A Road Trip to Two More National Parks

October 20, 2025

     Rob and I have visited over 40 of our beautiful National Parks, but never Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks in California. We did visit the General Sherman tree in Sequoia, I think, many years ago, but that didn't really count. Between our Atlantic Coast cruise and returning to Samuel P Taylor State Park to camp host for the winter we made a short road trip to visit Kings Canyon and Sequoia where we spent 3 nights at the John Muir Lodge in Kings Canyon National Park. This was during the Federal Government shut down so the visitor centers were closed, but there was still much to enjoy and marvel at. 

    We did spend one full day in Colfax between returning from the Atlantic Coast and heading south to the National Parks. The timing was just right to see granddaughter Avi dressed up for a school field trip to a Renaissance Fair. 

Avi, ready to go back in time!

She rarely wants her picture taken, but in costume she requested it.

Street fair in Ripon, California, October 18.

    We stopped here for a rest break on the way to the parks and happened on an annual street fair with lots and lots and lots of classic and antique cars. There were also plenty of booths to attract our attention. It was a fun serendipity!

Looking to the mountains as we approach Kings Canyon National Park.

John Muir Lodge, our home for three nights.

The lobby area at the lodge.

    I love lodge common areas! Years ago when we stayed in a cabin near the Yellowstone Lodge I walked the short distance to the Lodge to do my morning writing, and in 2021 when we camped in the motor home at Yosemite I walked or rode my bicycle to the Ahwahnee Hotel each morning to sit and write in the common area there. I don't care so much about sleeping in these National Park Lodges, but I do enjoy the common areas! The John Muir Lodge in Kings Canyon National Park is much smaller than others, but it was nice. On our second day we drove to Sequoia National Park, and I didn't find a nice lodge there, but perhaps I missed it.

Near our lodging on my early morning walk, Sunday, October 19.

Beautiful fungi on a tree

And a bit of left over snow on the ground from an earlier storm.

The fungi up close.

A view into the Central Valley from a campground I walked through.

    

        After breakfast at the nearby cafe I headed out to explore a bit more while Rob relaxed in the lodge. I decided to head up to the Panoramic Point Trail above where we were staying. The trail is only about a half mile long, and in the summer you can drive up a paved road to get to it, but the road had closed for the season already.

Some snow on the road to the trail.

And a deer posing for me along the over two mile walk to the trail.

The view that awaited me on the Panoramic Point Trail.

The view from the trail spans nearly the whole length of Kings Canyon National Park.

    While at the view point I sat on a bench and sketched the view. I was glad I did, because when we later drove into Kings Canyon I recognized rock formations I had paid a attention to as I sketched.

I always marvel at rocks that have been balanced for probably eons of time!

    After lunch Rob and I headed out for a drive into Kings Canyon to marvel at the grandeur of the rocks and river and water falls.

A mountain peak behind us on our exploration of Kings Canyon.

Rob standing on Muir Rock with the mountain behind him.

    From a National Park article I found online I learned that John Muir spoke from this rock to anyone who would listen, sharing his love of the wild and his theories on how these canyons formed. The article also said, "Be sure to watch the movie at Kings Canyon Visitor Center, Gem of the Sierra," which of course we weren't able to do since there was a Federal Government shut down. 

Roaring River Water Fall

A description of the view we were looking at below.

Lots of beautiful scenery.

The sun is setting as we drive out of the canyon.

    

    The lodge had a collection of jigsaw puzzles, all with the number of pieces missing in the puzzle written on the boxes. I picked one that had a note about only 5 missing pieces.

Clearly the note was wrong - many more pieces missing than 5!

I updated the note.

On my early morning walk on Monday, October 20, I headed down to the big trees near our lodge.

That's the General Grant Tree behind me.

It is huge!

The base of the General Grant Tree.

    Later on Monday, October 20, we drove south to Sequoia National Park and hiked down to see the General Sherman tree. These big trees make our Coastal Redwoods at Samuel P. Taylor State Park, and in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, seem small in comparison,

That's us at the base of the General Sherman.

