Memorial Day

This past weekend, I went up to Kings Canyon (near Sequoia) with S and his friends for Memorial Day. It was awesome. The landscape is so different from what I'm used to on the East Coast.





For those who are familiar with National Lampoon's Vacation, this is Wally World.



We stopped for gas, and this was across the street.



We left midday Friday and got up there around 7, leaving us enough time to chop firewood and set up camp before dark. This is the view from inside the park.





As soon as we got there, though, we got out of the car, started to bring things over to the bear box, and there was a deer. A blurry deer!



The moon was stunning that night.



I hadn't been camping in about 10 years, but I soon learned that fire is very important.



Especially if you want to stay warm.



By the next morning, everyone else had arrived, just in time for my crepes and S's bacon and eggs. After a hearty breakfast, six of us headed down to the river, which was super close to our campsite.



This is the light through the trees at the river.



Yours truly.



Later that day, after a foiled attempt at seeing the Crystal Cave (tours were sold out for the day) we went to see the sequoias. These are some mighty big trees.



This is the largest tree in the world. It's named the General Sherman, and there are two photos of it because I couldn't get the whole thing in one.




That night, the guys found a root and decided to put it on the fire. As I mentioned, fire is very important.



Especially for eating marshmallows.



The next morning, four of us went hiking. The Sierra Nevada looks much different than any hiking I've ever done. Everything is much more sparse. But still beautiful.







S showed me how to use my camera and I took a macro shot of a tiny flower.



Graffiti on a rock dating back to 1912. The tag, not the boulder, that is.



And this is a pic of a guy who had to jump into the water (70 feet or so from some heavy rapids) because his girlfriend lost their umbrella in the water.



After the 4.5 mile hike, S and checked out one of the waterfalls close to camp.



This was the view from the campsite


Later that night we played cards. One of the dogs, Nico, helped.



The next morning, we got up wicked early and four of us headed to the Crystal Cave. It was on the way out of the park, and though it was packed with tourists, it was still awesome. I don't think I'd ever been in a cave before.






To get to the cave, there was a 15 minute walk downhill, of which we had to walk back up to get to the car. On the way, I spotted a little lizard.