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Tree hugger for big trees only. Kill the rest! (just kidding)
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There's nothing quite like a fighter jet rocketing past you a couple hundred feet off the ground. One minute we were in Death Valley, the next we were headed on to Sequoia/Kings NP (the hustle continues). We pulled off the highway late at night to a spot confirmed on iOverlander (after a lesser researched camp ended up being tent only...oops). Our new digs was in the middle of nowhere just outside of China lake, a hub for the air force of some kind. Planes planes planes. On most occasions you can hear something jetting by, whether near or far. At mid-day while I was working in the camper, we got rocked by a jet flying low over the little valley we stayed in. It was going too fast to see the approach but I flipped around just as it was banking through the canyon. What a cool job! The jury's still out on whether we think $4500/each is worth a 30 minute ride along, this got us a little closer.
The drive was long, but Costco rotisserie chicken slapped, as always...they even brought back the strawberry-banana flavored smoothies (good thing because I needed to make up for not capturing the "Democrat Day-Use only" sign as we descended through the lower sierras into Bakersfield).
For some reason, we’ve been pretty worried about bears since we arrived in Sequoia. After driving in, getting a nice view of Moro Rock, taking some pictures, and enjoying the scenery, we headed up to a pull-off just outside the park on a road called Mineral King. It leads to another section of the park, but it’s currently closed due to winter conditions.
View of Moro Rock
The pull-off wasn’t very large—probably big enough for two, maybe three cars if they were really squished. We were in a pretty remote area, about a mile from where anyone else would be staying. As we got ready for bed and took care of a few things, we kept hearing little noises here and there—like a twig snapping, a rustle, or just the wind. And every time that happened, I’d tell Sarah to turn the lights off, and we’d open the windows to try to see if there was a bear lurking nearby.
At one point, I might’ve suggested that it would be pretty bad if our car got tipped over, and I think that stuck with Sarah. She had a hard time sleeping all night, imagining a bear coming to push the car over. Meanwhile, I was sitting there hoping it didn’t just open the door and eat us alive.
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|  | | Our campsite for the night |
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After we left that spot, we headed deeper into Sequoia National Forest the next day.
Most of our hikes were around the forest and near Moro Rock. Moro Rock itself was super impressive. It gave us a great view—well, sort of. Clouds were rolling in, so we couldn’t see anything to the north, but overall it was a really nice hike.
Moro Rock
The park was cool. I wasn’t prepared for it to be so tree-focused, which in hindsight makes sense—it is Sequoia National Park. But honestly, I didn’t really know what a sequoia tree was. I had always thought the big trees were redwoods, and sequoias were just oversized pines. Couldn’t have been more wrong.
Sequoias are massive—much bigger than redwoods. They were stunning, absolutely beautiful. When people think of those huge red trees, they’re probably picturing a sequoia. In fact, this park has the largest tree by volume—I’m blanking on the name, but I think it was General Sherman. It was really cool to see.
Sarah kept commenting on how impressive the trees were, and I maybe didn’t respond with quite as much awe at first. She gave me a bit of grief for that—like, “How can you not be blown away by this?” And I think it hit me a little later just how incredible they are. It’s most striking when you’re standing right next to them or see someone else standing near one. For some reason, when you're just looking at them from a distance in the forest, it’s hard to wrap your head around how massive they really are. Your brain kind of compensates and makes them seem smaller than they are—at least mine does.
Forest time
Congress Trail/General Sherman
The next day, we also did a short 4–5 mile hike to Tokopah Falls, which I’d highly recommend. It was cloudy and kind of rainy, so I used an umbrella (what an underrated piece of gear). We got a few okay photos. It was a magnificent waterfall, and I bet it’d be even more impressive without the clouds covering the peaks. (Once again—weather taking center stage on our trip.)
Tokopah Falls
The next day, we decided not to stick around Sequoia much longer and moved into Kings Canyon, which is adjacent to—or basically part of—the same park. They even have an acronym for it, SEKI (Sequoia and Kings), which I didn’t realize until later. Well see you next week in Kings Canyon!
- Words by Ethan
Additional Photos
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| A view from our drive from death valley to SEKI. A beautiful canyon! |
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| Not in focus 😢 |
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| Checking his shoulder for bears |
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| The fog went hard |
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| New album cover |
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| Cute trees |
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| Little waterfall |
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| A stick Ethan wanted a picture with |
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| Ethan brought the wrong socks on this trip |
