2013-04-26

Yesterday, the 25th, I woke up not feeling like walking very far.  I think it was because we had driven the day before from a 500 foot elevation to over 7,000 feet.  Marilyn’s right ear was hurting.  So, we drove to Paul Evert’s RV in Fresno to get a new black water valve.  Ours leaks a little.  I will do the replacement next time we are at a full hook-up site.  After lunch we went to a Doc-In-the-Box to have Marilyn’s ear looked at.  After a cleaning, the doctor said there was a fluid buildup and gave her a nasal spray prescription.

Today, the 26th, Marilyn’s ear felt better (reduced fluid) so we headed up to King’s Canyon National Park. 

Our day started with Big Trees after we entered the park, followed by a drive to the bottom of King’s Canyon where we saw Waterfalls, and the effects of glaciers.

Next stop after the Visitor’s Center is the General Grant Grove and Tree.  One has to marvel at all of the trees in the grove.  They are magnificent at the bottom as well as at the top. 

The fallen trees have been used as shelter. 

The General Grant Tree takes three horizontal pictures from base to top.    By using the phone’s panorama function, the whole tree can be seen from bottom to top.  The General Grant Tree is the third largest tree in the world.  It was named after General Grant because it was US Grant National Park before it became Kings Canyon National Park.

This tree was interesting because part of its trunk was separated due to fire. 

After lunch, we took Subway, we drove from 6800 feet to the bottom of Kings Canyon at 3100 feet to drive along the Kings River. 

Along the way we could see beautiful mountain scenery. 

The first falls we came to was Grizzly Falls. 

The next falls was Roaring River Falls. 

This canyon is surrounded by some of the most spectacular rocks. 

We did finally find some wildlife at the bottom of the canyon. 

We continued along the river to the end of the road.   

After having reached the bottom of the canyon at 3000 feet, and then driving to the end of the road at 4800 feet, we then had to retrace out route back down to 3000 feet, and then back up to 6800 feet before we could drive out of the park and down to Visalia at about 400 feet.

The day had its ups and downs as well as around many a curve, but it was a beautiful day with great weather and scenery.

Type at you later.