Highlights from Sequoia

I had a wonderful time on  my camping trip to the Sequoia’s. The weather was perfect (warm during the day and cool at night), the trees were awesome and incredibly impressive, and the night sky was clear enough to witness a couple of meteors from the tail end of the Perseid showers. Our campground (Lodgepole) was definitely packed, but the Kaweah River that ran beside it was serene enough to watch a baby mule deer drink and eat across from us (I’m assuming it hasn’t learned to fear humans yet.)

Sequoia National Park is definitely a popular tourist attraction, just south of Yosemite I’m sure it comes in as number 2 on the most visited parks in California. There were plenty of tourists from other countries from the different languages I overheard while I was visiting.

The road that led up to the park entrance was undergoing some major construction and our drive to the park was treacherous as the windy mountain road narrowed to one lane for a few miles. The construction workers only open the road at the top of each hour to let each side go through. But, once inside the park, there’s a FREE shuttle that runs from the campground to some of the major attractions like General Sherman tree and Giant Forest every 10-15  minutes.

The shuttle’s main stop was at our campground, Lodgepole, so we used the shuttle to visit these places plus Crescent Meadow. I was surprised that more people weren’t using it; it was much faster since the bus drivers were so familiar with the windy road they zipped up and down the highway much quicker than I could have driven. The free shuttles definitely saved me from using my own gas, which was great considering there are only two gas stations within the park and the prices are somewhat expensive.

The campground itself is quite large and accommodates many campers. Some spots are more secluded than others. We were towards the front of the campground and on a corner spot, so even though we didn’t have a lot of privacy, we only had a neighbor to the left of us and behind us. Each spot has a bear box since bears are active in the area. Lodgepole has a general store, showers, flush toilets and a visitor’s center. It’s a very developed campground, by definition. However, the deeper you go into the campground along the river, the more secluded the spots.

We missed out on visiting Crystal Cave which was closed due to road construction and we ended up not having enough time to hike Tokopah Falls. My husband was disappointed that we didn’t see a bear (bear boxes were everywhere and all our food and toiletries had to be placed in them day and night), but I was secretly grateful! We will have to go back in a year or two to complete the missed attractions, and hopefully see a bear (from a very far distance if I have my way!)