Our trip to Sequoia National Park was the most relaxing of our trips thus far. We were able to stay for 3 days and just hike, explore and discover to our hearts content. Our campsite was nestled in a forest between a mountain and a raging river that was flooded with icy cold snow melt. When not hiking, the kids spent their free time roaming the woods, where they found several hidden springs. What do you do with hidden springs? Make dams, of course!
Our hike to General Sherman was more nostalgic for Clint and I. We had been here 15 years ago and were anxious to show the kids this amazing tree, the biggest tree by volume in the world. We were not disappointed once again at the size of these amazing trees. But as we (Clint and I) walked around with our heads up in the air, trying to get glimpses of the tops of these monsters, the kids were obsessed with finding the pine cones from them. Surely a tree this large would have gigantic pine cones to match! We were all very surprised to learn that the biggest trees in the park had the smallest pine cones. We were successful in discovering that some of the largest pine cones we ever saw came from the Lodge Pole Pines. One pine cone was the size of Viktoria’s entire arm.
We have learned on our trip that Nathan is not a hiker. He has made it loud and clear that any walk, any distance, at any elevation is too much work for him and he doesn’t want to do it anymore. So, to appease him and give all their little legs a rest, the rest of our hikes were short ones that started at our campsite. Our last day at Sequoia, we took a short adventure through the woods on a trail along the river. We spent the day looking at the amazing plants, flowers (the snow flower that only blooms in the snow) and animals. We were able to explore up a little creek and find a wonderland of small waterfalls cascading down the rocks. We picnicked here, threw rocks and Clint and I soaked up every memory we possibly could. At the end of the day, after supper had been eaten and marshmellows had been roasted, a fellow camper came to get us. There was a momma black bear and 2 cubs walking, playing and foraging for food next to our campsite at the base of the mountain. We sat there in awe and watched as the cubs wrestled with each other and played as the momma looked for food. Our trip was now complete! We came, we saw, we were blessed!
