OUR NATIONAL PARK CHALLENGE: TO VISIT ALL 51 NATIONAL PARKS LOCATED IN THE LOWER 48 STATES
COMPLETED
PROGRESS BAR
STILL TO GO
50
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SUNDAY - We had quite an exciting night last night!
At 9:30PM we had someone knocking on THE POD's door. It was a young man who told us about wild animals stalking his campsite and scratching at his tent.
He was scared, so we kindly suggested he go hide out in the bathroom for a while until he felt safe or go ask the camphost what he should do. Then we closed the door, locked it and a little bit later went to bed.
At 11:45PM we once again got a knock on the door, this time we were both already asleep. Same guy, but this time he wanted to know if we had the gate code for the campground.
He explained he had an Uber driver outside the gate and couldn't get in. I explained we didn't have a gate code and suggested he again check with the camp host just a few sites away from ours. I think this time he got the message that he shouldn't be knocking on our door, because the rest of the night was quiet.
That doesn't mean either of us slept all that well!
We planned on being off the campsite by 9:00AM, Costco opens at 10:00AM on Sundays, so we could go into Fresno to do the grocery shopping we didn't get around to doing yesterday.
As we pulled up to the trash dumpster and Tricia got out to throw away our garbage. She heard scratching sounds coming from inside and one of the two lids to the dumpster was already open.
I put ROVER into park and got out to see what was going on. I peered over into the nearly empty dumpster and saw three beady-eyed masked-faces starring back at me. Hold on guys!
I knew exactly what to do. I went to the back of the truck and got out the pole that I use to set our anemometer on and propped it up into the corner of the dumpster. Then I walked away and waited for the show to begin.
I think we found the wild animals that were terrorizing our late night tenting friend.
The two younger ones were up and out of there in no time. The older and fatter one took quite a bit longer as you saw in the video.
It's opportunities like this when I'm able to add points into my "Good Karma" Bank Account!
After spending $197 at Costco and $222 at Walmart, plus another $55 to top off the gas tank, we were ready to tackle the 50-miles between Fresno and Kings Canyon National Park.
We knew that our next campsite was going to be at over 6500' elevation and that we were currently at just 500' in Fresno, but I'm sure it's nothing that ROVER can't handle.
I did begin to become concerned when 30-miles into the drive we were still below 1000' which meant we'd be gaining 5500' over the next 20-miles. That's a little bit steep!
TRAVEL DAY PHOTOS
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Somewhere in those mountains up ahead is Kings Canyon National Park.
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Only 20-miles from the campground we are still on the valley floor under 1000' elevation.
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With 15-miles to go we're finally starting to leave the valley floor behind.
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With 10-miles to go we were finally above 2000' of elevation.
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ROVER is really earning a "rest stop" at this point.
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In the end ROVER delivered us to our campsite, just like he always does.
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We've got plenty of room and even a little sunlight for our solar panels.
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We bought firewood and on Wednesday night Esther and Bruce will be joining us.
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No photoshop trickery here, that's a Sugar Pine cone next to Tricia's foot. Sugar Pine cones are the largest pinecones in the world, growing up to 10-20 inches long.
MONDAY - As we usually do when we arrive in a new National Park we head over to the nearest Visitor Center to get my Passport Book stamped and watch the park's 20-minute documentary movie if there is one available.
We also checked out the breakfast menu at the Grant Grove Restaurant for a possible early morning visit sometime later this week.
After getting these two chores out of the way it was time to begin our sightseeing of Kings Canyon National Park.
Due south of Kings Canyon National Park is where you'll find Sequoia National Park, home to the General Sherman Tree, the largest known living single-stem tree on Earth by volume, an estimated 52,500 cubic ft. and contains 630,000 board feet of lumber. That's a big tree!
Just 1/4-mile from our campsite here in Kings Canyon National Park is the 2nd largest tree by volume, the General Grant Tree is an estimated 46,800 cubic ft. and only 6' shorter than the General Sherman tree.
What better place to begin our sightseeing activities.
GENERAL GRANT LOOP TRAIL
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If it weren't for that old man photobombing Tricia's shot this would have been a nice video.
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So far all of these Giant Sequoias can be seen with out leaving the parking lot.
