Camping at Sequoia National Park

Play ball! It was all fun and games until P's buddy hit a line drive right to her eye!

Food is always a highlight for camping! Tri-tip tacos, homemade rice, and beans the first night.

Having fun on the shuttle bus ride.

What trees? The balance beam was a hit!

RT looking up through the trees...

Quick! Take the picture! P was not having her picture taken for nothing!

Taking a break in the cool granite cliffs. The mosquitoes were fierce!

The Cragheads on a crag!

 Poor Daddy had to CARRY her the whole way back.

Look at the size of these!

Yikes! A bear on the loose!

Throwing some blueberry pancakes on the griddle.

She's a cool rider!

The mommies take a much-needed break.

Our little home away from home.

The last possible moment of our trip with both kids unhappy and crying like banshees!

We've been pretty good so far this year staying on top of our camping trips and making reservations early enough in the year. This trip took us back into the valley to drop off Jannu at my folks' house, hang out with my parents for an evening and then mosy on up to Sequoia National Park at the Lodgepole campground. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I was up there. I know that from photo documentation it was circa 1998--so 15 years ago?

Anyway, I couldn't wait to take P to see the big trees. I kept building it up saying how humongous the trees were that she couldn't even wrap her arms around them. She was excited to go. But, as you all know, camping takes A LOT of effort. We left on a Thursday evening, which makes it tough to get ready throughout the week. Packing, loading, chopping, shopping--it sucks! Once you're there, though, it's so worth it and so relaxing.

We went with our friends, the Cragheads, again. P and her buddy do better each time we camp. They played well together, had less meltdowns, and really took to riding their bikes around the campground.

We took the shuttle bus to the General Sherman Tree Trail. This was P's first encounter with the Giant Sequoia. These massive beauties didn't seem to faze her! She was more interested in the "balance beams", all the wooden fencing that served as her playground! We spent a leisurely morning on the Topokah Falls trail. P decided that we would see the waterfall first then some deer. What she didn't count on was seeing three bears! Yes, I spotted the first couple. It was a mama bear and her cub up on a nearby hill. Then, our friend Jen, spotted the sub-adult not too far from our trail. It seemed pretty close and I was getting nervous. It reared up on its hind legs and I took off running--but not too far. The group didn't budge so I went back to look again. That was definitely the highlight of our hike!

We tried to make it to Moro Rock (yes! the other other one!) but we got a late start the last morning, had to pack up, and by then it was too hot, too late, and the natives were getting restless.

We had a great time and can't wait for our next trip. Right now, we're scheduled to camp at Huntington Lake in September but hope to catch a couple more local camping adventures before then.