My next destination after Joshua Tree National Park was Sequoia National Park. I was looking forward to a change of scenery after more than a week in the desert. I decided however that rather than head straight there I’d stay a night in Bakersfield instead which is roughly halfway between the two.

In Bakersfield I decided to try Airbnb once again and I’m glad I did. I stay with a really nice young couple who had only just moved to the area. I was their first guest and I was really spoilt for the price I paid. I joined them for home cooked chilli which was really nice. The next morning I had a cooked breakfast made for me as well as a packed lunch for the road. All this for less than the price of a room in the crappiest hotel out. We also had lots of interesting conversations. They had both been medics in the army and one had been deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Bakersfield was also a chance to catch up on sorting out my photos and videos which had been piling up in the nine days that I’d spent without a good internet connection. I still intend to upload some of my videos soon but I’m really struggling to find a connection that will allow it. People like to complain about the internet back home but so far in my experience it’s quicker on average than what I’ve had here.

The next day I set out for Sequoia. I needed to fill up and realised for the first time that Costco sold gas for significantly less than everyone else. Bakersfield is an oil town to so I filled up for the cheapest that I’d have all trip ($3.10 per gallon, or around 80c per litre). I passed through hundreds of oil pumps as I drove north, spread among the orchards and fields of the Central Valley. There was little traffic and the journey passed quickly.

Sequoia National Park is part of a number of different parks that cover much of the High Sierra Mountains. In practice the park operates as one with the neighbouring Kings Canyon National Park and there is a single fee to enter both. Both parks are famous for groves of Giant Sequoias, the largest trees in the world, the main reason for my visit. I planned to spend the first night in Sequoia and then the second in Kings Canyon.

The Sierra Nevada is a range of huge mountains that divides much of California from the rest of the continent. It is within this range that the two parks are located. As I approached the entrance to the park the terrain became hilly and rocky, but also very green, with vegetation thickening. After entering the park the road climbs rapidly into the mountains. The road winds its way upwards with stunning views and sheer drops.

I arrived just after midday but saw at the park entrance that many of the camp grounds were already full. This was a shock after finding so few people at Joshua Tree. Summer is the peak season here and there were dozens of cars arriving by the minute. I was caught between wanting to find a camp site quickly but also to relax and see the sights on the way. The first few sites I tried were all full so I decided after that that I’d just wing it and figure it out later on.

A fallen Sequoia that can be driven through

An impressive landmark was Morro Rock, a prominent rocky outcrop that rises up above the surrounding mountainside. Upon the rock is a steep and narrow trial up to the top. I can imagine that this walk would have been terrifying for anyone that is afraid of heights as there is only a low metal rail to separate you from a drop of hundreds of metres. The view from the top was amazing if a little reduced by the haze. Unfortunately the prevailing winds result in the park being subjected to much of the air pollution created by the Central Valley and nearby urban areas.

The path up Morro Rock

The view back toward the road I had just driven

The most impressive attraction at Sequoia is the Giant Forest which contains five of the ten largest trees in the world (note that largest is in terms of mass rather than height), including the General Sherman which is the largest of them all standing at 84 metres tall with a volume of 1,487 m2. These trees are so massive that it is almost impossible to comprehend. It is not until you see people standing near the trunks that it starts to sink in, but even then you can’t focus on the whole scene at once. It was also very difficult to fit the trees into photos.

General Sherman

Giant Sequoia are extremely long lived with many estimated to be over 2,000 years old. As they grow the trunks continue to expand, especially at ground level, and are shaped almost like a cone. The General Sherman tree has a girth of 31 metres, more than two and a half times greater than that of Tāne Mahuta, the largest tree in New Zealand (it is almost five times taller also!).

A nice meadow

I’d spent an hour or two wandering around the Giant Forest and decided that I needed to find a camp before doing anything else. After passing another full camp ground I finally managed to get a spot at the Dorst Creek camp ground. It was a relief to have certainty about where I’d be sleeping and as it was still only the afternoon I did took a track near the camp to pass the time.

I should mention here that the parks are Black Bear country and protection (for both bears and campers) is taken very seriously. Every camp site has its own bear proof storage box where all fragrant items must be stored by law. Such items include food, soap, sun screen, deodorant, toothpaste, etc. Bears have been known to break into cars in search of any of the aforementioned items and sadly once a bear gets a taste for human food it generally becomes a danger to people and often has to be killed as a result.

The best shot I managed to get of a chipmunk

As I started on this walk I was slightly nervous about the prospect of encountering a bear on my own. Black Bears have been known to prey on humans but thankfully such behaviour has never occurring within these parks. Still I couldn’t help but imagine that there’s always a first for everything. The destination of the trial was a grove of Sequoia and I’m embarrassed to say that I never made it. A combination of tiredness and bear nerves turned me around half way along the track. I managed to make it back without being eaten which was nice.

There is so much to say about Sequoia National Park and I feel like I’m hardly doing it justice here. Tomorrow’s post will attempt to describe the even more impressive Kings Canyon.