Big Trees | Sequoia National Park
Four Chicago boys and me. I picked up Vince and his brother Kevin who had each flown in to SFO, and we drove southeast from the Bay Area while Alex and Eric drove northeast from Los Angeles. Our destination: Sequoia National Park, one of the nine national parks in California. We would camp for two nights in Sequoia and Kings Canyon, going for some gorgeous hikes along the way.
The foothills of Sequoia National Park were dotted in reds and oranges, as if it were autumn in the middle of summer. It was also 101 degrees, as forecasted for all three days, so we were pretty relieved when a bit of rain and 6000 feet of elevation alleviated the temperature by 30 degrees.
A photo op with this funky rock formation!
As advertised. Big Trees.
A meadow surrounded by Sequoias. Tranquil beauty.
Stepping inside this big sequoia with its burnt fire scars. The smell of fire also scented the air, which we later found out was due to nearby prescribed burns. Fire is an essential part of the sequoia’s life cycle, as it burns away undergrowth and also triggers the release of new spores, so all of the gigantic trees have their fair share of fire scars.
Even the felled trees are beautiful.
Paper beats rock.
A new version of the drive-through.
Furry friends spotted along the way. No bears spotted this trip, which is probably a good thing.
Our sunset hike: the Morro Rock summit. Alex clings for dear life while Vince runs around this ridge.
Sunset chats.
And then we fast forward through the part where we searched for a campsite in the dark because we neglected to reserve a site ahead of time. Oops! Well, it all worked out. And Vince made us steak fajitas!
The next morning, we take in our surroundings.
The first mini-hike of day two: the General Sherman tree. The fellow tourist who took this photo had some pretty impressive composition skills.
The view from inside a fallen tree.
Then it was time to move on from Sequoia to its neighbor, Kings Canyon.
A complete change of scenery to a stream surrounded by peaks.
Roadside waterfall. We saved the big waterfall for the last day.
The second night, we learned our lesson and picked out our campsite at 6pm instead of 9:30. We even set up all three tents and a canopy this time.
Feast. Sauteed mushrooms, mixed veggies…
And steaaak!
Coca cola commercial.
Fire master.
We even did some light writing with actual wood on fire. TAF = Taiwanese American Foundation, an annual summer camp that’s going on this week! (And also how we all know each other).
I jumped in with a little stick of fire too.
Putting the Canon 5D sensor to use with some nighttime photos of their tents from inside my tent. Thanks Arthur & Theresa for letting me borrow your camping gear!
Finally, we end this post with my favorite photo of the night. The first I’ve ever taken like this. No photoshop, just real stars in the night sky. We spent a good amount of time trying to find constellations with the help of Vince’s sky map app too.
I love nature. Stay tuned for part two, the last day of our camping trip and our epic 9-mile hike.
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.
