4 Wheels 4 Girls

May 3, we drove out of Death Valley and made our way across the Sierra Nevada mountains. Along the way, we caught a glimpse of Mt. Whitney and its neighboring giants along the east face of the Sierras. Our next stop would be in Sequoia National Park, so we chose a pass through the mountains at the southern end of Sequoia National Forest.

Oftentimes we pick smaller roads, which might yield a more scenic view of the country. This time we learned–when it comes to mountain passes–the bigger roads are often a wiser choice. Our little road was beautiful, but the RV really struggled to climb up through the endless twists and turns in the forest. We thought the pass would never come. On the bright side, we did spot a bobcat crossing the road along the way.

We camped in Three Rivers, CA that night, next to a wild river, gushing over its banks and boulders, full of spring snowmelt.

The next day, we entered Sequoia National Park at the Foothills Entrance, planning to drive up through the park from the south, to see the grove of giant sequoias, one of which is General Sherman, the largest living creature on Earth. Instead, we learned that our RV was not allowed up the southern road through the park, and that we would have to turn around and drive back down out of the mountains and north to another park entrance, missing General Sherman altogether. Sigh.

So, we missed General Sherman, but General Grant, the second-largest living creature on Earth, would be waiting for us at the other park entrance.