Azalea – Kings Canyon NP

This is where we close out Summer 25. We had initially thought to try to get into Yosemite for a last hurrah, but it looked too crazy and crowded. I had made reservations for an in between stop at Lake McClure that would have given us hookups between the two national parks, but the forecast said it would be hot and we wanted to end on a national park high, so we cancelled and ended the trip with Sequoia/Kings. It’s funny how much we don’t mind the idea of going home now. We used to push it to the last possible minute, but now we welcome a little bit of down time at home before the school year starts. We attribute much of this change to Richard’s new job. No more dreading the return to work life. Also of critical significance is the addition of the ADU, making cohabitation with our daughter a non issue. But before that last travel day, we got in a ton of activities in a really big double park.

The four thousand foot climb from Sequoia RV to Azalea campground in Kings Canyon had me spooked. I am not a fan of deathy drives and I got triggered the night before about what was to come. I looked at Google street view and watched some YouTube videos to get a sense of the road. I’m not sure if that helped or hindered, but I was certainly ready for the turns with no guard rail and no shoulder. I employed a new calming strategy by incessantly humming “Under Pressure” in my head. Besides that, I just went slow and kept my eye on the yellow line. As a note to my future self: 180 between Cat Haven and 245 is not that bad. It’s not your favorite, but it’s only about seven miles with short sections of no guard rail. You won’t like it, but soon a guard rail will appear, or some trees, or a bank between you and the edge. You did it before, you can do it again, you’ll be fine.

Once we got to the Grant Grove Visitor Center area, the tense driving was over and I pulled into the parking area at the campground so we could get our bearings. We did check to see if our site was open, but it was early and the previous occupants hadn’t left yet. No problem, we just explored the market and visitor center for an hour or so. Richard had good cell service, and while I didn’t, I was pleased to find good wifi at the gift store. Richard also found Mint It’s Its at the market and got me one cause I totally deserved it.

We set up in our pull along site by making a u-turn so Dory’s door would not open into the campground loop road. It’s a lovely, peaceful campground and we were way back at the end, so there weren’t too many people driving past. It was a bit tight to fit the car in and not stick out, but we managed.

We had a lot of time on the day, so Richard suggested we ride down to Hume Lake, making a loop that took us up Hume Lake Road at the end. That was a great idea because I’d seen pictures of that, and figured I would like driving it even less. It’s awesome when you can preview those roads on a bike. We went down General’s Highway for a couple of miles before we got to the turn off for Ten Mile Road. This is a totally normal, non deathy road that takes you the long way to Hume Lake. It was a big descent, but not steep, just an effortless roll for about five miles.

We saw the road that leads to Bearskin Meadow and waved. About twenty years ago, we came to Bearskin Meadow to attend the Diabetes Youth Families (DYF) family camp. This was the first summer after our daughter had been diagnosed with Type 1 (formerly juvenile) diabetes and the DYF camp was a life saver. They have summer camps at Bearskin Meadow and other camp opportunities in the Bay Area throughout the year. These are magical places where kids with Type 1 can connect with other kids in an environment where checking your blood sugar, changing your pump site, and counting carbs is what everyone else is doing. It was a transformative and memorable experience for our family, but honestly we didn’t remember a single thing about the rest of Kings Canyon. I think maybe we did day trips, but it was all a blank slate.

We arrived at Hume Lake surprised to see hustle and bustle and a number of lodges and stores, plus tons of people. It was unlike a typical resort area, and the prominent and centrally located chapel clued us in to the fact that this was a massive Christian camp. We popped in to the market to see what they had, which was unusually well stocked with candy things: automated shake dispensers, a Jelly Belly wall, Dippin Dots, and a very well stocked ice cream coffin. We noticed that most of the people hustling and bustling were teens and kids. I’ll bet the store does very well. They also host one of the few gas stations in the area. There’s another one located further south on General’s Highway at Stony Creek. Or you can go back down to Dunlap. Gas here is a thing, so don’t come with an empty tank.

We climbed up Hume Lake Road, which I think I could do in a car, but why would I? It is narrow and has drop offs, but there’s room for two cars to get past each other. Going downhill wouldn’t be a problem because you’re against the slope. Lots of people seemed to be driving that road as the preferred way in and out of Hume Lake. From there, it’s a trudge on highway 180 to get back to Azalea. We passed by Princess campground and stopped to look at their dump. There is no dump at Azalea or Sunset, so it would be a six mile commitment. We noted it for the future. We also stopped at an overlook where you can see the twisty road descending down into the canyon. That was on the agenda for later in the week.

