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Our Day at Sequoia National Park

Guest Post by Amy Perry Basseches 
Photo by Sophie Perry Basseches
 
Last month, my 19 year old daughter Sophie and I set out on a road trip from Claremont, California to Seattle, Washington. I’ve always loved the western part of the US, and was therefore very excited for our first stop: Sequoia National Park (established in September 1890), and King’s Canyon National Park. We entered Sequoia at the Ash Mountain Entrance (the start of Generals Highway) and proceeded to drive through the amazing sequoia forest. The trees are 1800 to 2500 years old, if you can imagine that. We toured the Giant Forest Museum and hiked up the 400 steps of Moro Rock’s granite dome. In one of those moments where “mistakes while traveling can turn into the best experiences,” we turned the wrong way on one of the national park roads and ended up seeing a whole other side of Sequoia that we hadn’t intended. Which was great until the road ended at Zumwalt Meadow with everything closed because it was early in the season. It was getting dark, we had no cell service, and our gas was running low. We turned around and fortunately made our way to our motel in Squaw Valley, (entirely different from Lake Tahoe’s Squaw Valley), where we were greeted by a sign announcing the neighboring town’s 41st Annual Turkey Testicle Festival in June.
 
I’ve always been a big "tree hugger."
 
 

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