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This Giant Sequoia stands guard over "The Fallen Monarch" tree at it's base.
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Sequoias start to widen at the base when they stop growing taller.
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Everybody has walked "around" a tree, but have you ever walked "through" a tree?
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This one you can! The Fallen Monarch Tree would make a nice home for forest critters.
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It has a nice long hallway in it.
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It has an outdoor covered patio too.
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Look! There's even a skylight.
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The only problem is there's no front door to keep uninvited guests outside.
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This is the 268' tall and estimated 1800-2000 year old tree everyone comes here to see. The General Grant Tree was dedicated as the Nation’s Christmas Tree on April 28, 1926.
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Around the back of the General Grant Tree you can see a large burn scar on the base.
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There were other equally as impressive large trees out around the grove.
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That's all for now from the Grant Grove section of the park.
Everyone who arrives at Kings Canyon National Park in a vehicle must pass through the Big Stump Entrance Station.
CORRECTION: There is an alternative entrance using Ten Mile Road through Hume Lake, but not advised for trailers like THE POD.
The Big Stump Entrance/Exit Station off to the left and a big stump off to the right.
That is NOT "The" Big Stump, it's just one of many big stumps found here in the park.
After our morning outings we returned to THE POD to have lunch and then several hours later around 3:00PM we headed out for some more sightseeing.
The 2.5-mile long road to Panoramic Point begins just outside of our campground. Over that 2.5-mile distance you gain 1000' of elevation from 6500' at the campground to 7500' at the end of the road where the trailhead is located. At least this time ROVER wasn't pulling THE POD.
The trail itself is only a 1/2-mile loop from the parking lot to the lookouts over Kings Canyon.
PANORAMIC POINT LOOP TRAIL
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From the parking lot you'll need to climb another 110' before reaching the overlook.
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This side of the loop is listed as wheelchair accessible.
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A few minutes later we reached Panoramic Point just around this bend in the trail.
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At 7700' Kings Canyon is the 2nd deepest canyon in the United States. Do you think you know what the deepest canyon is? Betcha don't!
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That's Hume Lake down in the bottom of the canyon. We'll visit there later.
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Those peaks in the background are outside the canyon in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
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A short distance further up the trail is Park Ridge Lookout with much better views.
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The return down the other side of the loop was not wheelchair accessible.
If you were thinking the Grand Canyon is the deepest canyon in the United States you'd be wrong, at 6093' deep the Grand Canyon comes in a very distant 3rd place.
Hells Canyon on the Oregon/Idaho border is 7993' deep, making it the deepest and nearly 2000' deeper than the Grand Canyon.
To refresh your memory, Kings Canyon was 7700' deep.
WEDNESDAY - There is only one way to travel through Kings Canyon National Park in a vehicle and that's to drive upon CA-180 from the Big Stump Entrance Stations to Roads Ends, a total distance of 37.5-miles.
Not all of that roadway is in Kings Canyon National Park, as a matter of fact our campsite is just 3.5-miles from the Big Stump Entrance Station and another mile down the road you leave the National Park and enter the Sequoia National Forest.
For the next 26.5-miles you're traveling through the National Forest, before re-entering the National Park for the final 7.5-miles, until you reach the end of the road. At Roads End Permit Station you'll have to apply for a free permit if you wish to travel further into the wilderness on foot.
Today we'll be traveling just passed the halfway point on the road, to Mile Marker 22.5 if you will, because there are no mileage markers along the road.
SCENES FROM SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST (heading down into Kings Canyon)
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Kings Canyon isn't the only canyon here in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
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It's just the deepest and best known one of the bunch.
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From this lookout we could see the road up ahead that we'd be traveling on today.
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I don't imagine the speed limit down there is going to be 55MPH.
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Kings Canyon is deeper than the Grand Canyon and you can drive down to the bottom of it.
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Keep your eyes on the road Phil and look at the pictures later.
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We are getting close to our destination now and the road is smoothing out a little.
It's time for our 8th and final cave tour of 2027. It will be our 81st such tour since we started traveling fulltime in THE POD.
Cave touring is one of the few activities we've managed to do "every single year" that we've been on the road.
