Sequoia National Park - Day 2

Friday June 19^th – Day 2

Sequoia National Park

On our first day of seeing Sequoia we bought tickets to take a tour of the Crystal Cavern which is a huge series of caves in the Giant Forest section of the park. We all had to hike about ½ mile down into a steep canyon to reach the entrance to the cave. The tour was fantastic and exposed us to the huge marble caverns that make up the attraction. There are no light in the caves so we all had to carry flashlights and that seemed to add to the fun for all.

While it was a lovely hike getting down to the caves, it was pure torture coming up! They posted a warning sign at the entrance to the trailhead that we mostly ignored on the way in, but now we FULLY understood. There is a whole lot of elevation to climb in that ½ mile out. After being passed by the lady that was about 7 months pregnant we finally made it out….last!

With the kids feigning near death from the hike we made our way to the next stop. It’s claimed to be the largest tree on earth and is a Sequoia called The General Sherman Tree. It was an awesome sight and humbling to stand at it’s base and ponder all that has happened in the world during the 2000 years of this tree’s existence. The grove surrounding the General Sherman was also full of other awe inspiring trees that film and words cannot express. Only standing in the shadow of their magnificent stature can suffice.

After visiting the Sherman Grove we hopped the park shuttle to the Giant Forest Museum and Visitor Center and enjoyed the various exhibits and information about this special place. With the troops fully out of energy we headed back to camp.

Again Martha came through with a most excellent dinner of carne asada and all the fixings that everybody wolfed down like it was the last food on earth. After dinner we made a nice campfire so the girls could burn marshmallows, er, I mean make smores. We finished the evening with some coffee, nice conversation, and a beautiful star filled sky.