Sequoia National Park

Sequoia really is beautiful, it is the perfect getaway from Los Angeles if you are short on time. Its about a 4.5 hour drive(the switchback mountains and getting to your camp site already factored in) Sequoia National park offers a lot of options for hiking, so many hiking trails that I was a bit overwhelmed ( a good type of overwhelmed). I was there for only a day and a half; I was not able to do it all, so I did 3 famous hikes, all three will be listed and reviewed below.

Camping:
I made a very last minute reservation for camping so I stayed at Sunset Campground which is in Kings Canyon National park, both parks kind of intertwine and is a short drive from Sequoia. I had loop 99 which is a smaller than usual camp sites, but it was sufficient as I do not tend to stay at the camp ground all day long, I only use it to eat my meals and sleeping. There was a grill and a table so that is a plus, less to pack. There are no showers but there was a bathroom with flushable toilets and that was a double plus! Sunset campground had a gorgeous sunset the time I was there which is probably why its named the way it is. I do recommend this camp ground .
 Hiking.

Moro Rock:
It is a 1.7 hike to the rock from the Giant Museum,plus a hike up a lot of stairs and incline to get to the top of the rock, it is absolutely breath taking when you get up top, but the hike itself was gorgeous as well. You have an option to hike or to take the shuttle directly to Moro Rock, I do not recommend taking a shuttle to Moro rock because you lose a lot of the experience that goes with being outdoors. On the hike to Moro rock you see a lot of gorgeous trees and wild life, we even saw a deer and its fawn! Below are some photos of the gorgeous scenery while on the hike.
During the hike:

On top of Moro rock:

Crescent Meadow:

This hike was short but you have an option to kind of wander off into the surrounding parts of the meadow. This hike was very lush and green. We took the shuttle to crescent meadow because we were short on time as it was a Sunday and I had work the following day. Anyway, the shuttle offered to stop at tunnel log, it was a tree that fell in the middle of the road and was converted into a tunnel in the great depression days. We stopped there and took some awesome photos, I was just in awe at the size of the tree. We then waited for the shuttle again to drop us off at crescent meadows, its about 1.5 miles from tunnel log. Crescent meadows is a part of the high sierra trail, there are sequoias and random trees that have fallen which gives it that really gritty feel and makes you feel as if your an explorer from the 1800s. There was this really cool tree that fell and was completely hollow and you can walk into! This was just one of many little details that make your trip memorable because you don’t see things like this everyday.

 

Closing thoughts:

 

If you have the weekend off and live in Los Angeles this is a must do, I work Monday through Friday 8-5, I left to be on the road at around 930pm and got to my camp site at 3am Friday night, and STILL had time to do these many hikes and experience nature. NO EXCUSES haha, if you love to explore you will do anything to get to the destination. Anything is possible when you use your time wisely. Happy exploring!