I made a dinner of chicken and sesame brown rice with broccoli and sambal peach sauce. I figured, we’re in bear territory, might as well let them know we’ve arrived. After dinner we walked down to nearby Grant Grove, where we could see the General Grant tree. This sequoia is the second largest tree by volume in the world. General Sherman, thirty miles to the south, takes the title of biggest tree in the world. General Grant has a wider ground circumference, measured at 107 feet! Its height is 268.1 feet, while General Sherman’s height is 274.9. The tallest tree in the world, Hyperion, is actually a cousin species to the giant sequoias, and towers at an unbelievable 380.8 feet. That one is located near the coast in Redwood National Forest. The giant sequoias have similar features, but they go wide and massive. Some of their upper branches are the size of whole trees. Someone described them as “elephants and broccoli,” and that about sums it up. But really big elephants and broccoli.

The next day began with a long drive south, along General’s Highway. We stopped at Stony Creek to make sure we could get gas there if needed. Yes we could. It’s a 24/7 automated pay pump. We also noted what food they had, knowing it would be a long day and we’d be wanting dinner.

On we drove to the Lodgepole Visitor Center. This is sort of the central hub for Sequoia National Park. Sequoia and Kings Canyon are laid out piecemeal, with forest service land, and some private land, in between. There are two main ways to get to Lodgepole, either switchbacking up from Three Rivers, or going up 180 from Fresno and cutting south near Grant Grove. Considering how daunting all this mountain driving is, to me anyway, there was certainly no lack of cars at Lodgepole. There were a lot of services here, including showers, a store, restaurant, and … ice cream! (take a shot)

We drove a short distance to get to the trailhead parking for the General Sherman tree. Yes. That is one big tree. You have to crane your head back to see the top and it’s hard to capture it in pictures. Also hard was finding a moment when there weren’t people taking selfies by the name plaque.

We took a loop trail that got us away from the crowds and passed through the “Senate” and “House” groves. The trail is named “Congress Trail” and I get what they’re going for. The two stands of trees do seem like an imposing and majestic gathering of god like figures, making decisions of import, sharing space and ecosystem, perfectly balancing their own growth with the needs of their symbiotic, inextricably intertwined, community. Shame that any words associated with government have fallen so far from that lofty ideal. I took a picture of a tree once tall and proud, whose top had been obliterated, probably by lightning. And another picture of a clusterfuck of fallen giants, toppling over each other and knocking down their counterparts. Those images seem far more apropos for the titles.

My absolute favorite part of the trail was spotting a Yellow Bellied Marmot. He had his butt to us for a long while, figuring he was invisible and we would walk on by. I was patient though and when he turned around, he looked just like that meme of the marmot screaming, “ALLAN!” He amused me greatly.

It was time for us to head toward our scheduled event of the day. Crystal Cave has been closed to the public for the past four years, but is now open for tours. We made reservations months ago, knowing only that it would be a long drive from Azalea to get there. We later knew that it would also be an exciting drive from the turnoff on General’s Highway, six and a half miles down a narrow road with a couple of short gravel sections. They said to allow a half hour from the Lodgepole area for travel, so we planned our departure accordingly. Before the turnoff, it was already narrow and I was trying to make the journey as palatable as possible for Richard, who seemed to always be on the edgy side in the passenger seat. Any time I had a clear line of sight and no oncoming traffic, I scooted over the middle line to give him some respite. There was a car behind me, but it wasn’t until I turned to go to Crystal Cave and he flashed his blue and red lights that I realized he was a ranger. I pulled over, thankfully against a bank rather than a cliff, and the ranger told me he’d stopped me because I was going over the middle line. Fair accusation, but I was doing so very carefully, and with reasonable purpose. I didn’t argue and he let me off with a warning, which I appreciated. We hadn’t lost too much time from the incident, but I needed to not dilly dally the rest of the way down. Richard sort of stumbled out of the car when we got there, with ten minutes to spare before the tour. Later he chatted with the cave volunteers and recounted what had happened. They all knew this particular ranger and said the middle line was totally his thing and he stops people all the time. I mean, I’m all for safety, so if people are getting into head on collisions from not staying on their side, I get the vigilance. On some of these roads though, there is no middle line and I wonder how many people go off the edge.

The tour itself begins with a half mile hike down, down, down until you get to the tour guide at the entrance to the cave. Tours are scheduled throughout the day with groups of 25-30 people at a time. We booked the last tour of the day, which turned out to be a great idea since it meant almost no oncoming traffic on the way back up. The tours are run by the Sequoia Parks Conservancy, and they do a fantastic job. You have to book tours through their online reservation system and gives you a specific date and time. You can’t get into the cave without a tour reservation.

