California 2026 - Part 1 - Sequoia and Yosemite In late May we visited Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks in California and then drove across the state to viste the Monterey area including Carmel and Big Sur: Part 1 - Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks General Sherman Tree Trail Moro Rock, Crescent Meadows, Tunnel Log, and Kings Canyon Yosemite Valley Taft Point and Glacier Point Closer Look at Bridal Veil Falls and El Capitan Tioga Road and Mist Trail to Vernal Falls The Ahwahnee Hotel   Part 2 - Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur and San Simeon Cannery Row and the Monterey Aquarium Carmel including Point Lobos State Park Big Sur Drive Down Hearst Castle at San Simeon Big Sur Return Drive including Bixby Bridge Seventeen Mile Drive and Pebble Beach Golf Course Pacific Grove   We few in to LAX, rented a car and drove across the state through Bakersfield to Sequoia National Park and had time in the late afternoon to enter the park and drive to the Sherman Tree Trail. The General Sherman is the world's largest living tree by volume. It is estimated to be between 2,300 and 2,700 years old and is 275 feet tall with a circumferance of nearly 103 feet with an estimated to weigh 2.47 million pounds. Sequoias are not as tall as Redwoods, but are generally bigger around. The trail meandered through a grove of giant Sequoias. Dinner at the River View Grill and Bar on the Kaweah River just outside the park in Three Rivers.     The next day we climbed the trail to the top of Moro Rock, walked the Crescent Meadows trail past more giant Sequoias and drove through "tunnel log". Later in the day, we drove to Kings Canyon National Park where the Grant Tree is located.             Driving through "tunnel log"                           Inside the burned out Sequoia, looking up       This is Tharp's Log, a house partially built out of the hollow inside of a fallen Sequoia built by Hale D Tharp who was described as the first non-Native American to enger the Giant Forest.         The General Grant Sequoia in Kings Canyon National Park. This is the second largest tree by volume in the world, but it is some 500 years younger than the General Sherman tree and scientists believe it will surpass the General Sherman in aobut 150 years from now.           View into Kings Canyon           The first morning in Yosemite Valley, the base of Yosemite National Park. We spent the day explring the valley floor including taking an open bus tour to get familar with the main sites includuing Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, El Capitain, Bridal Veil Falls, and a short hike to Mirror Lake. Majestic Yosemite Falls as seen from a short walk from our hotel room at the Yosemite Valley Lodge. Yosemite Falls drops an impressive total of 2,425 feet from the top of the upper falls to the base of the lower falls.   Here you can see the upper and lower falls in one picture... The base of lower Yosemite Falls... The Cathedral Peaks... First look at El Capitan... The world famous El Capitan rock formation which stands nearly 3,000 feet tall. It is one of the most iconic climbing locations in the world and its various routes have been the subject of famous and record breaking ascents including most recently the 17 day Dawn Wall free climb ascent by Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson in 2015 and the first and only ever free solo ascent by Alex Honnold in 2017. Bridal Veil Falls... Looking at El Capitan and Bridal Falls from the banks of the Merced River just past the El Capitan Meadows... This is the "Tunnel View" of the west end of Yosemite Valley seend from the Wawona Tunnel... More views of Bridal Veil Falls... First view of Half Dome, another of Yosemite's famous rock formations and iconic climbing locations... After the open bus tour, we made the short hike to Mirror Lake and the following photographs are from the lakes in that area... Another look at Half Dome... On day 2 at Yosemite, we hiked to Taft Point and Glacier Point taking in the spectacular views.... Yosemite Falls in the background of this and the next several pictures... Yosemite Falls as seen from Taft Point... Bouldering in the literal sense... A view of Half Dome from Glacier Point... We hiked closer to Bridal Veil Falls and then hiking to the base of El Capitan. Most tourists just look at "El Cap" from the road, but we took one of the trails that rock climbers use as I wanted to actually put my hands on the famous rock monolith... Bridal Veil Falls up close... El Capitan from the meadows where onlookers can watch climbers... The climbers in the red square which is a zoomed in view of the small red square are Joey "Danger" Evmore and his father. At 7 years old, Joey became the youngest person to scale El Capitan beating his slightly older brother Sam "Adventure" Evermore's record. Apparently these are legal middle names and family's other kids are named Sylvan "Lighyear" Evermore and Blaze "Wilder" Evermore. Approaching the base of El Capitan... At the base of El Cap... Now I can legimately say I have climbed El Capitan! Ok, maybe not very high, but still.... Half Dome near sunset from Cook's Meadow... The next morning we drove Tioga Road to take in the sights in that area of the park. Then in the afternoon, we hiked Mist Trail to get a closeup look at Vernal Falls. A look at Vernal Falls and Mist Trail as we ascend the rock stairs to the top... On our last day in Yosemite, we had breakfast at the Ahwanhee Hotel, a majestic hotel opened in 1927 and a fine example of National Park Service rustic architecture, sometimes called "parkitecture"...                 Click Here for Part 2 of California including Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur and San Simeon