Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

Kim and I took our first extended trip with our new 5th wheel to the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. It's located in central California east of Fresno and Visalia in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

The trees are much much larger than the coastal (and more famous) redwoods located in Northern California which are taller. These are older. Those are taller. These are much older as well. Some of them are in the 2,000 to 2,500 year old range.

This is an example of how old these trees are. This one was outside the visitors center in Three Rivers (if you click on the photo, it will enlarge for you).

We took so many photos that it is difficult to put just a few here so a number more are posted here where you can view them at your leisure.

http://picasaweb.google.com/100376105788369441882/SequoiaAndKingsCanyon?authkey=Gv1sRgCOPcl_ix0fCDpgE&feat=directlink

Here are a few more .....

General Sherman tree with Kim in the foreground.

Kim right in front of Sherman tree. 36.5 feet in diameter (the tree not Kim).

President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed it the "Nation's Christmas Tree" on April 28, 1926. On March 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared the tree a "National Shrine", a memorial to those who died in war. It is the only living object to be so declared.

Looking up at Grant tree.

A vista point. We are headed waaaaay down there. This is a small part of Kings Canyon.

Finally...the Kings River and valley floor.

We also took some time to take other photos.

Early morning view of the Kaweah River right outside our RV.

As always, I could not resist getting in the water.

Proud Papa, youngster and Mom.

Nattie's favorite driving location.

Paul Bunyan carved out of one of the 2,000-year old fallen trees.

Well, that's it for this adventure. I hope you get to see all the other photos at the link above and remember, you can click on the photos to get larger images.

Bye for now....next trip is to Florida in December !