7am, wake up. Today we're off to Sequoia National Park, and we can't waste any time or the road will be clogged. Indeed, as we drove quickly into Sequoia NAtional Park yesterday, we saw that the road is littered with roadworks and red lights, so the aim is to get on the road before everyone else.
So we hit the road after breakfast. The road is winding and takes us from an altitude of 200 metres to 1800 metres. Suffice to say, we're not all feeling very well in the car, between the bends and the difference in altitude.
We finally arrived at a parking lot to start the Sherman Trail. This trail allows us to see General Sherman, a 2200-year-old tree, and also the world's largest tree. Indeed, this tree is neither the tallest nor the widest, but in terms of volume it's the biggest, an enormous sequoia measuring 90 metres in height and 11 metres in diameter.
We continue directly onto the Congress Trail, right next to the Sherman Trail. This trail gives us a glimpse of a few deer, but above all of many giant sequoia. Notably the President (the 3rd largest tree in the world), the House Group and the Senate Group, which are collections of several giant sequoias, and more.
After this trail, we take the car to park at Moro Rock, whose 350 steps we're about to climb. In the end, it's quite easy, and the view from the top is nice, but not exceptional either. We should have come here at sunset or sunrise.
After Moro Rock, we had a bite to eat, before tackling another trail, Crescent Meadow. This trail is very pleasant and a change from this morning's, as this time we're in a less dense part of the forest, with open areas overlooking large plains. We hope to take advantage of these open views to see a bear, but no, nothing on the horizon.
We finish our Sequoia National Park escapade with the Big Tree Trail, which gives us another chance to see some big trees. Notably two sequoia that have "merged" because they were too close, or a sequoia that seems to have "swallowed" a rock because it has grown around it.
We then return to our accommodation. We miss the sunset, but make up for it a little later as we head out around 11 p.m. to photograph the Milky Way. It's not great because the sky is still clear, mainly due to clouds reflecting the light, but it's good enough, so we're happy with it.