Camping Trip to Sequoia National Park

We recently took a trip to Sequoia National Park to camp with my Dad and his wife, Bekkee. We stayed for four days at the Dorst Creek Campground which I highly recommend, the sites were very pretty and spacious. The only drawback was that there were no showers, but you could travel down to the Lodgepole Campground and use their public showers. The Lodgepole Campground also has a store and small restaurant that also has a section with ready made sandwiches, wraps, salads and various desserts to choose from. There was also a Nature Center there that shows an educational video about the bears in the area...it was closed captioned to my delight! I made sure to tell one of the people working there how appreciative I was.

I was very impressed with this National Park, it was very well taken care of, very tourist friendly you might say. They have a free, seasonal shuttle service that will take you to many of the main attractions as well as to the campgrounds. They let us carry on a couple boxes of firewood to take back to our campsite, I thought that was nice.

We visited the Sherman Tree, explored the Crystal Cave and hiked most of the Muir Grove Trail while we were there. We packed quite a bit into our four day stay...well at least it seemed like a lot to me :) I have lost 30lbs since last fall and it made a very big difference in my stamina and ability to be active and enjoy our trip.  I hope that I will have lost at least another 30lbs before our next camping trip next year, Lord willing.

Here are some pictures I took while we were up there, I hope you enjoy them.

The Sherman Tree from behind, it is the largest Sequoia by circumference.

Top of the Sherman Tree.

Hiking along the Congress Trail.

Waterfall and fallen log on the Congress Trail.

Side view of the Sherman Tree...Kade marveling at how tall it is.

All of us in front of the Sherman tree.

Kade with his Grandma Bekkee and Grandpa in front of a cross section of a sequoia tree.

Aiden and Eilan on one of the rocks in the area.

Aiden, Eilan and Kade on the rock...kids just love climbing rocks!

Eric, Aiden, my Dad and Bekkee waiting for the tour to start outside the Crystal Cave.

Love this picture of Eilan outside the Crystal Cave.

We decided to take a tour of the Crystal Cave while we were down there, it does cost money and you can purchase the tickets at the Lodgepole Campground Nature Center. You do need to be somewhat fit to go on this tour, it is about a mile down a very steep trail to get to the cave, then you have to do more walking inside the cave and there is one area that you (or at least me) have to kind of squish yourself through. Then there is the walk back up the steep trail to get back to your car...whew that one was tough for me, but I made it. All in all it was worth it, the cave is beautiful.

I liked the "juicy" look of this one

The water in this stream is so clear you can see straight to the bottom.

If it wasn't so cool in the cave I would have been tempted to jump in!

Very interesting formations.

Here is the tight area you walk through, it was only a short area thankfully.

Gorgeous waterfall that was next to the trail to the Crystal Cave.

Aiden is my Nature boy, he loves getting close and examining everything.

Just beautiful country up there!

The day before we left, my Dad wanted us to hike a trail that was located in our campground called the Muir Grove Trail. By then all the walking and hiking we had done previously was taking it's toll on my poor feet. I actually was surprised they had lasted as long as they did. The Muir Grove Trail is a 4 mile trail round trip, but we only walked 3 (thanks Dad for taking pity on me). It was a beautiful trail and the day was nice and cool, it was perfect!

If there is a rock like this, the kids are gonna climb it :)

My Dad and Bekkee enjoying the view.

Eilan and Eric walking along the trail.

Stopping to take a break and eat a snack before heading back.

Breathtaking! 

I hope you get a chance to explore some of the wonders of creation, that God has so richly blessed us with here on earth and in this part of the world. Sequoia National Park holds so much beauty and mystery, we plan to come up here again in the future to see more and more!

Steph