Sequoia Part 2

This is the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in the world by volume. It is dead on top so it doesn't grow higher, but it keeps growing wider!

This is the tree you can drive through. :)

We also hiked up Moro Rock for a view of the Sierra Nevadas.

We got a view of the road we would be driving down! On a trip with many winding roads we all agreed after driving on it that this was the worst.

On the way out we stopped at Hospital Rock, where we learned about Native Americans who had lived in the area and saw the petroglyphs they had written on the rock.

Yosemite Part 2

On our second day in Yosemite we did a lot of hiking. We hiked the Mist Trail next to Vernal Falls. There's definitely a reason it's called Mist Trail! We all got wet as we climbed up the rock stairs beside the falls. This was the trail. And there were a lot of pretty rainbows!

Some of us turned around at the top of Vernal Falls and some of us kept going to the second falls, Nevada Falls. The long hike was almost 7 miles of steep up and then steep down, so we were really tired after that, but still had fun exploring the visitor center afterward.

On our last morning we saw El Capitan, the largest exposed, unfractured chunk of granite in the world. I can't believe people climb it!

Also that morning we saw Bridal Veil falls and another great view!

Yosemite Part 1

We had a wonderful time at Yosemite. Our first afternoon there we drove the Tioga Road to see Tuolomne Meadows pictured below, and a granite formation called Lembert Dome.

But our favorite part of the day was seeing Glacier Point. We got to see the Half Dome from the point and as the sun started to set the glow on the rock was beautiful! This picture was actually at the end of the sunset.

Here is the rock outcropping that Glacier Point is named for.

We enjoyed looking at the view, taking pictures, and eating a supper of spaghetti.

A Couple Random Places

On our drives in between planned destinations, we stopped at a few other places.

First of all we stopped at Fort Clatsop, a Lewis and Clark fort.

And we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and through San Francisco! The bridge was so beautiful.

The streets go uphill.

Sequoia Part 1

We saw the General Grant Tree first. It's hard to capture the size of this tree, the tree with the greatest diameter, on camera.

One of our favorite things wasn't even in Sequoia, it was in the national forest just outside of Sequoia. Buck Rock is an A-cab fire lookout tower built in 1925, one of only three of that kind left standing today. We walked up the stairs on the rock to the top. Someone actually lives in it 24-7 to watch for and report fires. There is a bed, a sink, a stove and a gorgeous 360 degree view up top.

A hummingbird feeder at 8,502 feet! We saw six hummingbirds come at once!

Before we hiked up we saw a lizard with a bright blue belly!

The Redwoods

This is called the Big Tree. :) But it's only one of many.

There are some trees that were burned partly through from forest fires.

The sun shining through the trees 

The corkscrew tree

This is Fern Canyon, where ferns grow all over the walls.

Crater Lake

With the mixture of being too busy and not having service, we haven't had a chance to blog for so long! But we've been having continued adventures. Crater Lake was a beautiful lake created by a volcano exploding and then collapsing into the ground to form a hole. That hole filled with rain and melted snow, forming Crater Lake.

This is a pumice desert from the volcanic explosion that formed the lake.

There was a lot of snow and construction on the roads because of it up around the lake. We had stayed at a mosquito infested campsite the night before so we packed up from it quickly and waited to eat breakfast until we got to this beautiful view.

In the lake there is a cone shaped island that came from inside the volcano.

The lake was so clear and blue! The water is actually really pure.

We hiked down to the edge of the lake on a trail that dropped 700 feet in almost a mile. It was steep, but it was so beautiful down by the water!