The cave walk itself is easy and paved, taking you through several large rooms with tons of cave decorations. This is a marble cave and the first I’ve seen with running water streams. Water is how these caves form and this one is still developing. It is super cool. I took a plethora of pictures, but my favorite cave feature was a collection of “fairy ponds,” or little pools that have built up over time. I also liked the dragon shaped feature in the last room. It was a highlight and a must do on any visit. Even the hike down and back up is lovely, with several attractive waterfalls and informational kiosks to stare at while you catch your breath on the uphill.

Our day was not done yet though! We topped it off by hiking up Moro Rock. I’d seen pictures of it and had heard there were stairs and handrails the whole way, but when we pulled around the corner to see a gigantic slab of granite sticking straight up into the sky, I gaped, “We’re not going up that are we?!” Yes we were, and yes I did. No regrets and I recommend it. Yes there are a bazillion stairs and steps, but guard rails or solid rock at your side the entire time. Just before reaching the top, a little voice in my head said I should definitely not be up this high. I stared directly and only at the steps in front of my feet, and kept going, one step after another. Eventually you come to the wide open space at the top. Mind you, if there hadn’t been guard rails, I would have had a panic attack right there. But I was able to cling to those suckers all the way to the end. I only let go long enough to let someone take our picture. It was a thrilling experience with an unmatchable view. I would do it again.

After a jam packed day, we were looking at an hour’s drive back to Dory and it was already nearly seven o’clock. Richard had the prescience to know this would happen, so we had already checked out the dinner possibilities at Lodgepole. We enjoyed a grilled cheese, chicken wrap, fries, and, you know it, ice cream. What a great day.

With only two days down on a five day stay, we decided to spend the next day riding down, then back up Kings Canyon Scenic Byway. We only went as far as the bottom of the canyon, which you reach at Boyden Cavern. We parked on the road just after the Hume Lake Road turnoff and started coasting down from there. It’s an exhilarating thirteen miles, with 3660 feet in elevation change. It’s good to have disc brakes for this, which I do and Richard doesn’t. The turns are sharp and the edges perilous. They do have low rock walls along a good portion of the lower section, giving you a sense of protection, but more importantly, blocking your view of the river and canyon way down below. On a bike, no problem. I don’t even mind stopping to look over the wall. Later in the car I wasn’t so thrilled with the drive back up. But on this day, it was all about the joy of biking it. Of course, Richard had all the hard work to do, but my little legs were doing some pedaling too, assisted though they were. We saw a sign saying “Caution Ice – Cream on the way.” This was a lie. We noticed the tiny shipping container with an order window was open the next day, so maybe they run on weekends only. Richard had to work hard to get back to the car, so we celebrated with treats at the Grant Grove Market, and then napped. Dinner was Romesco chicken with poblano, olives, and couscous.

Two more days to go! We followed our bike exploration of the canyon with a drive down. That drive was all fine. I let Richard out at Boyden canyon and sagged him ten miles to the Cedar Grove Visitor Center. This is another central hub of the park, though much more rustic and no cell service or wifi anywhere. The road is simply spectacular. It follows the south fork of the Kings River the whole way. It is just waterfall and rapids, one after another. Sometimes the river will open up and calm down, where people fish. You do not want to go swimming or boating in this river.

At the visitor center, we put Richard’s bike in the car and drove to the end of the road and parked. From there, we picked up the Mist Falls trail. You start with an easy walk on the Paradise Valley trail. This goes on for about two miles. We ran into a couple on that trail we had randomly seen twice before on this trip. We saw them first at Lake Isabella, where they were confused about how to get a site. We saw them again at a scenic overlook on the General’s Highway. This time we introduced ourselves properly. Monica and Oliver were on a two month van rental vacation from Germany and were taking in all the best California highlights. They get five stars for route planning and they even scored a site at Kirk Creek. Well done! Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip.

We entered a marshy area of the trail, where river reeds were growing, thick in the bogs. Just out of the corner of my eye, I caught something brown and fuzzy moving ahead, maybe fifty yards from us. I stopped and barked sharply to Richard, “Sweetie. Back up, back up, back up.” The bear did not seem alarmed by our presence, but we were alarmed by the presence of a very friend shaped cub, following along after mama. Goddamn they’re cute, but our hearts were in our throats until they disappeared into the thick reeds. We breathed a sigh of relief. Well, well, that was our adventure for the day, wasn’t it? We continued on. I got no pictures. I had regret.

