2013 Trip Four, Out West, May 15th

Today’s theme is water. We drove the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway. It is a 35 mile drive to nowhere. The end of the road is called “Roads End” and you get to turn around. The state had plans to push this and one other road over the Sierra Nevada Mountains but stopped due to money and the impact on the national parks. It is unlikely either will ever be completed.

beginning the drive to Kings Canyon

There were plans to dam Kings River in the 1940s. The creation of the national park stopped that. Even now, only a portion of the park is accessible to people like us, the rest is wilderness open to overnight back packers. Not our style.

Kings River from above, two forks joining together

view of a portion of the road into the Canyon

The road descends from 7000 feet to 4600 feet, once again on curvy,cliff’s edge type roads. Once at the bottom, you follow the river for many miles as it roars along. Even though it has been a relatively dry winter, the river right now is full and making great froth and roaring loudly. It was fun to drive along it. We could even hear the roar at a road side stop several thousand feet above it.

Kings River

Kings River #2

Kings River at Zumwalt Meadow

Our walk was shortened: construction crews were working on part of the trail and major portions of it were closed. But that was okay, we have more walks ahead of us.

Grizzly falls, site of lunch

We had our bag lunch alongside a smaller falls leading to the river. Actually while quite nice, it was our second choice. As we were searching for a picnic table after reaching Roads End and heading back on the 35 mile journey, we turned down a road that seemed fine but ended up being one lane, rutted, and isolated. But we held firm and made our way back to civilization.

our one lane road adventure

We made it back up the mountain and are now at Grant Grove Village where there is Internet and pleasant weather.