Kings Canyon National Park-Canyon, Trees and a Bear, Oh My!

Today, we planned on going over to Kings Canyon National Park. We were told on Monday about a road we could take that would knock about an hour off our drive. We took it and after an hour and a half of curvy mountain roads later we were there.


We stopped at the Visitors Center to stamp my passport book and pick up some postcards, then head over to the General Grant, another giant sequoia in the park.

I caught this little squirrel watching the trees as well. :)



We walked around the path and one could not miss this giant tree which towers 268 feet high and is over 2000 years old.





We headed next into the Kings Canyon. As we began the journey down, we stopped at the vista above. That is the road winding down on the right and the river at the bottom in the center of the picture.



It was another winding mountain road with great views. I kept offering to drive, but Jim wouldn't let me. :)


We made it to the bottom and here is Kings River, lots of white water.


We stopped to eat lunch at Grizzly Falls.


We drove almost to the end of the road stopping at this meadow with the river running by it.





The road through the canyon ends, you turn around and go back the same way you came.

We got back to where we started and this time we took the road back through Sequoia National Park.


Just after we passed this giant grove of we noticed 4 people on the side of the road. After being in Yellowstone last year, we knew when you see things like that, there is possibly wildlife.

And yes there was! Is that a bear?


We spent 2 weeks in Yellowstone last year and never spotted a bear. Here was a black bear in a field about 20 yards from us just munching along. He wasn't too concerned with us.


We were so excited to see a bear in the wild! There is a lot of education in the parks about the bears. People are told to keep all food out of the bear's reach in order to save a bear's life. If a bear gets the taste for human food, many times they lose their fear of people and become more aggressive in the hunt for that food. Then, the bear has to be killed.


Our last stop was the General Sherman, the largest living thing in the world. There are people at the base of the tree that look like little dots.






Beautiful scenery, giant trees, and a bear, another great day!

Location:Three Rivers, California