 5 PM when we got to Sam’s Club it was 103°. We fired up the generator and ran the AC which quickly cooled the house down to the mid 70’s with no...

Jun 26, 2010 - Kings Canyon NP (Day 7) - Relaxing Day at Home

(Elena Writing) It’s a good thing that we decided to stay home today. The campground is just about filled up with weekenders and the parking spaces at the visitors center were nearly all taken when we went to use the WiFi. Ron caught up with some reading and I baked three new “light” recipes. I converted a blueberry muffin recipe into a cake, made Triple Chocolate Cookies, and Cinnamon-Spice Chocolate Brownies which has eight teaspoons of cayenne pepper however I thought it could use a bit more. I also added instant espresso to the latter...

Jun 25, 2010 - Kings Canyon NP (Day 6) - Panoramic Point

(Ron Writing) This afternoon we drove a few miles up a narrow, steep, winding road to Panoramic Point. From the parking lot we took a short steep trail to the viewpoint. The sky was a little hazy and there were heavy clouds on the horizon but still the view of the Sierra Nevada wilderness area and its tall snow covered peaks was spectacular. From the viewpoint we headed hiked on a trail that leads to a fire lookout tower about 2.5 miles away. We went about 3/4 of the way before we decided to head back. The trail was quite steep in places...

Jun 24, 2010 - Kings Canyon NP (Day 5) - Giant Forest, A Forest of Giants

(Ron Writing) This morning we packed a lunch and headed south on Hwy 180 and continued south on Generals Highway to Sequoia National Park. We made a brief stop at the Lodgepole Visitor Center and then took the free park tram south to Giant Forest where the General Sherman Tree is located. It is the largest tree on earth and the largest living thing on earth. It’s in a grove of many very large sequoia trees clustered in a relatively small area. After visiting the General, we hiked the adjoining Congress Trail which took us past many...

Jun 23, 2010 - Kings Canyon NP (Day 4) - Hume Lake Loop Drive

(Ron Writing) Today we took a drive west on Hwy 180 and then south on the Hume Lake Rd. Hume Lake is one of those beautiful mountain lakes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. There are many of these lakes in the high country but most of them are only visited by backpackers. Hume Lake is in the Sequoia National Forest. There are forest service campgrounds there and also a large church camp that is busy all summer with youth from the surrounding area. Along the drive to Hume Lake we stopped at a turnout and discovered a short steep trail leading...

Jun 22, 2010 - Kings Canyon NP (Day 3) - Elena's New Toy

(Elena Writing) While at Costco in Bakersfield last Saturday, we watched a demo of the Vita-Mix, a heavy duty blender. I’ve wanted one for the past couple years but couldn’t convince Ron. He must’ve been so impressed that he agreed we should buy one. Last night I made a mixed fruit sorbet in less than 30 seconds and, needless to say, it was yummy! I’m looking forward to using the Vita-Mix to make all sorts of other dishes using fresh fruits and vegetables. This morning Ron wanted waffles topped with strawberries so that’s what I made for...

Jun 21, 2010 - Kings Canyon NP (Day 2) - A Spectacular Canyon

(Ron Writing) We drove east on highway 180 all the way to the end of the road near Zumwalt Meadow. This stretch of highway is called the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway and is one of only a few roads in this large national park. Most of the park is wilderness and only accessible to hikers. It was a beautiful day for a drive and the scenery along this route is awesome. John Muir ranked it right up there with Yosemite. The Kings River is running very high and swift. There are miles and miles of some of the most wild white water in the country....

Jun 20, 2010 - Kings Canyon NP - Back Again!

(Ron Writing) On Tuesday our friends, Herb and Fritzi, invited us to dinner at the very nice dining room where they live at Walnut Manor. Friends John and Viv, who also live there, joined us for dinner so we had a very nice visit with them also. Elena was able to wrap-up her medical appointments on Thursday and much to our relief the consultation and tests revealed no problems. On Thursday evening Barbara and Archie invited us to have dinner with them and we enjoyed some very delicious beef stew that Barbara made. On Friday morning we...