After two miles, we saw a sign pointing to the left, which means start going uphill to follow the bend in the river. The trail comes close to the river in places, then backs away, but you can always hear it rushing along to your right. There was a group at the junction who I excitedly reported to about the bears. We kept climbing up, another 2.7 miles until we at last came to the falls. It is breathtaking and cool to get sprayed by the mist if you sit at the bottom. We stopped and snacked a good long time before heading back down.

Just a little bit before hitting the trail junction, we came upon a couple who had just seen a rattlesnake cross the path. They pointed out where is was coiled up, hiding in the reeds. Well, well! This has certainly been the day for adventure hasn’t it?

Shortly after that, Richard came around a bend in the trail. He did not immediately recognize what was happening. I saw the whole thing, but it took me a minute to make sense of what I was seeing. Imagine the most adorable ball of brown fluff, with cute little rounded ears, doing a legit swan dive into the air, fluffy arms outstretched before it hits the water like a cannonball, generating a huge splashing sound and sprays of water, shooting right into Richard’d face. It was right in front of him, probably sitting happily on a rock by the stream, when it got startled by his sudden appearance. All Richard knew was that he was getting splashed by something huge hitting the water a couple of feet away. He definitely screamed. I had my phone out and was backing away so fast, with no thought of trying to take a picture, that I fell over backwards and my phone went flying. Richard spotted mama further away, but not that much further, in the water. He started calling out, “GO AWAY BEAR! GET OUT OF HERE!” I was scared he was going to piss her off, but he was following the directions perfectly on one of the signs posted by the visitor center. After a few moments of complete chaos, mama seemed unfazed, Richard stopped yelling, little cub climbed out of the water on the opposite shore, a fully soaked baby bear, and we just panted. I got up and found my phone. The rattlesnake couple caught up to us and we all looked at mama bear cautiously. As she moved farther away, we decided it was ok to move past her on the trail. I did try to snap a couple of pictures, but, you guys, nothing comes close to the image of a swan diving bear cub less than ten feet from you. That’s it. No more adventure. We’d had plenty.

As I noted, the drive up and out of the canyon was not my favorite. It came at the end of a long day though, so that didn’t help. It’s the section above the canyon that got to me, with endless climb and edgy switchbacks. I was a tired monkey by the time we got back to Dory.

At last we reach our final day in the park. We had decided by this time to head home the next day in order to end our summer trip on a new-to-us national park experience. Being that it was a Saturday, we smartly avoided all of the touristy destinations and hiked the trails from the campground. We did a loop that took us past Grant Grove, then to a lookout over Sequoia Lake. Along the way we saw the “Dead Giant” tree, which was not as interesting as the weird human made mobile hanging from a tree next to it. We later asked a ranger and apparently it is some kind of experiment, possibly monitoring insects. Cool. It’s a Grand Canyon hike down to Ella Falls, which means you do all the climbing on the second half. It was a good seven and a half mile hike with twelve hundred feet of elevation. It takes you eventually through Sunset campground and then to the Grant Village area. Another day, another It’s It. Then it was back to Dory for our final meal on the road. This time it was a delicious Kung Pao chicken with broccoli and roasted peanuts for crunch. It was delicious, but the cornstarch coating on the chicken adhered to the pan. It was lucky we were going to be able to wash that baby at home.

This was a long post for a long stay in an action packed national park. Two of them, actually. This was our first visit (since we don’t remember the actual first), and we think we have a good sense of the park now. The driving is a lot, at least for me, but not a deal breaker by any means. It’s like highway 1 in the roller coaster section. You just have to get used to it. Once you know what to expect, it gets easier. I liked where we stayed in Azalea. It’s centrally located to the canyon and you can day trip down to the Lodgepole area. Lodgepole was by far the most crowded part of the park. You can stay down in the canyon at Sentinel campground, but boy, I’d have to really psych myself up for taking Dory down and back up out of there. The canyon is the most visually stunning, and the most remote and relaxed. It is just beautiful. I would happily do every single thing we did again. Five days was a nice long stay to experience the park, but because of our shower habits, we did need to go dump at Princess campground in the middle. That wasn’t so bad. Thus ends our eleventh summer out in a Dory. Thanks for following along! It’ll be a few weeks before we’re out again, but this summer was one for the books.

Total miles from Sequoia RV: 27.0, 9.4 mpg (100% uphill), 1 hour 6 min. Site 56 no hookups, pull along site. Great solar. Good cell most of the time for Verizon, but no service for ATT except an occasional tease of 1 bar of 5g that did nothing. Only one bathroom in campground. No dump. Princess campground 6 miles away has a good dump station with potable water fill. Normally costs $20/use, but pay station was broken, so it was free.