Just a note re my photography. As we travel many miles on our road trips I rarely get the luxury to stop to take the " perfect picture" when on the road, so the majority of my pics on our road travels are snapped as we fly past, so sorry for some lack of quality, squashed bugs, dirt and any other imperfection that may accompany the pics in the blog. I call it "Through the windows.......", and is an addition to "Our Backyard....."series which sometimes pop up on Facebook :)
So rolling on......
After enjoying the stunning Big Sur, staying at the lovely university town of San Luis Obispo (see below) and visiting the enchanting Hearst Castle we headed inland from the coast to explore and discover more of Central California. We jumped on H46 and headed east to Paso Robles where we stayed the night before heading across the Central Valley to the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks via H46, 41 and 189.
These roads wended their way through the Central Valley, one of the most productive agriculture regions - more than 230 crops are grown there and it produces 8% of the nation's agricultural output by value. Virtually all non-tropical crops are grown in the Central Valley and it is the primary source of a number of food products in the USA, including tomatoes, almonds, grapes, cotton, apricots and asparagus. An interesting statistic: There are about 6,000 almond growers that produce more than 1900 million pounds a year, about 90% of the world's supply!
Water is a real issue though as the Central valley's agricultural productivity relies on irrigation from both groundwater pumping from wells and surface water diversions. We saw many, many huge signs as we travelled through this farming area that stated "No Water, No Jobs " Drought is a problem.
SAN LUIS OBISPO
Surrounded by verdant hills this great town has a fabulous atmosphere. Being a University town (Cal Poly), it has a "youthful feel" with great cafes, restaurants and grills, bars, shops, parks and gardens. We enjoyed a night out at the most popular grill in town - The Firestone Grill.
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| A quaint and quirky town! |
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| Great Art Deco Theatre |
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| The Town Hall |
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Creek, gardens, parklands and picnic areas run through town.
Lots of cafes and restaurants back onto this lovely area. |
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| Grandparent duties - enjoying a stroll around town |
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| The popular Firestone Grill - busiest place in town (day and night!) |
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| Great cafes |
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| Love the street art! |
THE CENTRAL VALLEY
We've travelled through the Central Valley a few times on this road trip. Firstly when we travelled up H101 to Monterey, and then when we headed across the 46, 41 and 198 to the foot of the Sierra Nevada's and the National Parks.
Some lovely vineyards and wineries nestled amongst the rolling hills looked really tempting! ......
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| As we headed out of Paso Robles on the H46 and then H41 we crossed through an arid, interesting landscape of hills that straddled the Andreas Fault Line................ |
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| Interesting - protruding rocks lining the tops of the hills - like a mow-hawk! |
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| Once through the hills we hit the farmlands of the Joaquin Valley section of the Central Valley |
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| Very flat, dry and hot - the farming is all dependent on irrigation |
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| The Sierra Nevada loom ahead with the orchards flanking either side of the road as we head out of Visalia - gateway to Sequoia National Park. |
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| Lemons for miles! |
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| Petrol (Gas) stop at Lemon Cove before we tackle the National Parks |
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| Not snowing today! It's a perfect day - clear blue sky and you can see for miles! |
SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK
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| The Parks and the roads (Generals Highway and Kings Canyon Scenic Byway) we throughly enjoyed = the red dots |
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| Stunning Lake Kaweah Recreational Area |
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| Following the Middle Fork Kaweah River trough the valley to the Park's Entrance |
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| The peaks herald! - Castle Rocks 6,250 feet (1,905m) |
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A National Parks entrance fee lasts for 7 days in that park - great value!
None of the American National Parks disappoint and are all worth a visit - great to plan a holiday trip to the States visiting their numerous and awesome National Parks. |
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| Picked up a map of the parks and a list of the" must do and see" tips and then headed off on our adventure to explore......... |
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Once in the park Moro Rock demands your attention!
Little did we know that an hour later we would have climbed to the top of it! |
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| Road and river run up the valley - beautiful colours and scenery! |
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| Some fun with a fallen rock! Hope no more fall while we are here! |
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| Compare the giants |
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| From this tiny seed to this massive giant..................... |
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You only get the perspective of how huge these giants are when you see people standing at their bases.
Amazing!!
"Five of the ten most massive trees on the planet are located within the Giant Forest. The largest of these, the General Sherman tree, measures 36.5 feet (11.1 m) across the base. The giant sequoia tree is the most massive species of tree on earth, and one of just five tree species documented to grow to 300 feet in height (the others are Coast Redwood, Eucalyptus Regnans, Douglas fir, and Sitka Spruce). It is also among the longest-lived of all trees on the planet." - Wikipedia |
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| Another human looking very small at the base of this ancient giant |
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| Lush and pretty the meadows are scattered amongst the giant trees in the forest |
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| More tiny humans with the towering giants |
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| We were lucky enough to see a black bear lunching in the meadow! |
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| The impressive peaks of the High Sierra viewed from Moro Rock |
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Where we came from! Great view as we ascend Moro Rock.
The Generals Highway follows the river up the valley then tacks through many, many hairpin bends to reach the Giant Forest atop. |
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| Moro Rock coloured rock sculpture. The artist: Mother Nature! |
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| Higher, and higher! |
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Spectacular view from the halfway point.
Altitude doesn't help with the breathing though! A great workout at altitude! |
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| Again from whence we came! It's looking smaller, and smaller! |
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| Success! - we made it to the top. 6,725 ft (2,050m). Worth the spectacular 360 view! |
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| Down, dow, down we go! Very steep! |
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| A bit of fun driving through the fallen sequoia! |
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| Traffic jam! |
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| The Sherman tree is in the middle of the pic - can you see people at its base? |
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Amazing statistics! Hard to imagine its age and size - been on this earth a long, long time! and looks so healthy!!!
Goosebumps!!! |
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| More wildlife spotted! |
KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARK
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| Looking down into the Canyon |
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| We are descending into the canyon and following the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway that follows the South ForkKings River up the canyon valley. |
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Starting to feel very small as the towering canyon walls start to envelop us!
Very colourful! |
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| The South Fork River tumbles and echoes through the canyon - a very picturesque drive along the Kings canyon Scenic Byway! |
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| A castle! -of course -it's Kings Canyon! |
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| Beginning our journey out of the canyon as the sun begins to set |
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| Grizzly Falls with a drop of 75 ft |
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| Kings Valley |
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| Amazing scenery! |
Nature never ceases to draw our breaths at her wonders! What an incredible day!
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| A poster that was in the Giant Forest Museum - so, so true!!! |
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