i sometimes forget how lucky i was to grow up in california. national parks, beaches, mountains, desert, all of these places within a couple MINUTES or couple hours drive away. this time we drove a couple of hours to see some gigantic trees and waterfalls.
Day 1 June 14 2016
Sequoia National Park
As we drove from LA we did not arrive at the park until late afternoon so we did not have enough time to drive through the entire park. however we did have a chance to stop at the first overlook to take a quick look and picture of the surrounding mountains.
Day 2 June 15 2016
Sequoia National Park
We started our day quite early so that we could see as much of the park as possible. we first stopped at the giant forest museum to learn more about these giant sequoias then we walked around via the big trees trail nearby to actually see the real sequoias. it is quite amazing how incredibly huge these trees are.
Next stop was to Moro Rock, you have to climb up several steep steps up but the view on top is well worth it. you almost get a 360 view of the entire park. then we drove through tunnel rock, you can really see the actual scale and thickness of these trees when you can drive through the middle of one.
as the park is quite large you can just drive or take the park shuttle bus to each scenic spot. however we wanted to enjoy being in nature so we decided to take the high sierra trail then down with the alta peak trail to get us at the general sherman tree. it was a very nice and unexpected hike as we walked alongside the mountains we could see some amazing views that you couldn't see just from driving around in the park. but after a couple of hours we made it to the famous general sherman tree, the largest single stem tree in the world. at 84m tall, you do feel pretty MINUSCULE when standing next to it.
Day 3 June 16 2016
Yosemite National Park
we made it to yosemite early in the evening the night before and just had time to check into our cabin in the half dome village and sleep, we were pretty tired from our hike earier in the day. as yosemite park is quite large, i would recommend staying at one of the facilities in the park, it will save you time from driving in and out of the park everyday. and there is always an option to camp but book in advance during high season as spots fill up quickly.
the benefit of staying in half dome village is that you can just walk a few meters and you are already on the trail towards the vernal and nevada falls. it was quite a nice hike up and down through the falls and SURROUNDING landscape. it does take a couple hours to do so ensure you have plenty of water and some snacks to bring along. you can also make it a full day hike by continuing up all the way to the half dome but you need to fully prepare yourself. but we were very lucky that day as it started to briefly rain then the sun came out causing a beautiful rainbow to appear above the waterfall.
after we made it back down, pretty exhausted we got a bite to eat (a very large pizza and a beer of course) and then took a bit of a rest. as we had arrived just as the sun was setting yesterday, we wanted to make sure we got to see the sunset tonight. and it was absolutely spectacular.
Day 4 June 17 2016
Yosemite National Park
As we were driving back to LA today, we couldn't do anymore hiking or anything too strenuous. So we decided on our way out of the park, we would stop by to take a look at the yosemite fall by walking around the lower yosemite falls trail.
wish we could have stayed longer at both parks and done a bit more hiking and exploring, but i guess there is always next time.
