KINGS CANYON NP

I think I will never forget my experience in the Kings Canyon NP. Definitely, it has been the coldest night I had in a long time, but not only that. And I can't even complain about the cold during the night, because the idea to camp here has been mine. So once we have left the Sequoia NP we went into the Kings Canyon NP, and we found a campground. Due to the snow in the park, the only open was the Azalea campground, this is when with my parents we decide where to put the tent ...... the night has been cold and long, but really great ... the bonfire, the dinner, the cold, the tent, the moon. I have never seen such a beautiful moonrise in my life. Sometimes the beauty of the wilderness makes me wonder if it is really worthwhile to spend all out lives in the city, getting upsets for useless things ...The night will be, of course unforgettable, but also the park during the day is really something amazing ... here some randoms pictures of the park ...This is the General Grant, the third tree by size existing in the planet, pretty impressive to see, unfortunately the picture doesn't give a good understanding of the size of the tree ...and these are other pictures from the park ... more trees, but also deers ...
But of course, you can;t leave a National Park, without a picture with a ranger ... so here are the parents with a ranger in front of her car ...But more than anything else, these two days spent in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP made me think about the beauty and importance of the nature and how much our life are detached by the environment. If I think about it is crazy, we are animals but we are completely detached by the environment. Like last year when I visited Yellowstone and Glacier NP, I had the strong feeling that the nature is where I would like to spend my time. Not in a car or in an office or in an impersonal Starbucks coffee shop or in front of a TV. I should spend my days in trails, my nites sleeping in a tent and my evening around a bonfire and wandering the beauties of the environment. Again, probably I am just a daydreamer.

SEQUOIA NP

The adventure at the Sequoia NP started like this,with a picture at the entrance sign. Quite an historical sign in the US history if you think that this is the second US National Park (after Yellowstone) ...And of course the main attraction the park are the sequoia trees. Before coming here I thought these were the tallest tree on Earth, but I learn they are not. The tallest trees are the redwood, the sequoia are biggest by volume, and of course they are pretty thick. Here some of the small one, the one you can touch ...Funny to think that these huge trees are coming from the seeds (as small as oat flakes) contained in this small cone ...And of course the road that is crossing the park is pretty impressive, I had to take this picture, fortunately not many cars were around, so I didn't slow down any traffic ...And this is the famous General Sherman, the biggest living thing on Earth. Not the tallest tree and not the oldest tree neither ...Everything here in the park is huge and really stunning. I saw lots of pictures of the park before coming here, but there is nothing like visit it and just wander around these giants. It is the first time for me here, but I think I will come again. Here some other pictures of the park ...We left the park in the evening, and we drove directly into the King's Canyon NP, where we went camping. A pretty interesting adventure, considering that the lower was ~ 36F(i.e. 2C) ...if you are interested you will have to wait for the next post to read about that adventure ... :D

STUCK SOMEWHERE

Picture this. You are in a road trip and the road disappeared in a mountain lion region. What's the result? A mess. This is pretty much what happen to me today. So, the story goes like this. This morning on our way from Kernville, CA to the Sequoia NP I decided to take a secondary road. I was told it was really nice. And in fact the scenery was wonderful, and the flowers blooming were irresistible ...... but at the same time the road was getting from paved to white and for white to really full of dips, till at a certain point I saw this sign ...... of course I was sure to be on the right road and I continue. Stupid, I guess and reckless. But still convinced to be on the right road. Till after some pretty hard maneuver, I found myself stuck. My dad and I tried really hard to lift the car, put some stones and give some more grip to the tires. But it didn't really work. We needed something more than just stones.After two hours we had to give up and I had to call the Forest Service and the towing company. The real drama came when they ask me where I was. Easy to ask. Difficult to answer. I took some turn. Probably a bad one. I thought I was on the California Freeway 155, but I found myself on a 4WD trail. and the battery of my cellphone was dying. At the end Moosch, the towing guy understood where I was. He got there in 1 hour and he manage to make the miracle ...And he manged also to scare me when he ask me if I wasn't afraid of mountain lion (i.e. puma). I didn't realize that we were lost in the middle of a mountain lion country. Pretty crazy. And scary when we couldn't find anymore my mom. Fortunately she just had a walk down the trail while Moosch was helping us. Ehehehe. At the end the adventure cost me something like $250 for the towing service. At least the car is still in one piece, it is not even leaking oil, and the mountain lions decided to have their lunch somewhere else.

DEATH VALLEY NP

Here it is. We finally got to the Death Valley NP. And my parents were pretty excited, like me, about it ...and here again the parents at badwater, the lowest point in the US, 282 feet below the sea level ...Of course the Death Valley is famous for its hot weather, which can be really deadly in summer. Fortunately, in these days, the hot is still bearable if you have enough water and a good hat with you. Because my mom didn't have a good hat, I had to give her mine and find patch, using my TShirt, to protect my sensitive skull ...Here an other couple of impressive pictures of the salt lake at the bottom of the Valley ...And this is a similar natural phenomenal, they call this the Devil's Golf Curse. No wonder why ...... here in Death Valley everything is about salt. I think you can find any type of mineral here. It is pretty cool. Especially when different minerals are showing up, very close to each other. They call this the Artist's palette, giving to the landscape different colors ...Really Death Valley NP is really full of wonders, and one of them is definitely the Zabriskie point, especially if you are lucky enough to visit it at sunset ...And of course I have tons of other pictures and small stories, but I guess it is too much for now. I will leave you wonder about all the rest. But believe me, it is really worthwhile a visit here. Maybe try to avoid to come here between April and October, the heat will ruin your visit.

LET THE ROAD TRIP BEGIN

So, here I am ready for the 1 week road trip with my parents. I rented a bright red car and we filled the huge trunk with all the possible things we will need during this week. Food, warm cloths for the Sequoia NP, light cloths for the Death Valley NP, long pants for San Francisco, two tents and hiking shoes ...Today the target was to get to the Death Valley not too late, but surprise surprise, cause a late wake up, some stop to eat, an endless line due to a very vey bad car accident on the I-15 ...... some technical stops to try to capture in a picture the wonderful landscape ...... we got to the Death Valley NP pretty late. But even the way to get there was pretty interesting. Here some of the pictures I love the most. Definitely the California freeways are really stunning for an European like me...And more we got close to the Death Valley and more we saw really wonderful scenery ...... here you really feel you are in a magical place, a placeg you have seen only in the Old Far West Hollywood movies ...:D