BOYDEN CAVERN
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We've arrived at Boyden Cave in the bottom of Kings Canyon.
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That's not a road on the mountainside, that's the walkway to the cave entrance.
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The pathway starts out by going down first?
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Then it goes up at a very steep angle for about 100-yards.
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That's the bridge down there where we started this hike.
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The walk up to the entrance was definetely the hardest part of the tour.
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Finally we make our way into the cave. Last one in, close the gate please!
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I'm glad Tricia remembered to close the gate!
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We were warned there would be some tight maneuvering inside the cave.
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Watch your head! Those cave walls are unforgiving if you bump into them.
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Soda straw formations with cave popcorn on the outside.
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Iris, our guide, explaining how the cave was formed.
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You get an up close look at the formations in this cave.
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Exhale deeply and hold your breath for this one.
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This formation was called "The Wedding Cake".
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This was called "The Drapery Room", my favorite part of the tour.
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This was by far the largest formation along the tour today.
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Ari and Kevin, from Wisconsin, were on only their 2nd cave tour. I think they're hooked now!
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The tour is over and we're back outside. Time to hike down to the parking lot.
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I sure am glad those parking bumpers were anchored properly.
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Most of the rock here in Kings Canyon is Blue Marble and the water polishes it up nicely.
After the cave tour concluded we turned around and started back towards the campsite. We're saving the rest of the Scenic Drive for tomorrow.
SCENES FROM SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST (heading up out of Kings Canyon)
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The South Fork of the Kings River is what runs through the bottom of Kings Canyon.
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This is about as low as the water flow gets throughout the year.
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The river is much wider and faster flowing during the spring thaw.
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The route certainly does make for a Scenic Drive through the canyon.
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It amazing to look at all the different color rocks.
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The river is now far down below us.
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Zoomed in you can see just how much water is still flowing through the canyon.
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We decided to pull over here and let the driver get a good long look at the scenery...
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...and so I can prepare to safely negotiate the next few turns.
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We nearly missed spotting this unnamed and unmarked waterfall along the road.
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Someone has been busy building these small rock cairns.
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Glaciers carve out "U" shaped canyons and rivers carve out "V" shaped ones.
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For $8.09 a gallon you can fill your tank using these 1940s style gravity fed visible gas pumps.
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Nearly back home now, but tomorrow's sightseeing will bring more photos I'm sure.
THURSDAY - Last night at 7:00PM it was our turn to host a campfire with our newest friends, Esther and Bruce.
After the fire went out we made plans to meet once more for breakfast at 8:00AM the next morning at the restaurant inside of Grant Grove Village across the street from the campground.
Today they begin their slow roll back to Florida for the winter and we will be doing the same starting next week. We hope to cross paths with them again before the end of the year.
We left the restaurant around 10:00AM to begin our 37-mile long scenic drive, this time to the end of CA-180 in Kings Canyon.
KINGS CANYON SCENIC DRIVE
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This is all "new road" for us, beyond Boyden Cavern, where we turned around yesterday.
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Now that's a very interesting looking piece of the mountainside.
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Grizzly Falls is the first of four planned hiking stops for today.
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The falls are just a short 100' from the parking lot. You can see by the water stained rock just how wide this waterfall is in the spring.
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Grizzly Falls measures 145' from top to bottom.
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100' downstream from here Grizzly Creek joins up with the South Fork of Kings River.
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This is confluence of Grizzly Creek and the South Fork of the Kings River.
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We are now on the wide bottomland of the canyon where trees dominate the grounds.
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Here we are leaving Sequoia National Forest behind and re-entering Kings Canyon NP.
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The slow moving snow melt water is crystal clear under this bridge.
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This is not the 7700' deep part of the canyon, but it sure does look like it from here.
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We've reached the trailhead for our 2nd hike of the today at Roaring River Falls.
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This trail is a little bit longer at 900' from start to finish.
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There are warning signs here of "No Swimming" but people still do it anyway.
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The final plunge of Roaring River Falls is only 40', but it's a beauty.
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The overall height of Roaring River Falls is 120', but the upper levels can't be seen.
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Tricia climbed over some boulders to get right down to the waters edge for this shot.
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A look at the boulder field Tricia climbed through to take the previos video.
