Sequoia/Kings Canyon Trip on a Moment's Notice

With both my partners at work taking nearly month-long trips over June and July, I started to get antsy knowing that I'd be tied down over the next two months. Joe was kind enough to cover some days for me so we could get off-island for a week. Not having anything particular in mind, we were sure of one thing: no overnight flight. That pretty much leaves us with Hawaiian islands, Cali, Seattle and Portland. Since it had been hot and calm for the past few weeks in Kalaheo, we decided on cooler climes and headed to the Sierra Nevada mountains to check out the adjoining national parks. We booked our last minute flight on Priceline and saved 55% which allowed us to spend more on our shoddy accommodations (more on that later).

We got some reasonable flights into Fresno, CA and planned on driving the hour and fifteen minutes to the park that night even though we were scheduled to arrive at 11:20 PM. With the 3 hour time difference, that wasn't too bad until we called the guy that was renting us the cabin and he didn't have any record of us booking it. Not surprisingly, he had no problem taking my credit card number over the phone a few days before that. This guy seemed to be the most organized fellow I'd ever encountered. After wasting about 45 minutes of our precious non-crabby time with Maddie, he realized that he did have have our reservation.

Upon arriving at the somewhat difficult to find cabin, Mr. Disorganized wanted to talk our ears off while Maddie wanted to go back to sleep. We were thrilled to find out that the 2 sources of heat advertised on the website were an old, inefficient fireplace and a brand new tabletop propane heater that used the little green Coleman propane tanks. These were good for about 3 hours of heat. Not an ideal method to warm an entire cabin with an 18 month who is accustomed to 70 degree temperatures at night especially when nighttime temperatures at 6500 feet fall to the 40s even in June.

After a restless night of sleep, we enjoyed the daytime scenery and made the hour drive to the Cedar Grove area of Kings Canyon. It was a beautiful drive and we made multiple stops along the way for short, easy hikes where Maddie could get out and run around after a day of traveling. Great mountain, waterfall and meadow scenery for little effort and the weather was specatcular - high 60's, mostly sunny. We stopped at the market on the way back to pick up supplies which consisted mostly of beer and pre-packaged meals. As you may know, food selection and quality is not the strong point of the national parks. We settled in at the cabin and got a roaring fire going to fend off the chilly evening temperatures and keep the place warm through the night.

Grizzly Falls

I love waterfalls...aaaarrrrrggghhhh!

Roaring River Falls

Zumwalt Meadow

Due to another night of sub-standard sleep, we got a late start to Cedar Grove to hike the Mist Falls Trail. None of us were in a great mood so the hour ride to our destination was less than pleasant. The skies were foreboding and rain intermittently pelted the windshield on our way to the trailhead. We geared up and departed for the falls despite the high likelihood of rain and low likelihood that we could make the 4.1 mile one way hike before we got drenched. We kept a blistering pace along the trail and made the falls in about 70 minutes. The sight of the waterfall brightened everyone's mood and we cruised back to the trailhead much happier than we had left it.

Everyone slept well that night and we spent the next day making our way along the General's Highway seeing some of the more touristy sights. We did a short, easy hike to another huge waterfall and then saw the largest living thing in the world - the General Sherman Giant Sequoia. The scenery along the "highway" was beautiful ranging from expansive mountain views to beautiful old growth sequoias, but the descent into Three Rivers was extremely narrow and winding. We were spurred on by the thought of a meal not produced by the national parks.

Tokopah Falls

Sadly, we were disappointed by the food selection in Three Rivers as it was harldly the artsy, gateway community described in the guidebook. It was more like a collection of crappy strip malls lined up along the road to the national park with some mildly pretty river scenery. Positives: Our lodging was much cheaper, our accommodations were very nice, good access to the remote Mineral King area of the park, the grocery store had Stone Pale Ale and Arrogant Bastard. Negatives: The "natural river water source" that supplied our shower smelled like hot rotten eggs, food was average and overpriced. Unfortunately, the weather, which had cooperated nicely until this point, did not hold out and the high elevation Mineral King Valley received snow overnight.

Despite the overcast, rainy, foggy weather, we drove through the mountains to Mineral King. The rangers informed us that typical conditions for this time of year was 50's and sunny with wildflowers starting to bloom, but we got rainy and 34 degress. Em and Maddie, having much more sense than me, returned to the car after a brief jaunt, while I continued up the mountain to view some high alpine lakes. As the snow began to fall quite hard and my tracks disappeared behind me in nearly whiteout conditions, I determined seeing alpine lakes wasn't as important as seeing Em and Maddie again so I turned around (about a quarter mile from the lakes). We ate some average Mexican food for dinner and returned to the comfort of our cabin to watch a few movies and partake of some Stone brews.

Some of the wildlife - Marmot, also affectionately known by as "mountain beaver"

How I spent my summer vacation...

