The Redwood Canyon is a bit misleading. It's not really a canyon per say and there are no redwoods here. It is, however, well worth a visit to see (and embrace) a secluded grove of 15,000 sequoias without the thrum of any crowds.
We opt to hike the 6.6 mile Sugarbowl Loop. This section has just reopened after some controlled burning. "Don't worry about any smoldering brush" the sign tells us. Okay then!
The loop sets out on a steady incline. Soon enough we realize we are walking up along the ridge. Terrific views abound on both sides. To our left we look out across the heavily forested "canyon" to see Big Baldy and to the right we look down into the San Joaquin Valley.
The pine cones here are also jumbo sized!
There is some evidence of recent ground burning by the rangers to promote forest growth, but nothing is smoldering. Best yet, we've encountered no one else on the trail.
The Sugarbowl grove of Sequoias is impressive. Silently they stand. There are many — dozens upon dozens of the big meaty giants. A creamy light filters in through the tree tops and trying to capture the magnitude of these trees is near impossible!
We opt to do lunch with this tall crowd and settle ourselves on a massive fallen trunk. We remind ourselves to think of this exact moment when we are back in Canada in the following months, for it is amongst these trees that we feel an ultimate blanket of peace and contentment. These trees have been here for upwards of two thousand years. That's a lot of lunches...
Continuing on, we reach a more heavily burned area. This part of the hike is fairly exposed with a faint campfire smell still hanging in the air. Overall it is quite pleasant. We spot a deer grazing (on what we're not sure? toasted berries? roasted acorns?). The trail is quite steep and, at times, it's challenging to get a good foothold. Here, we do encounter still smoldering brush...
Down and down we go until we are in the valley where the trail continues on for another 7 miles into another large grove of Sequoias or turns up the valley to follow a stream back to the trailhead.
Feeling a bit of walking weariness in our legs, we select the latter option. Heading back, we encounter more giant sequoias, masses of breeding ladybugs, stinging bees (one got Jenn!) and a steady (feel the muscle burn!) march upwards along the way.
We choose a site at the busy Azalea campground (6500'), put our feet up and crack open a cold one.
It looks like we're going to need to crack quite a few — we have a family with a young crying baby on one side of us, a country music playing RV (called, no joke here, "The Redneck Shaggin' Wagon") behind us, a gaggle of giggly gals on another side and a loud Armenian contingent across the way (breaking the park rules by parking their RV in our clearly marked "Tents Only" section — how dare they!).
Thankfully, a minor thundershower sends everyone inside by 9:30 p.m. Unthankfully, it passes quickly and it's rowdy with crying babies, revving engines, and giggly girls until the wee hours of the morning.
We have the last laugh though.... up at 7:30 a.m. we fling open the squeaky bear box doors just to be annoying. Naaaw... we Canadians are too polite to do anything other than complain to ourselves.
However, here is a photo of perfectly formed bee's nest located near our site and taken just before we whacked it with a stick, jumped in Honky and sped away.
Take that you rowdy campers!
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