Kings Canyon National Park

The John Muir Lodge is in Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia’s less popular sibling. When it was first set aside by President Harrison, a week after Sequoia was christened, it was called General Grant National Park. The lodge itself has modern hotel-style rooms with televisions and refrigerators. By contrast, the 20 or so cabins next door are both more rustic and more expensive. Even though we don’t watch the TV, at our age we really appreciate the en-suite facilities. 

It was another early morning for us today, but not as early as yesterday; Kathy woke up at 4:00 AM, and I slept in until 5:00 AM. Grant Grove Village, the compound where the lodge is located, has a restaurant that opens for breakfast at 7:00 AM, and we were there right on time. Kathy had a whole-wheat breakfast burrito with eggs and vegetarian sausage. I had an omelette with hash browns and fruit. It was fine, but not as good as Cracker Barrel.

About two miles from the lodge, Grant’s Grove is the third largest grove of Sequoias, and is much more accessible than the Giant Forest Grove which contains the General Sherman tree. It is also much less crowded. The main attraction is the General Grant Tree, the second largest tree in the world. (I’m not sure why General Sherman got the largest tree, while General Grant, who went on to become President, got the smaller one.) 

The General Grant Trail is an easy, half-kilometer loop. At eight in the morning there were only a handful of other visitors and it was so peaceful. In 1872 the brothers Israel and Thomas Gamlin built a log cabin in the grove while they herded sheep nearby and tried to file a timber claim. From 1891 to 1913, the U.S. Cavalry used the cabin to store hay and feed for patrol horses. Later, it was the residence of the first park ranger. It is the oldest remaining structure in the park.

There were several other interesting sights that I didn’t get pictures of. The Centennial Stump is the remains of a tree cut down in 1875, divided into pieces and sent to the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition where it was reassembled. However the people back East didn’t believe it was a real tree. They called it the “California Hoax”.

The “Fallen Monarch” is a giant, hollow Sequoia log that has been used as a hotel, stable and saloon over the years. We walked through it and it was impressive. We thought that the best part of Grants Grove were the large number of  “anonymous” trees scattered throughout the site. It is a really peaceful place. 

After Grants Grove, We got back on the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway and headed for Cedar Grove and the end of the road. When we saw a turn off for Hume Lake (where I had gone to church summer camp as a boy) we took it, and, after a few miles we could see the lake. I took a picture of Kathy, our Subaru and the lake, and then we turned around.

We got to Cedar Grove around 1:00 PM. Most of the campgrounds in the area had closed a few days earlier, so it was eerily deserted. The Cedar Grove Lodge along with its restaurant and store were still open, so we picked up some snacks and ate them sitting in the shade, watching the dragon flies flitting over the burbling Kings river. So very peaceful. 

After our rest, we drove to the end of the road where we found a parking lot that was surprisingly filled with the cars of people who were packing into the wilderness. There we turned around and headed back to our lodging. The Scenic Byway is well named. Imagine driving on a narrow road, beside a rushing river, with giant granite cliffs close on either side. I tried taking a few pictures through the sunroof, but they just couldn’t convey the scale and the awesomeness of the drive.

 Back at Muir Lodge we sat in the rocking chairs on the deck for a while. At five we walked over to the restaurant for dinner. Then, back to our room; asleep by eight. Tomorrow we head to Yosemite.