Sequoia Adventure

We planned a trip to Sequoia National Park for Spring Break.  It was definitely an adventure!  We had plans of visiting the General Sherman tree (the largest tree alive), going on a few easy hikes, and staying in the Montecito Sequoia Lodge.  I had been checking the weather about a week before we left and noticed it would be cooler than where we live but not bad, highs in the 60s.  The night before we left I checked the weather again as I was packing.  Now it said that it would be high of 40s, chance of rain both days we were in the park, and possible snow at night.  I packed the kids warmer clothes and hoped for the best.  The first night we stayed in Visalia, a town just outside the park.  We went swimming and had a great time relaxing.

 Brian checked the weather again that night and it said a 90% chance of snow for the next day.  The park required we carry chains for our car just to get in!  We bought some chains, a few ponchos, and headed into the park the next day.  

It rained for the first part of the drive up the mountain.  By the time we got to the General Sherman hike, it was slushy snow.  It was 1/2 mile to the tree, so we bundled up and donned our ponchos.  The sequoia trees are absolutely amazing to see.  You just can't picture how huge they are until you see them in person.

 

All of us at the base of General Sherman.  Brian ended up carrying Lydi for the 1/2 mile back to the car.  The trail was paved the whole way, but it was slippery with the slush.  Robbie was such a protector of me.  He held my hand the whole way and wanted to make sure I didn't slip and fall. "You don't want to hurt yourself or baby Thomas," he would say.

 After the hike we headed toward our lodge.  We made it to another lodge called Wuksachi Lodge.  The concierge helped us put the chains on our car and the lodge informed us that the road leading to our lodge was closed for the night.  Brian called and was able to cancel our reservations.  Luckily the Wuksachi Lodge had an available room and a peanut-safe restaurant for us to dine in that evening.

We decided to stay there.  The kids loved seeing the snow and it was a nice to relax for the evening.

 

The next morning, we woke up to about a foot of snow on the ground!  We bundled up and let the kids play for a long time.  Brian was able to dig our car out of the snow cave that had built up around it that night.  The snow on these tall trees really was gorgeous to see.  It was such a beautiful setting.

The kids made a snowman- it was hard since the snow was all powder, but they were happy with it!

 

We had some snow fights...

 

and slid down some small hills.

 

 That afternoon we traveled back down to Visalia for another night and more swimming.  We had a great time with our unexpected adventure.  We are grateful for all the help we had from Heavenly Father in keeping safe and finding the right place for us to be. The park was so beautiful.  We will have to come back in the summer time so we can fit in a few more hikes.