Kings Canyon Hike

Monday June 26th – At about 4am this morning the people at the camp next to us decided it was time to get up. They started playing Aussie folk music really loudly so this meant it was time for me to get up too. We had breakfast then drove over to the beginning of the Kings Canyon hike. We planned to do the rim hike which is a 6k loop with a few steep climbs. The first part of the hike was the steepest and really got your heart pumping. The view from the top was worth it though. We walked around the rim of the canyon for awhile then dropped down inside the canyon where there is a permanent water source called the “Garden of Eden”. This small area is lush with trees and ancient cycads. Cycads are a type of short bushy fern or palm tree which grows incredibly slowly. The plant doesn’t reach sexual maturity until about 250 years old! They estimate that some of the cycads in this canyon are around 400 years old, pretty incredible. We hiked back up the other side of the canyon, stopping at several lookouts where you can see the sheer cliffs and some whitish spots which indicate the last location of rock falls. The sandstone is actually white and the red color is the rusting of the iron minerals in the sandstone. Kings Canyon is pretty amazing and has geological formations that date back 440 million years.
Bullfrog shared lots of information about the plants and the aboriginal people and their way of life in this area, I found it all fascinating. We hiked for about 3 ½ hours finally returning to the bus and driving back to camp for lunch. The rest of the day was spent driving to Alice Springs for the conclusion of our tour. We had a few short stops along the way for gas and restroom breaks.
Once we arrived in Alice Spring Sue, Grant and I checked into a hotel and the whole group met for dinner nearby. It was a fun way to end our tour. We all exchanged email addresses, including our guide. Grant and I really enjoyed our guide and when he next plans to visit the US we hope he will include a visit with us in San Francisco.