Our flight was scheduled for early afternoon so we made a leisurely departure from Three Rivers to catch our flight in Fresno. Maddie was an absolute angel on the flight. We were ecstatic to have the entire row to ourselves since the big-haired crazy Hollywood "executive" just couldn't be bothered with having a small child in her row and thus, moved up a row. Good riddance, though I did have trouble seeing the flight attendant past our friend's extravagantly teased hair.

It was a great trip especially considering our severe lack of planning until 1 week prior to departure. I highly recommend Kings Canyon Sequoia if you're looking for the grandeur of Yosemite without waiting in line to take your outdoor photos.

Simply Put, The Best Hike Ever (Part 2 of 2)

With Great Grandma T and Cathy in town, Em and I took advantage of a rare occasion to escape for a few days - off to Kalalau again. Very rare indeed considering Em has never been away from Maddie for more than 10 hours.  I guess that's the "price" we pay for living 5000 miles from family.  We departed Kalaheo at 4:30 to pick up Mike and Kaya in Lawai and then around the island to the north shore. Our arrival at Ke'e beach served as a stark contrast to our previous Na Pali Trek. Quite a few cars and a huge group of 20-somethings were all geared up and ready to hit the trail. A month ago, Tyler and I had the trail to ourselves for the first 6 miles.

In any case, we got a fairly efficient start in nice weather with good, dry trail ahead of us. We kept a decent pace and made it to Hanakoa Valley (just over halfway) in less than 4 hours. As we proceeded out of Hanakoa Valley, the skies began to darken and become threatening. At just about the same time Kaya's shoe exploded and she was forced to hike the rest of the way with busted footwear. Things weren't looking that good.

Though rain is always a consideration, we'd received a grand total of zero rain for the past 2 weeks so we figured we were safe (but we always hike prepared). Sure enough, just about the time we started descending the trail where it becomes very exposed and eroded, we started getting pelted with rain. Down, down, down the eroded and now wet switchbacks toward the nastiest part of the trail where it hugs the cliff and drops off several hundred feet on the ocean side. Em particularly enjoyed this section. We fought through the terrible conditions and eventually made it to Red Hill where the rain cleared a bit.

By this time, we just wanted to make camp and take a nap. We dropped down to the river and found our previous campsite uninhabited so we grabbed it again. Hastily, we erected the tent while the weather remained dry and managed to get inside, just about the time the rain started again. Semi-dry clothes, a dry tent and a good rest - we weren't complaining now...until the tent started leaking. Somehow in less than a month since I had used the backpacking tent, much of the seam tape had pulled from the fly seams. This was very odd since I'd never had a problem with the tent before. After a little quick thinking and rigging I had the groundcloth on top of the fly and secured to the guylines to create a waterproof haven.

The dreary weather remained the rest of the evening, but we were happy enough just to be there and be dry. We enjoyed the good company and a few drinks together before an early return to the dry tents and our sleeping bags.

Thankfully, the morning was reasonably clear, so we made a quick breakfast, some strong coffee and headed to Kalalau Beach. We basked in the sun along with a large monk seal for awhile until we decided to explore the sea cave on the west side of the beach. Kalalau Beach had changed drastically over a month. It was now about 40 yards wider from ocean to cliffs and where we once had to time the waves and skirt the rocks to attain the sea cave, now we needed only to saunter right over the sand. We relaxed around the sea cave and watched the beautiful waves roll into the shore. Later we spent some time walking the beach and then enjoyed the waterfall at the base of the cliffs. After lounging on the beach awhile, the clouds started to roll in again and we retreated toward camp where we could shelter ourselves from the rain.

Next we bathed in the river and got our dinner supplies ready to cook on the point above our campsite and watch the sunset. Though somewhat less exciting than the rest of our exploration, preparing dinner with the tropical breezes blowing, the evening light, views along the coast and spending time with our good friends was definitely a highlight of the trip.

Through persistence, Kaya managed a small fire at our moist campsite while we listened to some music on my portable speakers. As we sat, I reflected on the time we'd had with Mike and Kaya and was sad to see that time coming to an end, but relished the companionship at present. We retreated early, knowing we had a ten mile hike ahead of us in the morning.

The hike out was hot and sweaty, but I was thankful for all the food we'd consumed at camp - this meant a MUCH lighter pack. I had to carry out 4 fewer canned goods, 2 12 oz. cans of soda, a liter of liquor and several bags of dry food. In my estimation, I shaved off 15-20 pounds from what I carried in, which is a huge difference in backpacking terms. The others were less excited about the hike out. We made decent time until Hanakapiai where we met the hordes of tourists along the trail. As expected, it was highly unpleasant. With the promise of cold drinks a short drive from the trailhead, we did our best to get there ASAP. A short while later, we were showered and cruising on the highway with the AC on and refreshing beverages in hand. All in all, another thrilling experience on the Kalalau trail.

Maddie at Her Finest

She's a cutie!!!!!!!  Well, OK...she looks like a drunken bum in some pictures, but you've gotta take the good with the bad.  The last picture is our favorite.  Hands down winner.

That's just awesome!