It’s at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range near Lone Pine, California. It’s made up of unusual rock formations and large boulders that climbers love to tackle. It is a desert type ecosystem located on Federal BLM land. You may have recognized the landscape as this area was used in the opening scene of the movie “Iron Man”.
Yosemite National Park may get all the pub and glory but Sequoia National Park is an enticing alternative high up in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. If you like peace, solitude, adventure, rugged peaks, pristine lakes and rivers, along with it’s main attraction, Giant Sequoia Trees, then Sequoia is a preferred destination. I worked a summer in Sequoia during my college years and it is a summer I will never forget. Where else can you encounter a black bear and a tarantula on the same day!
The park has immense elevation changes starting from the chaparral in the foothills at 1,300 feet, to dense sub alpine forests and onto the treeless alpine environment. Sequoia is home to Mt Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states at 14,491 feet and the world’s largest tree, The General Sherman.
I took a turn out of Northern Death Valley NP and went into California’s Owens Valley. Not surprisingly, the Sierras had little snow. The first image is from last winters snow level in Owens Valley and the last three are from this years winter. Quite a difference.
The normal road I take to Eureka Dunes at Death Valley National Park was washed out. So I had to go around and wouldn’t make it to the dunes that night. So I camped at Alabama Hills near Lone Pine California. It has great views and the camping is free! And the full moon was to rise that night.
