Over the River & Through the Woods | Kings Canyon

We awoke on day three of our Sequoia/Kings Canyon camping trip and got ready to tackle the 9-mile hike for the day. Our campsite for this second night was pretty perfect, with the sound of the river nearby, tall trees surrounding a clearing, and nice flat ground for all our tents.

We packed up everything as a couple giant dogs came by and greeted us.

Back on the road to hit some new trails! As you can see, I really did bring my big camera everywhere with me. Eric, Vince, and Kevin did most of the driving so I wouldn’t have to.

Super love this shot of two bluejays in conversation!

Our first trail of the day was an easy, gorgeous loop with a river, a meadow, and the absolute perfect deck.

We were in a bit of a canyon surrounded by stone mountains, but we were still pretty high up in elevation.

Every morning should start like this.

And here we found the perfect resting spot. Could you imagine if this was your backyard deck? Instead of finishing the rest of the loop, we just hung out here and enjoyed the breeze for a while.

I spotted a little quail with its signature feather on its head running around on the boardwalk– California’s state bird!

Then we drove to the end of the road, literally called “Roads End” on the map, and we started our big hike up to Mist Falls. After two days of very moderate temperatures, of course this hike started in hot, open sun for about a mile before we ended up in some pine forests.

This was about two hours into the hike, our first glimpse at a mini waterfall.

The best views from the face of this rock!

And finally, after going uphill some more, we made it to mist falls. We hopped over and went over some more rocks to get closer to the water.

Dirty feet get a little break in the stream and a stone massage, while three of the boys take naps on the rocks. Vince, of course, continued scrambling upward to see if there was a better view from above, but I was pretty much done with upward hiking at that point.

Finally, as we heard thunder from afar and as we reached the time we had said we needed to depart back to Los Angeles and Oakland, respectively, we rapidly retraced our steps back to the car. Luckily the 4.6 miles going back down took much less time and effort than the 4.6 going up, and we got into our cars just as the rain reached the area. Lucky, lucky us.

And last but not least, we recap the whole trip with our lovely series of #sequoiaselfies, hahaha. We took the first one on a whim while atop Morro Rock at sunset, taking advantage of Alex’s height and arms. And then we just continued the series as we went.

Atop another rock!

Inside a tree!

Overlooking Kings Canyon.

Playing in the river.

Master of the fire.

Inside a really smelly tent.

In the prettiest meadow you ever did see.

Surrounded by trees and water.

Up on our waterfall hike.

At the waterfall! Just before we came all the way back down.

And finally, exhausted but happy, ready to go home. (Or for the four of them, to go to LA/San Diego for Alex’s bachelor party!)

The end. I’m not a huge outdoorsy person, but this was right up my alley. I hope this spurs some future adventures for all of us!

Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Find her on facebook for more daily adventures, and view more of her professional work at annawu.com.