Sequoia National Park Day 3

Day 3 was our transition day. We packed up the van and drove south toward Sequoia National Park. There was just one more hike called Buena Vista Trail that we wanted to try on the way out. This one hiked up the low rise to the west. It wasn't too steep, and it peaked on the ridge overlooking what seemed like most of California. We could easily see the summer smoky haze all the way to the horizon. One exciting thing was the marmot that we saw, since we've only seen a few mammals.

Mom was in love with all the flowers on this trip.

It was a nice view at the top.

Even with all the smoky haze.

About an hour later we arrived at the main area for Sequoia National Park. We started at the Giant Forest Museum, which is just across the street from our second hike, the Big Loop Trail. This one was interesting, because it wasn't always part of the park. There used to be a bunch of cabins, a lodge, and a store nestled right at the foot of the trees. Then, not too many years ago, some generous folks bought up the area and had it restored to a nice meadow with giant sequoias all around. The problem was that when we finished this hike, we still had 2 hours until our tour of Crystal Cave. 

The museum had some great displays.

We are still amazed at all of these big trees.

This tree is way bigger than Dad!

Having a lot of fun.

Aren't these trees awesome?

This trail was nice and simple.

Does it look like this tree is eating the rock?

We missed Mark, but Dax and Seth were great.

We also made a quick stop at the tree you can drive and walk on. 

We drove around a bit, and then showed up at the cave a little over an hour early for the tour. While Mom put together lunch, Dad asked if we could move our tour time up. We could! We ate quickly and started the hike down to the cave entrance. This hike was almost tropical, and the hike down was one of the nicest in the park (though the hike back up was less fun). Best of all, when we got to the entrance, a spotted owl was sitting right above the arch. It was up and looking at us and very easy to see. It was a really rare, special sighting.

The owl sighting was one of our favorite parts of the trip.

Crystal Cave was really cool. There was a small creek rapidly flowing through the entire cave, and you could hear it rushing along through most of the rooms. This cave is also a marble cave, rather than a limestone cave. That meant a lot of sparkles. The cave formations were really spectacular, too. There was a delicate angel wing, a massive organ, and a dragon head. Our guide was really good, too. We all agreed that Crystal Cave was better than Boyden Cavern. 

The gates to the cave were so cool.

The river was running through the entire cave.

The rooms were huge.

The area by the cave was green and luscious.

Next we took a very long, narrow, twisty road to the park's south entrance. We didn't find a lot down there. There was the Native American entrance sign, a small Visitor Center, and a rock that you used to be able to drive through. Then we drove the very long and winding road back up to the main part of Sequoia. We arrived just in time for pizza at the Pizza Porch, which we loved. (Seriously, we were so excited we cheered!)

Two cool signs at Sequoia. 

Tunnel Rock

You could also walk on top of the rock.

Hooray for pizza.

After checking into our room, we lugged our stuff up the hill and sat for a minute, but not for too long. We still had one more hike to do. This one was a rather long one to the largest tree in the world called General Sherman. We would extend that short hike to three miles by hiking what was called the Congress Trail. This loop had us pass two thick groves of sequoias, one called The House, and the other called The Senate. At the Senate, Dad rounded a massive sequoia and ran face to face into a small white-tailed buck, which was exciting. 

General Sherman

This tree is massive!

We are worn out, but having fun.

He is smiling now, but he was mad we were on this hike.

There were so many cool trees on this trail. 

We saw more cool woodpeckers. 

The trail walked through a tree, too.

The groups of trees were amazing.

Mom loved this hike.

We walked through the Congress and the Senate.

And we spotted this guy!

Almost back to the car.

As we hauled our way up the last stretch of the Congress trail to the parking lot, we heard that a black bear and her cub had been sighted. We hustled our way to the top, but we were too late. They were gone. We were thoroughly exhausted! We barely managed the drive back to the lodging, and the walk seemed even more difficult!