Back - and it was dreamy

Just got back from California. It was a great trip. We saw the doctor, saw friends and then went up to Sequoia with Gavin and Mickey.

One of the high valleys at about 8200 ft or 2500 m

We went to a very interesting part of Sequoia, Mineral King. Now I used to travel to Sequoia all the time with my grandparents when I was young. But this sub-alpine valley wasn't part of Sequoia National Park then. It was a private area, and in Walt Disney was trying to turn it into a ski resort.

View from an aborted hike. Turns out I don't do well over 8,000 feet

One of Walt's mistakes that I am glad happened. Because the area was never fully defined, it isn't easy to get to. The last 20 miles take a little over an hour to drive through. But what is at then end is beautiful and not too busy.

The Mineral King Valley. Although ecologists fought Disney, the killer blow was an avalanche.

Here are some pics.

This is all from the first day, which was above 7,000 feet and therefore too high for the Giant Sequoia trees.