Another view of the General Grant Tree back in Kings Canyon, National Park.

    We enjoyed the magnificent scenery of these two parks, that I had long wanted to see. Many years ago someone told me that they liked Kings Canyon more than Yosemite because they thought it was just as beautiful, but without the crowds. I can see going back there, but because Yosemite has been a part of my life since the first time I visited there when I was 12 years old, Yosemite is still my favorite. It always feels like a homecoming when I return to its familiar trails. We did make it to Tuolumne Meadows this past summer, but its been 5 years since we've been to Yosemite Valley so maybe it's about time to return.

    On Tuesday, October 21, we left John Muir Lodge and headed first to Hughson, California. Our daughter-in-law had sent me some wonderful dried apricots a couple of years ago. They are special for two reasons: They are from California and no sulfur is used in the drying process. Since then I have ordered them on line, but since they are produced and dried in Hughson and we would be driving nearby we decided to go to the source. We also have friends Tom and Holly who live in Hughson so we made arrangements to stop and see them as well. We had a lovely visit with them before heading to Modesto for the night, and where we would visit more friends, Jacky, my former college roommate and maid of honor at our wedding, and her husband Fred. 

    The reason we spent the night in Modesto was because Rob had a meeting to attend nearby. While he was in the meeting I explored a delightful park before picking him up for our return to Colfax.

Our visits with friends were wonderful, but the only picture I got was of the apricots!

Wednesday, October 22.

On my early morning walk in Modesto.

The sign for the nature area in Lodi where I walked.

Beautiful tree lined paths.

And lots of squirrels.

Yes, this is a pond in the Nature area.

Covered with???

Two turtles on a little rock island.

A couple of geese

And a lake.

    We returned on our house on Thursday, October 23, and hung out there until our return to Samuel P Taylor State Park on November 1. Since Ruth was running a marathon in Oregon at Silver Falls State Park on November 1, I got to supervise trick or treat with granddaughter Avi and her friend Rose who spent the night on Halloween.

Avi and Rose all dressed up.

A mural in Colfax where we went for trunk-or-treat.

A tree all decked out for fall.

Roxie in her Halloween costume greeting trick-or-treaters in Roseville.

And now to the California pets - the list keeps growing!

Here's Elsie with Ellie in the background.

Daphne on the rail.

Roxie, short for Roxanne Socks the Great!

    Ruth and Jody adopted Roxy from the SPCA shelter in October. She was identified as a Shepherd cross. Ruth had her DNA checked out and it turns out she's 100% German Shepherd from a very distinguished German line. Roxie and two litter mates had been found abandoned at 3 months. Who abandons purebred German Shepherds? She's quite a sweetie, and a beauty, but also very much full of puppy energy!

Roxy sitting pretty in front of Dea the horse, and her two goats.

The goats are Mama (aka Pumpkin) and Jackie (aka Jack Daniels)

This picture of Dea is not very flattering - a better one to come in the future - she's really beautiful!

Ellie in Roseville in an unusually normal position.

Ellie and Roxie together.

They get along splendidly!

Introducing Kaido with Roxie.

    Kaido is a temporary addition to the menagerie. Ruth is fostering him, and actively seeking a permanent home for this sweet, intelligent, high energy dog. He and Roxie play wildly together, so this picture is not how Rob and I usually see them.

Playing tug is more like it.

Or even more likely to see them like this.

And to Big Basin State Park, and Erin's growing family:

Onny in a box pose.

Onny on her favorite perch.

And introducing Shadow.

Shadow is a sweet, three year old lab mix, who ignores cats.

He was rescued from a situation where he was being neglected.

A trip to the vet proved he is very healthy except for being underweight.

Now he and Erin are averaging 20,000 steps a day!!!

See Onny perched above Shadow?

A good sign of her getting used to his presence.

    As I write this it is already 2026, so I have some catch up to do on writing these blogs. Hopefully I will be a bit more expedient getting out the next one! Happy New Year!