We have come to end of our journey.
We realized that the world has become restless and everyone is trying to get out and be in nature, just like us. The problem is, parts of nature are becoming extremely crowded and it is beginning to feel unsafe. Many of the national parks are becoming so full that there are large crowds everywhere, and most do not wear a mask. While the chances are small that we will catch anything, one of our primary goals is to stay safe. And, that feels like it is getting harder to do.
Plus, we have had an amazing trip. All things must come to an end.
Our last day was one of the best.
We were staying close to the park. So much so that we woke up to the noise of the Yosemite river out our back door.
We immediately went into the park and took the road to Glacial Point where we had a beautiful picnic brunch overlooking the park from above. It was one of the most spectacular views we have ever scene.
From there, we went to Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon. After seeing so many Redwoods, and spending time deep in multiple redwood forests, I thought the sequoias maybe under whelming. Quite the opposite.
If you are like me, you probably don’t know the difference between Redwoods and Sequoias, so let’s learn!
- Height – Redwoods tend to be taller at about 380 ft. Sequoias are about 311 feet
- Diameter- Redwoods are about 22 feet in diameter. Sequoias are about 40 feet. Wow!
- Weight – Redwoods weigh around 1.6 million pounds. Sequoias can be much larger weighing about 2.7 million pounds.
- Age – Redwoods live to about 2000 years while Sequoias live to 3200 years!
- Bark – Redwoods bark is about 12 inches thick. Sequoias bark is about 32 inches thick.
- Clearly, height isn’t everything.
Traveling through the redwood forest there were times that we didn’t see light for miles. While the Sequoia forest is full of sunlight and the trees are much more spaced out.
Our last stop on the way out was down the Kings Canyon. We had a beautiful view of Mt Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48.
We came down the mountain to 100 degree heat and dry foliage. And we said, “looks like this is how we are going to be spending the rest of our summer.”
We are driving home for the next two days.
But, as for now, this is the end of this journey.
We will have one or two more posts to sum everything up. Thanks for joining us!