I slept well that night. The hotel had no A/C and didn't need it. The window was open and letting in fresh mountain air all night. For breakfast I had the full buffet at the lodge and then lugged my stuff from the room to the car. It took two trips to carry my two duffel bags, a cooler, my laptop computer and various bags of stuff.
My goal for the day was to see a few more trees in Sequoia, drive through Kings Canyon and then get to my hotel just outside Yosemite. My first stop was the Kings Canyon visitor center, which looks to be in Sequoia National Park at the West entrance. From there I drove to General Grant Grove where the General Grant tree is located. Somehow I got lost trying to find that tree and ended up on a horse trail. Once I found the tree I snapped a few photos and then headed back to my car. I also walked trough a fallen tree as you can see in the photos.
There is only one road into Kings Canyon and it took over one hour to drive to "Roads End". I was surprised that the road was all downhill into the canyon. Along the way I stopped and took some photos. The river you see in the canyon was actually very loud even from afar. This road was less crowded and I encountered no cars as I drove into the park. There was a small visitors center deep in the park where a park ranger suggested a few places to stop and take a short hike to see some waterfalls. Earlier in the day I asked a ranger how long it took to drive from Kings Canyon to Yosemite and was told four hours. So because I was worried about time, I rushed myself through the park. It turned out that the drive was only two hours.
I had time to stop and view two waterfalls, come back to the visitors center for lunch, and leisurely drive back out the canyon. I would agree that there is lots more to see in Sequoia, but it was worth the time to drive to Kings Canyon. Plus, I was able to buy yet another national park tee-shirt.
As I drove up out of the canyon, the landscape quickly turned from green to dry brush. Then it turned into farm country. I had to laugh because as I looked at the farms I thought of the Farm Town game on facebook. Then I had to drive through actual farm towns before I made it to the road to Yosemite. I had a reservation at a Best Western in Oakhurst, a town I had never heard of. Turns out it was a busy little town, with lots of hotels, gas stations and store. I was lucky to get a ground-level room and park outside my door, which made it easy to move my stuff into the room.
For dinner, I ate at the restaurant next door. I opted to eat at the bar, and since I was the only one at the bar I had great service. The food was nothing special, but then again I just got fish and chips - I think. Somewhere along the way I realized that when I left the park I did not pass by anyplace to show that I had paid for admission to Sequoia National Park. I felt bad, because I want to support our national park system. However, I did buy two shirts and some of that money goes towards the parks. So I once again turned in early to get ready for my day in Yosemite.
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