In between Phoenix and the Grand Canyon lies Sedona, AZ. I remember coming here as a teenager. I recall staying in a Best Western and it being a flat, small town – sort of like a long strip. Restaurants and hotels were there but spread out. I remember seeing rocks with names such as Snoopy Rock.
No longer a sleepy town, Sedona bustles with activities, tour buses, people among beautiful red rock mountains. To get the best (the mountains) without the worst (the steeply-priced hotel rooms), consider making this a day trip from Phoenix, Flagstaff or the Grand Canyon.
Thing 2 wanted to hike Kennesaw Mountain at sunrise. Since it was right after we’d changed our clocks forward, we thought it would be a great idea. Although we woke up a bit late, we hustled out the door and onto the highway in record time.
The Hike
From the parking lot, the 1-mile trail to the top of Kennesaw Mountain begins to the right of the visitor center. The path is wide and ascends quickly. I hadn’t stretched before taking the trail so I was trying to catch my breath. Thing 2 was trying to reach the summit by sunrise so we hiked at a fairly fast pace. I should also mention that I was lugging the nicer camera with me, adding to the weight on the trail. Fortunately after one-third of the way to the top, the path flattens out for a short while when it follows an old road bed. Here the width of the trail spans at least 8 feet wide.
The trail begins
The entire trails climbs up the eastern side of the mountain so we had the beginnings of the sunrise at our backs. A hiker with two dogs passed us when the trail steepened again. This time, several stairs appeared. At about two-thirds to the top, a bench with a view of the sunrise met us. We sat down for a while and rested. (more…)
Sequoia National Park is the country’s second national park. Established a week before Yosemite NP in 1890, the park provides protection for its many sequoia trees from the logging industry. These trees only grow in elevations between 5,000 – 7,000 feet and because they are very hardy, can live up to 3,000 years.
Coming from Grant Grove in Kings Canyon NP, we drove along the General’s Highway past the Wuksachi Lodge to the Lodgepole Visitor Center. I can’t imagine what it was like before this road was built in 1926. Because the road is curvy and crowded in the summer months, the park offers a free shuttle service from the visitor center to the Sherman Tree and Giant Forest Museum. (more…)
Kings Canyon and Sequoia are separate national parks, but share park administration. Basically, once you enter one park, you travel seamlessly in both parks without having to go through another entrance station. Although contiguous to each other, they are quite different. Because we entered at the Big Stump entrance, we explored Kings Canyon NP first.
At the Kings Canyon visitor center, we watched a film featuring both parks and learned surprising bits of both parks history. Established in 1890, Sequoia NP is the second national park in the US. Shortly after, the nearby Grant Grove area became General Grant National Park. In 1940, FDR established Kings Canyon NP and transferred General Grant NP (which was only 150 acres) to the much larger Kings Canyon NP. For this reason, Kings Canyon features two separate sections – Grant Grove and Cedar Grove. (more…)
