Yosemite

The road into Yosemite from the south with the clouds over the Sierra Nevada mountains in the background and the fruit trees of the central valley in the fore.

As you get closer you can see the snow on the mountains;

Our first day hiking took us to a high 'alpine' meadow;

And down to a wobbly bridge over another freezing cold river;

A lovely place for a spot of lunch;

We should have brought books as we could have easily spent the whole day here, just sitting on the rocks watching the river...

Sequoia - More big trees

A small selection of the tree photos we took;

General Grant tree;

Feeling very small;

These next two were still alive despite being hollowed out by fires;

Split in the road;

This one was used as a shelter by loggers and then the US Cavalry for many years;

 

Fire damage;

Fallen Giants

Possibly the saddest part of Sequoia is the part of the park that used to be a timber and sawmill.

All of the Sequoias had been cut down leaving a 'grave-yard' of stumps.  

They must have cut down thousands of these giant trees.

Kings Canyon

Just to the north of and adjoining Sequoia NP is Kings Canyon NP.  Very different scenery with a deep river canyon, steep rock faces on either side and dramatic waterfalls fed by the recent snow melt.

"Back a bit more";

 Jakki just had to test the water temp;

River cutting through the rock;

Sierra Nevada mountains in the background;

We stopped to fill-up;

fortunately for us they were closed they were charging more than $6.50/gal which is steep, even by California standards.

Sequoia - Moro Rock

Someone we met said the views over the park from the top of Moro Rock were fantastic, so we had to climb it;

It was worth the climb, over and through the rocks;

It's narrow and windy at the top, so the national parks service have installed a safety rail (if they hadn't I'd have been on my hands and knees);

The views were incredible;