Liam and I went to the Sequoias last week with Daddy, Mama, Brian, and Mama’s Spanish friend and Camino buddy Sonsoles. We all piled into the Pilot and made the drive up to stay at the Montecito Lodge for a few days.

Unfortunately I came down with a bad cold (thanks, Pat) but with with the assistance of 12 hr. Aleve Cold & Sinus I pressed on through several longish hikes (one of which was 4 miles, uphill both ways… yikes! ;)). We saw bear and cat-like prints alongside some hooved ones of various sizes on the trail to Big Baldy. Brian and I paddled around the pond in a canoe, which was really fun. The sequoias are really quite amazing. They dwarf everything around them. In that forest we also experienced silence of the kind you can only find in such a remote place. It was a tall glass of cold clean water to a traveler of parched deserts.

Our last stop was Boyden Caverns. It was a beautiful drive getting there and very interesting inside. See all the pictures in our Gallery.