Fresno and Grant Grove

We had a shorter distance to drive today, and fewer activities planned, so we took our time over breakfast in the hotel restaurant. This was much calmer than it had been last night and we had a nice corner table. Although a buffet was available we could also order from a menu, and both chose the ‘healthy option' of a huge bowl of granola, Greek yoghurt and fresh fruit. It was very good, as was the double espresso I was pleased to see on the menu.

The restaurant at Tenaya Lodge

We left around 9.00, driving south and down from the mountains to the unprepossessing town of Fresno. But everywhere has its good points; in Fresno’s case these included some interesting 1930s architecture; good iced latte in a coffee shop run, rather usually, by a church that had taken over one of those 1930s buildings (a former cinema); and some good street art.

Refreshed we headed east, back towards the Sierra Nevada mountains. We stopped briefly to get gas, and again to take photos of the view from the road near its highest point.

Soon after that we reached the entrance to Kings Canyon / Sequoia National Park. We showed our America the Beautiful pass (it was at this point it started to save us money, $26 so far) and stopped just inside the entrance to eat our picnic snacks. We read on a notice board there that was to be a ranger talk by the famous General Grant tree, and as we’d planned to go there next in any case we made sure to arrive in time for that. This tree is the second largest sequoia in the world, as measured by trunk volume. It is also one of the oldest and has been dubbed ‘The Nation’s Christmas Tree’. See https://www.nps.gov/seki/learn/nature/grant.htm for more about that.

The talk, by ranger Brett, was really interesting. We learned a lot about the life cycle of the sequoias and had the chance to handle some sequoia bark and wood, the latter surprisingly light, like balsa wood! Brett also pointed out a mountain pocket gopher digging nearby, which I would never have noticed otherwise.

We then walked round the trail, seeing several other monarchs, as the oldest trees are called.

By now it was mid afternoon so we went to the village area to see about checking in. We had reserved one of the cabins here for two nights, but check-in was in the nearby John Muir Lodge. We were too early to get access to the cabin but were able to complete all the formalities. With an hour to wait until we got our key we decided to drive up to the Panoramic Point trail, 2.4 miles up a narrow winding road. The view more than rewarded us (Chris for handling the tricky drive, me for tackling a fairly steep path!)

We were looking over miles of largely wilderness below us. We could see a fire burning, the so-called Happy Fire (I don’t know how it got that name) which we later read was burning in a remote valley and not threatening people or property. The authorities were therefore monitoring the fire rather than try to put it out.

This fire was started by natural causes, lightening, rather than arson as was the case with the Park Fire whose impact we had seen in the Lassen area. We had already learned from Brett that the sequoias need low impact fires as they clear the undergrowth to give their seeds a better chance of producing saplings and produce ash to enrich the soil. I read later that the fire continued to burn and was managed by the authorities, containing it away from roads and populated areas. The expectation was/is that it will be left to winter weather (snow or rain) to extinguish it.

When we got back to the lodge we were able to get our (rather cute) key but stayed there a while to use the internet as there is no WiFi in the cabins. We had been allocated the so-called Honeymoon Cabin, the only one to stand alone and the oldest on the site. I had no idea how we had secured that one, but it was rather cosy and in a good location not too far from the parking area and restaurant below.

Key to the cabin

That restaurant is a casual one, so when we went for dinner we had to order our meals from a screen (I chose a hummus wrap, Chris a grilled chicken sandwich) and take a number to a table. A friendly but rather harassed waitress brought our order and as we ate we watched her struggle to carry heavy trays and find the right tables!

The restaurant

After our meal we walked back to our cabin using our phones as torches to light the path through the trees.