Sequoia National Forest - Our Final Hours

Do you remember this photo?  We took this shot from the top of the ridge above Dorst Creek.  

See that pretty little water fall and the round pool of water?  Well, on our way back from the Lost Grove, The Hubs and Tamlin did a little cross country exploring to see if they could find that spot.  To see if it would be a good place for us to hang out for the afternoon.  To let the kids get wet, and we could all do a little relaxing before the long ride home.  Turns out, while not easily accessible, they found the spot just fine and there were several pools of water that were just perfect for us and for The Tweedles.  (WARNING: the water was moving very fast, so it was important that we found pools where the water wasn't really moving at all so the kids could play.  Water safety is very important, and so are my Tweedles, so we took no chances.  SAFETY FIRST PEOPLE!)

On our way back for lunch, we found a quicker trail back down to the water.  It was a lot prettier too. Narnia anyone? We made it down to the creek where we did our Dirty Dancing on the fallen tree and followed the edge of the water down stream until we found those pools above.  It was a little tricky as the rocks are all granite and once granite gets wet (or your feet do) it was super slippery. The sides were also pretty steep, so in a lot of places it was hard to find any traction at all.  Sometimes going right down the center was the easiest path.

And when we found our spot, the views were incredible.  This one is upstream from our spot.

And this is downstream.

Talk about your perfect location.  Not a soul in sight except for our little group.  It really was it's own little oasis.

Add some sunblock and we were ready to roll.

This little pool is the perfect Tweedle size. You can't tell from the photos, but it had a nice sandy bottom through most of it. And Bunny wasted no time getting in.  

The rest of us weren't far behind.

Did I mention the rocks were slippery.  A helping hand from Uncle Tamlin was always welcome.

And make no mistake, the water was COLD, but we managed to cajole LW into taking the plunge into the deeper lower pool.

Followed by the rest of us.

And Tamlin posing Sports Illustrated style under the falls.

But it wasn't so bad once you were in it.

Even 1/2 Point thought so.

I did mention about the rocks being slippery right?  Which caused some issues trying to get OUT of these wonderful little pools.  I believe the rally cry here was less about 1/2 Point and more about saving the beer!

And when we were done freezing our little toes off, we found a sunny spot to warm up on.

Or we just waded into the water enjoying the incredible views.

This day couldn't have been more perfect or been a more excellent ending to our trip.  We'll definitely be taking another trip up to do some more exploring!

Seriously.. Thoughts?

Sequoias (What Number?) - Lost Grove

I've lost track of what installment number we're on, but we're still on the last day of our Sequoia trip.  After a little Dirty Dancing on that log, we decided to cross the creek up the stream a bit and see what was on the other side.  Once we crossed we just happened upon a sign pointing us in the direction of Lost Grove (2 miles).  After just a tiny bit of debate, we decided to continue our hike instead of going back.  What the heck, it was our last day right?

On the way, we found our buck friend.  At least, we're assuming it was the same buck.  His trail paralleled the one we were on for quite a while.

We worried every now and then if we were even still ON the trail.  It is obviously much less used than other trails and it seemed to peter out a few times.  With the "It's the journey" thoughts in mind, we just kept going and eventually caught back up with the trail.

Along the way Joanne found us a really nice bear track.

We also went through some really pretty meadows, across a stream or two and generally saw some of the prettiest land around.  All of which I was too tired to take pictures of.  At this point we'd been hiking for about 3 hours, and even with our small breaks I was ready to just be there already.  And just about when we were about to give up, there they were.  And with another grove, came some more Tweedle love.

Tamlin found some sort of den at the base of this tree.  We tried to convince Bug to go down and see how deep it was, but he wasn't interested.  Smart boy.

A little off to the right of the main grove, were several downed Sequoias.  I managed to climb my way up onto one of them and was treated with this amazing view of the Sequoia roots, with a pine tree growing up on the downed tree itself with a sequoia in the background.