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Well we made it to the end of the road, but the temperatures are in the low 90°Fs here...
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...so we skipped one of our hikes and did the short trail to Knapps Cabin.
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The cabin itself wasn't all that impressive, but the scenery sure was.
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Looking up river into Kings Canyon from Knapps Cabin.
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Looking down river. Mr. Knapp sure knew how to pick a location to build a home.
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Inside Sheep Creek Campground this odd looking sight on Campsite #90.
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It's easy to see the rock was here first and the trees grew up around it.
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No way the trees were here first!
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It's getting cloudy out and the shadows are making the mountains look more interesting.
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While you can see some of the blue mable in the mountainside here, it's the next photo that is probably my favorite of the whole visit.
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What geological occurence made these wavy rock lines possible?
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We are getting ready to leave the canyon floor behind and start a long climb out of here.
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More of those cloud shadows playing tricks with the mountainside.
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Our 4th and final visit of the day was down to Hume Lake.
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Hume Lake is more than 1000' below where we are currently camping.
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There is a Forest Service campground located on the opposite shore of the lake.
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A dam was built on Tenmile Creek to create Hume Lake back in 1909.
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Hume Lake has a surface area of 87 acres at an elevation of 5200'.
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That's right! A new record for us, $100 worth of $7.09⁹ gas went into ROVER's tank today.
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Leaving Hume Lake and heading back to CA-180 had several lovely pullouts.
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Tricia found this short little trail.
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It led to a boulder perched on the mountainside...
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...where the following photos and video were taken.
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I can't think of a better way to conclude this post than having Tricia waving goodbye.
Looking for our Visited States Map and Data? How about our State by State Bucket Lists or Visited Campgrounds List? If so, click on the sign below to be taken to our other website.
Somewhere in those mountains up ahead is Kings Canyon National Park.
Only 20-miles from the campground we are still on the valley floor under 1000' elevation.
With 15-miles to go we're finally starting to leave the valley floor behind.
With 10-miles to go we were finally above 2000' of elevation.
ROVER is really earning a "rest stop" at this point.
In the end ROVER delivered us to our campsite, just like he always does.
We've got plenty of room and even a little sunlight for our solar panels.
We bought firewood and on Wednesday night Esther and Bruce will be joining us.
No photoshop trickery here, that's a Sugar Pine cone next to Tricia's foot.
So far all of these Giant Sequoias can be seen with out leaving the parking lot.
This Giant Sequoia stands guard over "The Fallen Monarch" tree at it's base.
Sequoias start to widen at the base when they stop growing taller.
Everybody has walked "around" a tree, but have you ever walked "through" a tree?
This one you can! The Fallen Monarch Tree would make a nice home for forest critters.
It has a nice long hallway in it.
It has an outdoor covered patio too.
Look! There's even a skylight.
The only problem is there's no front door to keep uninvited guests outside.
This is the 268' tall and estimated 1800-2000 year old tree everyone comes here to see.
There were other equally as impressive large trees out around the grove.
That's all for now from the Grant Grove section of the park.
From the parking lot you'll need to climb another 110' before reaching the overlook.
This side of the loop is listed as wheelchair accessible.
A few minutes later we reached Panoramic Point just around this bend in the trail.
At 7700' Kings Canyon is the 2nd deepest canyon in the United States.
That's Hume Lake down in the bottom of the canyon. We'll visit there later.
Those peaks in the background are outside the canyon in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
A short distance further up the trail is Park Ridge Lookout with much better views.
The return down the other side of the loop was not wheelchair accessible.
Kings Canyon isn't the only canyon here in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
It's just the deepest and best known one of the bunch.
From this lookout we could see the road up ahead that we'd be traveling on today.
I don't imagine the speed limit down there is going to be 55MPH.
Kings Canyon is deeper than the Grand Canyon and you can drive down to the bottom of it.
Keep your eyes on the road Phil and look at the pictures later.
We are getting close to our destination now and the road is smoothing out a little.
We've arrived at Boyden Cave in the bottom of Kings Canyon.
That's not a road on the mountainside, that's the walkway to the cave entrance.
The pathway starts out by going down first?
Then it goes up at a very steep angle for about 100-yards.
