A Walk in the Park: Sequoia National Park

I was offered the opportunity to attend a conference for AP teachers in Los Angeles and saw an additional opportunity of making a visit to Sequoia National park. This spring I secured a wilderness permit to hike the High Sierra Trail and while I was not able due to time constraints to complete the trail all the way to Mt Whitney, what I did complete was an absolutely beautiful walk in the park, completing 62.86 miles, over 5 nights and six days, including over 29 hours of moving time, and over 10,000 feet of climbing. 

The trail starts at Crescent Meadow and quickly opens up to these sights...

Looking at the trail map I knew there was another valley ahead that I was going to have to climb.

Here it's coming into view...

Yowza, that's gonna be some work. So I started up the left hand side. Half way up I passed Hamilton Lake, with goal being the pass in the top middle of this shot. Well it's in the clouds but it's there.

Looking back down the valley

Feeling exhausted I set up camp by lower precipice lake.

And early the next day I hiked up past Upper Percipice lake made famous by Ansel Adams,

Then through the Kaweah Gap and into Arroyo Valley, and this is also a beautiful place, I'll let the foto's do the talking.

Camped here 1 night then headed back over the Kaweah Gap to take a side trip over to Elizabeth Pass at over 11,000 ft. This one was work, but as you hike up and out of one valley you stroll right into another vision of incredible magnitude. 

Looking back about a half mile from the pass 

then over the pass, into Kings Canyon NP, and over looking Deadman's Canyon.

And then it was time to go, as I hiked out (no short or easy task) a sadness briefly came over me. The past few days had been like living in a post card, every scene was full of one incredible landscape after another. So many unexplored valleys and cliffs, so many unhiked trails, so few days. I will be back.

So I'll see you on the trails Amigo!