You know how people post on facebook a picture of their feet in the sand with the ocean in the background?  No? Maybe it's just a So-Cal thing, but this is my response to that.

I think I dig my view better than theirs.  Joanne managed to scramble her way up onto the tree too, and this view gives a bit more perspective to where I was at.

Then The Tweedles and the guys wandered their way over.  Bunny looks so much like a little wood sprite in this shot.  Everything is so big compared to her.

And of course, we couldn't be up on the downed Sequoia if they couldn't.  So up they came.  And just to be sure I didn't get too caught up in the majesty of it all, I got this photo to keep me grounded.

That liquid on Bug's chin?  That's juice from our apple snack.  He's such a boy.  We stuck around for a little bit then decided to head back for lunch.   On the way we ran into another of these little guys.

The trip back seemed to go much more smoothly and after lunch we had a plan.  We were headed back to Dorst Creek to find a little bit of water to play in for the rest of the afternoon.  Tune in at the same bat time and same bat channel for that little adventure!


Seriously.. Thoughts?

Dirty Dancing - Sequoia Style

Once our beautiful buck had wandered off back into the woods, we continued our way down to Dorst Creek.

Where the kids immediately sprinted for the water like they'd never seen running water before.

We all agreed to a little break even if we couldn't agree exactly how far we'd hiked so far.  A few of us thought it was a mile and a half, some thought it was more like a mile.  Who knows.  It's about the journey people remember? The journey?  See, Joanne is all about the journey.  Doesn't she look like she's found her zen space here?  I think she's looking particularly mountain-woman-y in this shot. Like she's ready to carve out a new life from the tundra with her bare (well manicured) hands!

Bunny didn't care about the journey. She cared about the water.  She was more than just a little put-out when I wouldn't let them go for a dip right then and there.

Look at those rock formations though, all smooth and swirly.  How awesome is that?  There just happened to be this pretty amazing downed tree across the creek.

And after a quick photo op, I forced The Hubs to dance with me ala Dirty Dancing style.

"Hey.. Hey hey hey baby.. "

"I wanna know wo wo .. "

".. if you'll be my girl."

And now, for your viewing pleasure.. the real thing.

Your welcome.

Seriously.. Thoughts?

Where The Wild Things Are

Having spent summers on my grandparents farm in Texas with a family that hunts, it has been most surprising this trip to find the deer so unafraid of people. It's obvious these deer have never been hunted.  Have never been chased or hurt by people.  It's so strange and yet it takes my breath away.  They're still skittish, still wild, don't get me wrong, but it's so completely different from the deer behavior that I'm used to.  So it still surprised me, when on the morning of our very last full day of camping, we were greeted with this lovely deer walking across the camp grounds.

Towards us.

Eating his breakfast about 10 feet away from us.

The Tweedles were so excited.  You should have heard how hard they tried to whisper their excitement instead of shout it.  They did such a good job at not scaring the deer.  I love that they get to experience this!  When the deer finally wandered off into the woods behind our tents, we pulled ourselves together and The Hubs, Tamlin, Joanne and The Tweedles started to see if we could find the trail to the Lost Grove.  LW and 1/2 Point had decided to stay in camp.. the loooooooosers.  Yeah, I said it!

We started out hiking along this ridge line.

Which overlooked Dorst Creek.

This was a bit more rocky than I was used to, and we weren't entirely sure of where we were going but we decided to follow the trail down towards the creek anyway.  It was our last day and I think we were all just really enjoying where we were.  It's all about the journey people!

The Hubs, Bunny and I had lagged behind the rest.  It might have been because I kept stopping to take photos, but probably the other two just walked slow and I was holding back so they didn't feel bad.  We were just starting to head down the trail when The Hubs whispered my name REALLY LOUD and pointed.

They're so camouflaged, I don't know how he sees them, but off to our right about 20 feet was this buck.  We tried to get the attention of the others, but they couldn't hear even our loudest whispers and they walked on.  And mostly I wasn't worried about them, since I was just trying to walk as close as I could get without startling him.

