In part 3 of my Yosemite blog I am going to try and wrap up the rest of our trip to California. On July 6th we woke up early and hit the road to visit Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. We headed west and then south as we traveled through Fresno and then headed east to Kings Canyon National Park. We stopped at some fruit stands along the way and took in the California country side. We entered through the Big Stump entrance and our first stop was Grant Grove. This grove of giant sequoias is home to the General Grant Tree which is also known as the National Christmas Tree. We spent some time walking the trails around the grove and checking out some of the exhibits. We also made sandwiches from the food we brought along. From Grant Grove we continued north and west to travel up the canyon. The canyon was interesting but it was very dry and desolate compared to the mountains I am used to in Montana. I am sure to some it has its own beauty but I couldn’t help but feel like it needed some trees and green grass. We drove to the end of the road and then came back through Grant Grove and then headed south to Sequoia National Park on the Generals Highway. Since we had already had a pretty long day driving by this point, we decided to kind of do a really fast overview of the park. Of course we stopped to see the General Sherman Tree which is the largest tree in the world by volume. There was about a mile long round trip trail leading down to the tree. The trail was paved and included several sets of stairs. It was midafternoon by the time we got to it, so it was getting pretty hot and there was a pretty good crowd. If there are shuttle buses running, I believe there is a stop closer to the tree along the main road, but it was only for buses and handicap parking. After we saw General Sherman we headed down the road deeper into the park to check out large sequoias that are along the road. Since we did not have a lot of time we were not able to get out and do any hiking or explore things too far off the main road. I found the photography to actually be fairly difficult. It was technically a little difficult just because you had the shadows at the base of the trees and then the bright midday sun behind the tops of the trees. So it was really difficult trying to balance those two things. I also found it very difficult to really capture just how large the trees are. Most of the trees are fenced off so you can’t get right up to them, so you couldn’t put a person directly in front of them for scale. And even if you could, I still don’t think you can REALLY portray the real size of the trees in a single frame. We still had a good time and I am glad we took a day to check things out. After we drove a few hours back to our hotel we decided to relax for the rest of the evening with plans of getting up the next morning for sunrise. You can click on any of the images for a larger view.
The entrance sign for Kings Canyon National Park.
A couple of sequoias at Grants Grove.
Another large sequoia at Grants Grove. I like the base of this one and the bark I thought was interesting.
The General Grant Tree also known as the National Christmas Tree.
Another giant sequoia at Grants Grove. You can see an old burn scar at the base and I also like the starburst up in the branches.
A view of the landscape along the road into Kings Canyon National Park.
A view of Kings Canyon from the end of the road looking into the wilderness.
Entrance sign for Sequoia National Park.
The General Sherman Tree. If you look at the base you can see people standing at the base for some perspective. This is the largest tree by volume in the world.
We did get up early the next morning (July 7th) to shoot the sunrise of the Yosemite Valley again. This time I chose to setup from the Tunnel View area, which is a popular spot for sunrises. This time I was not as fortunate and the parking lot was already pretty full with people. I did manage to find a pretty good spot to setup though. My setup was the same from the morning at the Valley View area. I had my canon 16-35mm with my Canon R5 setup on my tripod. I was having a little sense of dejavu from my first morning in the park, the sky was hazy and pretty boring to look at. The advantage of the Tunnel View area over the Valley View area is that you are high enough up on the valley that you can see Half Dome in your composition. The downside, besides being more popular, is that you don’t really have anything of interest in the foreground. Luckily the sun came in and cast a lot of color on the valley floor so that made for some interest. I also hung around long enough to get some sunrays as they appeared from behind El Capitan.
Sunrise over Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View. I like the sun lighting up the valley floor and also the streak of light shooting up from El Cap.
Another shot of sunrise at Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View. I waited for the sun rays to appear from behind El Capitan to add a little interest.
Upper Yosemite Falls as seen from the creek near the boardwalks in Yosemite Valley.
A large color phase black bear we saw in Yosemite Valley. Not a great picture but I wanted to share anyway.
A young black bear we saw later in the morning in Yosemite Valley. This bear has been tagged.
A nice buck in velvet we saw in Yosemite Valley.
Entrance sign for Yosemite National Park. We finally stopped and took a picture on our last day in the park.
After we were finished with the sunrise, we poked around the valley a little more and managed to see two different black bears and some deer. We went down and hiked around the boardwalks and some of the trails along the river. After that we packed up and drove back through the park over the top and started heading back west to Montana. We stopped the first night in Idaho Falls and then got up early the next morning and came home through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. It is always fun to drive through the Tetons and Yellowstone, but with the large crowds and being a little late in the day for wildlife it was a bit of a letdown. I was happy when we finally got home. As much fun as it is to be on the road having adventures, it is always nice to be home in the comfort of your own home. If you have any questions about Yosemite or the surrounding area, feel free to reach out to me on my contact page.
A panorama from Mormon Row in Grand Tetons National Park.
An ewe bighorn sheep with her lamb near the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park.