That's the bridge down there where we started this hike.
The walk up to the entrance was definetely the hardest part of the tour.
Finally we make our way into the cave. Last one in, close the gate please!
I'm glad Tricia remembered to close the gate!
We were warned there would be some tight maneuvering inside the cave.
Watch your head! Those cave walls are unforgiving if you bump into them.
Soda straw formations with cave popcorn on the outside.
Iris, our guide, explaining how the cave was formed.
You get an up close look at the formations in this cave.
Exhale deeply and hold your breath for this one.
This formation was called "The Wedding Cake".
This was called "The Drapery Room", my favorite part of the tour.
This was by far the largest formation along the tour today.
Ari and Kevin, from Wisconsin, were on only their 2nd cave tour. I think they're hooked now!
The tour is over and we're back outside. Time to hike down to the parking lot.
I sure am glad those parking bumpers were anchored properly.
Most of the rock here in Kings Canyon is Blue Marble and the water polishes it up nicely.
The South Fork of the Kings River is what runs through the bottom of Kings Canyon.
The river is much wider and faster flowing during the spring thaw.
The route certainly does make for a Scenic Drive through the canyon.
It amazing to look at all the different color rocks.
We decided to pull over here and let the driver get a good long look at the scenery...
...and so I can prepare to safely negotiate the next few turns.
Someone has been busy building these small rock cairns.
Glaciers carve out "U" shaped canyons and rivers carve out "V" shaped ones.
For $8.09 a gallon you can fill your tank using these 1940s style gravity fed visible gas pumps.
Nearly back home now, but tomorrow's sightseeing will bring more photos I'm sure.
This is all "new road" for us, beyond Boyden Cavern, where we turned around yesterday.
Now that's a very interesting looking piece of the mountainside.
Grizzly Falls is the first of four planned hiking stops for today.
The falls are just a short 100' from the parking lot.
This is confluence of Grizzly Creek and the South Fork of the Kings River.
We are now on the wide bottomland of the canyon where trees dominate the grounds.
Here we are leaving Sequoia National Forest behind and re-entering Kings Canyon NP.
The slow moving snow melt water is crystal clear under this bridge.
This is not the 7700' deep part of the canyon, but it sure does look like it from here.
We've reached the trailhead for our 2nd hike of the today at Roaring River Falls.
This trail is a little bit longer at 900' from start to finish.
There are warning signs here of "No Swimming" but people still do it anyway.
The final plunge of Roaring River Falls is only 40', but it's a beauty.
The overall height of Roaring River Falls is 120', but the upper levels can't be seen.
Tricia climbed over some boulders to get right down to the waters edge for this shot.
A look at the boulder field Tricia climbed through to take the previos video.
Well we made it to the end of the road, but the temperatures are in the low 90°Fs here...
...so we skipped one of our hikes and did the short trail to Knapps Cabin.
The cabin itself wasn't all that impressive, but the scenery sure was.
Looking up river into Kings Canyon from Knapps Cabin.
Looking down river. Mr. Knapp sure knew how to pick a location to build a home.
Inside Sheep Creek Campground this odd looking sight on Campsite #90.
It's easy to see the rock was here first and the trees grew up around it.
No way the trees were here first! 
It's getting cloudy out and the shadows are making the mountains look more interesting.
While you can see some of the blue mable in the mountainside here,
What geological occurence made these wavy rock lines possible?
We are getting ready to leave the canyon floor behind and start a long climb out of here.
More of those cloud shadows playing tricks with the mountainside.
Our 4th and final visit of the day was down to Hume Lake.
Hume Lake is more than 1000' below where we are currently camping.
There is a Forest Service campground located on the opposite shore of the lake.
A dam was built on Tenmile Creek to create Hume Lake back in 1909.
Hume Lake has a surface area of 87 acres at an elevation of 5200'.
That's right! A new record for us, $100 worth of $7.09⁹ gas went into ROVER's tank today.
Leaving Hume Lake and heading back to CA-180 had several lovely pullouts.
Tricia found this short little trail.
It led to a boulder perched on the mountainside...
...where the following photos and video were taken.
I can't think of a better way to conclude this post than having Tricia waving goodbye.
