MoFate's Drop in the Bucket List: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, California

We’ve been thinking of how to categorize this summer’s travels and the best way we think to break it up is: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (SEKI), and everything else.

SEKI is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fan anyone? But really, SEKI is 1,300 sq miles and most of that is backcountry, meaning you can’t just drive up to it, take a picture, and keep driving. Suck it Yosemite. SEKI can be divided into a few major parts: Giant Forest, Grant Grove, Cedar Grove, Mineral King, and Sierra Crest.

Giant Forest is filled with sequoia trees and has the world’s largest tree by volume, General Sherman. Grant Grove also has a bunch of sequoias and some camping sites. Cedar Grove is basically as east as you can get while driving in Kings Canyon and has some beautiful meadows, waterfalls, and less intense hikes. Mineral King is hard to get to but filled with intense and rewarding hikes, and marmots. Sierra Crest, the only part we did not see, if on the East side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. This means you have to drive 6 hours around the mountains to get to it, but it does have Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the 48 contiguous states.

Things to know if you visit

Here are some hikes/walks/drives we recommend:

Big Trees Walk - ~1 mile, paved, 0 elevation gain walk with beautiful views of sequoias
Moro Rock – Less than a mile round trip but mainly stairs; ends at a panoramic view of the granite mountains, and river below
Drive from Grant Grove to Cedar Grove – ~2 hours, beautiful canyons, waterfalls, and the river
Lakes Trail (up to Heather Lake) - ~8.5 miles roundtrip, ~2000 ft. elevation gain, and a couple of beautiful lakes along way; be sure to take the Watchtower path (not Hump), to get awesome granite mountain views
Monarch Lakes - ~9 miles roundtrip, ~2500 ft. elevation gain, and several stream crossings ending at a 10,500 feet above sea-level
Franklin Lakes - ~12 miles roundtrip, ~2,300 ft. elevation gain, and beautiful views throughout the hike ending at a large man-made lake at 10,000 feet above sea-level; our favorite lake of the trip!

If you go to Mineral King, which we definitely recommend, be sure to buy a tarp and rope to cover your car. Marmots love to get into your engine and tear it apart: https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/marmots.htm
Don’t camp at in the foothills (Potwisha + Buckeye Flat), it’s just annoyingly hot in the summer. Don’t camp at Lodgepole and Dorst either, so many noise complaints over the weekends... Either get out to Mineral King or Cedar Grove. The type of crowd that goes here is much less rowdy and wants to enjoy nature, as opposed to getting drunk at a campsite. Either way, bring lots of bug spray :)
Suggested itinerary for a three day weekend here:

Fly into Fresno Thursday night and sleep in Fresno
Drive to Cedar Grove early Friday morning, checkout Roaring River Falls, Zumwalt Meadow, and a hike at Roads End; camp at Cedar Grove or get a cabin at Wuksachi Lodge ($$$)
Saturday, do the Lakes Trail starting early, around 8am; See the General Sherman Tree in the afternoon (yes, it will be insanely crowed on a Saturday but try not to hit anyone), and do the Big Trees Trail; Spend the night at a lodge in Three Rivers
Sunday morning, drive up to Mineral King and do either Monarch or Franklin Lakes hike; Fly out of Fresno late Sunday night

Fun facts

If you find a bunch of piping and gardening equipment during a hike or drive through the park, report it to Dispatch. It’s probably the drug cartels growing marijuana in the park. Not kidding…
All of Little Mexico parties at Lake Kaweah. This lake is near Three Rivers and is on the way to Sequoia from Visalia.
If you’re ever unfortunate enough to be in Visalia for an extended amount time, be sure to check out Sabor A Tocumbo for a Mangonada, Grocery Outlet for some bargain groceries, and Winco for bulk trail mix and granola. Also, driving here is great. You get street side parking, bike lane, driving lane, and a turning lane.
Silver City is on the way to Mineral King (there’s only one road) and has some delicious pie with ice cream for $7. But don’t let the name fool you… its not a city. It’s a restaurant and some cabins. Keep a look out on the left (when driving to MK) for a store with an American flag out front.
Verizon works in parts of Grant Grove with AT&T works in parts of the Foothills (up till Potwisha)… So don’t break a leg on a hike :)
In the first five weeks, we only saw one bear crossing the road but saw several deer. Don’t try to pet either of them, they will kick your butt.