fivespot cabin

plan your trip - the basics

You can't help but enjoy a trip if you are prepared, so a little online research will help make the most of your visit to Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park. Here are links to sites that give basic, accurate information for getting around and what you'll see here. Stay tuned: in my next post I'll share sites with detailed trail descriptions.

A wonderful site by National Geographic highlighting events, natural and cultural sites, and local business (including fivespot!) in the Sierra Nevada:
http://www.sierranevadageotourism.org/

Very good overview of the Sequoia Kings Canyon region from Wikitravel:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Kings_Canyon_National_Park

I've always loved Sunset magazine. When we lived in New York City, we read it cover-to-cover, as if we were expats!
http://www.sunset.com/travel/california/sequoia-kings-canyon-national-park-guide-00418000068475/

Lonely Planest correctly suggests Kings Canyon as a quiet alternative to Yosemite:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/california/kings-canyon-national-park/travel-tips-and-articles/698#

A monster list of organizations in and websites of the Sequoia Kings Canyon area:
http://www.sequoia-kingscanyon.com/links.html

Finally, the National Park Service's home page for SeKi (Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park):
http://www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm

winter playgrounds await snowshoers, cross-country skiers: fresnobee.com

via www.fresnobee.com

From today's Fresno Bee, a detailed description of skiing up Big Baldy, one of the Parks' best hikes, winter and summer. The trailhead is only 25 minutes from fivespot!

Giant Sequoias on the cover of National Geographic magazine

Giant Sequoias are featured in an astounding poster in this month's National Geographic magazine. These are the world's largest trees, thousands of years old. And they continue to persist century after century in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, just 15 minutes from fivespot.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/12/sequoias/quammen-text

Don't miss the fold-out poster inside the print version of the magazine. You will be inspired to see these incredible trees for yourself!

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/12/sequoias/gatefold-image

I took these pictures, and they sure don't compare with National Geographic's. But hey, it's hard to capture such huge trees on a point-and-shoot!

 

Related articles

Video Shows How Magnificent 247 Foot Tall Giant Sequoia was Photographed for National Geographic

PHOTO: Upon Further Review, Giant Tree Beats Out Neighbor

above the fog

When it's not snowing, winter brings gorgeous, clear days, and sparkling nights to Pinehurst and the mountains above. From our 4000' perch above California, we look down on an ocean: it's Tule fog. Blanketing the San Joaquin Valley in the late nights, mornings, and sometimes all day in the winter, the fog looks like a vast sea from fivespot. Amazingly, there are islands too - the higher peaks of the Coast Ranges, as far as 140 miles from here.

You can glimpse this phenomenon from fivespot (a sunset view):

 

Bachrun and I (and other friends) often walk from fivespot to the Hogback - an infrequently-traveled county road with wonderful views. Here's what we saw on a partly-cloudy New Year's Day.

View to the southwest: the San Joaquin Valley and the Coast Ranges, with virga (rain that doesn't reach the ground) coming down.

Here are two views to the south of the Tehachapi Range. In the first, I zoomed in on the Tehachapis 150 miles away. In the second, it is as you would see it - no zoom, just a huge expanse of land from Hogback practically to L.A.

 

It wasn't the best day to get a good shot of the Sierras to the east. I will post more blog-worthy pictures of the Mineral King peaks and nearby Big Baldy, as seen from Hogback, soon. And learn more about California geography and weather from links I've posted on the sidebar.