He didn't seem scared of me, but more annoyed that I was interrupting him.  He didn't let me get too close before he started to move.

I like to think that he knew this was our last day and was just making sure I got my monies worth.  While he kept his distance, he kept coming towards me giving me an even better view of him.  I think this counts as a 6 point buck.  Anyone? Anyone?

At this point The Hubs managed to signal the others and Joanne brought Bug back to see him.

I think having us on either side of him may have made him nervous because he began to move toward the trail in earnest.

At this point I'd say I was about 6-8 feet away from him.  And you can see how close Bug and Joanne were.  Bunny was a few feet back from me with The Hubs.  And this guy?  He didn't run.  He moseyed his way across the trail between us and off into the woods on the other side.   Wow.. how's that for a start to our last day?

Seriously.. Thoughts?

Sequoias Part VI - General Grant Tree

On Monday morning, we woke up pretty early and headed off to see the General Grant Tree.

Wikipedia: General Grant Tree
"The General Grant tree is the largest giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) in the General Grant Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park in California and the second largest tree in the world"


Almost the first thing you come across is this massive downed Sequoia.

The funniest part of this photo, is I had just been thinking in the days before about how you get those great sun spots on your photos, and wondering how you did that.  I ended up with the right results, but still don't know how to do it intentionally!

Anyway, this tree is called "The Fallen Monarch" and when this area was first settled, they used this tree first as a shelter before they built a cabin ( just up the trail from here) and then later as a hotel, a saloon and even housed 32 calvary horses.  You can still walk right through it from one end to the other.

This is a shot from inside of the tree looking out the other end.  Looks a bit like a keyhole and for some reason always makes me think of pirates and treasure.  Is that just me?

This is a shot from inside the tree back towards the roots.  Obviously, to use it as a bar today they'd have to do some roofing work, but still pretty awesome to think of it being used in so many ways!

We wandered up the path a bit and found the Gamlin Cabin across from the General Grant Tree.  This cabin was built in 1872 by Isreal Gamlin and was his home along with his brother, Thomas. They grazed cattle on nearly 160 acres. After General Grant National Park was established in 1890, the cabin was used as a storehouse by the U.S. Cavalry who patrolled the park until 1913 - hence using The Fallen Monarch as a stables. Later it became the quarters of the first park ranger stationed here.  

Let me just say, for a cabin built that long ago it's in remarkably good condition and the fireplace takes over pretty much the entire back side of the cabin.  Of course, *I* wouldn't want to winter here.  No way no how.  

When we walked up to the cabin, a ranger was inside giving a little talk about the cabin and the history of the area and the trees.  

Bug and Bunny were enchanted and paid close attention.  And Tamlin's wife caught them being particularly loving that morning while they listened.  Bunny was so proud she asked the Ranger a question that I'm not sure she even listened to the answer.  That's my Bunny.

In the photo above The Hubs asked me to kneel down and worship the great Grant Tree.  I think the Tweedles thought I was worshiping them.

And this, my dear friends, is the worship-worthy Grant Tree.  It still kills me thinking that these trees have been around for thousands of years!  I'm just in awe when I'm around them, wondering what they would say if they could talk and tell of all the things they've seen.   I also secretly think they could come to life at any minute, and they're just asleep like in the Narnia series, just waiting for the right person to wake them.  I was disappointed when I yelled "WAKE UP" and the only thing that happened was people stared at me and The Hubs rolled his eyes.  Oh well, guess I'm not the right person, at least I tried!

A little further down the trail, we got this shot of The Tweedles loving each other again.  I have no idea what got into them, but I did enjoy every hugging minute of it.

And just to end this little tale on a not so sappy-sweet note, we ran into this little fella in the parking lot on the way back.  Anyone know what kind of bug he is?

Seriously.. Thoughts?

P.S. Next up.. the waterfall!