Summer Adventures

Seems kind of odd to do a post about summer activities when it's stinking cold outside, but what the heck?! I've been meaning to share some of our summer adventures, but I haven't had the time to do so. Turns out that I have the time now, so let's get started!

A few months back when it was toasty warm, we took a couple of day trips. The first trip we took was up to the Mt. Whitney Portal. For those of you who are not familiar with Mt. Whitney, it's the highest peak in the continental United States. How lucky am I that it's right in my backyard? Travis and I plan on climbing this peak in a few years.

Looking at the picture below, Mt. Whitney is the peak to the right of the two pointy peaks that are in the center of the picture. Mt. Whitney is approximately 14,495 feet tall, and I say approximately because no one really knows exactly how tall she really is. Ironically, Mt. Whitney is located only 85 miles from the lowest point in the contiguous Unite States, Badwater Basin in Death Valley which is 280 feet below sea level.

When you enter the park, there are signs everywhere warning visitors of bears. For some reason, Travis finds this highly amusing. We found a t-shirt a few weeks ago that says, "Bears like people...they taste just like chicken." HA! We're totally going back to get ourselves a pair (they didn't have them in our size at the time).

The portal is a gorgeous place with lots of pine trees and rocks.

There's even a waterfall that carries the winter melt down the mountain.

Coming down from the portal is just spectacular. Check out the view of the valley!

A few weeks later we decided to visit the Giant Sequoia trees at the Trail of a Hundred Giants which was only recently designated as a national monument by President Clinton back in 2000. Sequoias are one of the largest living organisms on earth, and they only occur in a narrow 60-mile band of mixed conifer trees between 5,000 and 8,000 feet in elevation. They grow from a seed less than half an inch long, and when fully grown they shoot more than 250 feet into the sky. Sequoias are also commonly more than 20 feet in diameter and at least one has grown to 35 feet across. Did you know that the word "sequoia" is the only English word to contain all five vowels? Go ahead and check...I know you want to!

Yeah, they're kind of big. Makes you realizes just how tiny we really are in the grand scheme of things.

And their root system is amazing!

One of the highlights of the trip was watching a white-headed woodpecker peck feverously at this tree. You can see him on the left side of the tree smack dab in the middle of the picture.

Aside from the Giant Sequoias, there are also beautiful meadows in the area. Just think of all the critters that live here!

That concludes our summer adventure series. I still have my craft fair to share plus the introduction of the latest member of my animal clan. Lots to share, so be on the look-out!