Hiking thru Sequoia National Park (appointed, school, camp)

[canibeyou]

First off... I hope I'm putting this thread in the right forum! Please lemme know if I didn't.

So being out of it for a few years, my husband and I are taking back up our love of hiking. I feel a renewed enthusiasm for getting more in shape than I already am and each time a new piece of equipment arrives, I'm giddy like a school girl (having once been a school girl, I'm not sure I was ever "giddy" per se, but let's just roll with it! ).

We live in GREAT hiking country and have been taking advantage of our surrounds, but we are now planning a small weekend trip to the Sequoia National Park. I've never been there (but I've lived so close by all my life I really should be ashamed to admit that).

We recently picked up a book of great day hikes thru Sequoia and Kings Canyon. This trip we're going to concentrate on just Sequoia. But each hike I read about I wanna go on! I can't find one and just commit to it.

Has anyone here done any day hikes thru there and if you have, can you suggest one that's a "can't miss" kinda hike? or does the book read true to life that if I just blindly pick a hike I'm not going to be disappointed because you just can't go wrong with any hike in Sequoia?

[humboldtrat]

I once took a day hike to Morro Rock which has a nice view.

Picture/Photo: Panorama of Western Divide from Moro Rock. Sequoia National Park

I have also climbed Mt. Whitney from the east side of the Sierras which is a long walk up hill.

[Collideascope]

You don't say what book you have. Regardless, I'd recommend Sequoia National Park: A Complete Hiker's Guide by Mike White. It's available on amazon.com. It features backpacks as well as day-hikes, but it is simply an excellent guide book. Guide books run the gamut from abyssmal to mediocre to fantastic - this one is very good. It lists trail lengths, rates the difficulty of each hike (admittedly subjective, but nonetheless useful) and the highlights of each hike. There is a similar book by the same author covering Kings Canyon National Park.

As for specific hikes, I'd recommend simply strolling through the Sequoia groves. They are the raison d'etre of the park, after all. But really, there are no bad hikes here. Pick out the attributes of hikes that interest you - views, flora, sequoia groves, history, lakes, summits - and enjoy those hikes.

Better yet, hike them all. They're all worth it. Besides, you won't be there just once, right?

[Charles]

If you drive up Highway 190 from Springfield towards the Tule River you can have a blast at these rock slides. Here are a few shots of my buddies enjoying the slides and jumps back around 1988. Note my friend Bob wearing the bike helmet.

We'd camp further near the Aspen Meadows above Johnsondale and Roads End. Even in the hottest part of summer it was cool at night at around 8000 or 9000 feet. Lots of wide open spaces to go four wheeling. Great fishing in the Kern River and on Isabella. Many, many fun times there in the Sequoia Forest there. Many good places to camp on CR-107, the Western Divide Highway. Dome Rock and Elephant Knob are worth visiting.

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