I recently spent three days camping and hiking in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. This was my first trip of the summer and I am “almost ecstatic” that my knees and back held up after hiking around 30 miles over a three day period. I have been training for this for a long time but one never knows how the body will actually hold up once you get out into the wilderness. It’s one thing to walk in the local foothills or a treadmill in a gym but it is quite another thing to be trekking up and down mountains that range between six and fourteen thousand feet which is what we have here in California.

Sequoia is the more popular of the two parks because of the magnificent giant sequoias and the fact that most of Kings Canyon National Park is wilderness and can only be accessed by foot. I spent the first day with my long time hiking buddy Seth hiking up to Mist Falls in Kings Canyon. The hike was about nine miles but not particularly steep in terms of Sierras standards. The falls gets it name from the fact that early in season the falls are roaring which creates a lot of mist as the water crashes against the large boulders which line the pathway of the river. Before we hit the trail we heard that the river was at a twenty year high due to the above average snow pack and the late spring runoff which is only now kicking into high gear.

The next couple of days I hiked four other trails and a saw a variety of sights which included beautiful meadows, a marmot, snow plants, giant lizards, numerous waterfalls, two bears, and lots and lots of giant sequoias. Although I have seen giant sequoias and coastal redwoods, many, many times over the years my eyes never get tired of these thousands of year old giants of the earth.

Last summer I was limited for the most part to walking on very short nature trails of less than a mile because I was hobbling around with a bad back and a cane. This summer, if my back cooperates and my schedule goes as plans, I hope to hike to some places I have not been able to access for over twenty years. And, Lord willing, I’ll bring back some pictures of some of the most incredible scenery on this side of heaven.