Also while camping in the park we left Kings Canyon National Park and passed through to Sequoia National Park,  the second oldest national park in the country, to see the General Sherman Tree.  Named after the Civil War general, it is the world’s largest tree because of its

volume of total wood.  It is 275 feet tall, has a trunk weighing 1,385 tons, has a circumference at the ground of nearly 103 feet and is estimated to be 2,200 years old.  Its largest branch is almost seven feet in diameter.  Every year the General Sherman grows enough new wood to produce a 60 foot tall tree of usual size.  The tree is located in the Giant Forest and there was a nice paved trail on the half mile walk to the

tree.  The trail drops 200 feet down into the forest, making for quite a hike on the way back up.  The trail was busy with many foreign tourists who enjoy renting RVs and camping in our national parks, especially after Labor Day.

We stopped by the Visitors Center in Sequoia National Park and saw several great movies, including an excellent one on bears.  Each campsite in Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks is equipped with a bear box for food storage and it is the law here that all food be properly stored.  Bears have been known to break into cars so signs at parking areas throughout the park warn drivers to be sure all food is hidden or secured if in your car.  We learned from the movie that the Grizzly Bear was hunted until they were all eliminated in California. If you look at the California state flag, adopted in 1911 it is a Grizzly Bear. Sadly, we did not see any bears while in either park.

We certainly enjoyed our time in both Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.  Now that our summer goals have all been met, we will head back towards southern California for part of the winter.  We are a little sad that our travels to the Pacific Northwest, Northern Cascades, Mount St Helens, Mt Rainier, Mt Shasta, Glacier National Park, Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks is over.  It will be very hard to find places in the future to match their beauty!  Our travels will slow down for the winter season and our blog posts will be less frequent.  But stay tuned.  We do have a few surprises coming up!