Snowshoeing in Sequoia National Park

Mark putting on snowshoes

We just got back from a 3 day weekend in Sequoia National Park, and I am just brimming with enthusiasm about our trip.  First off, I was really excited to try snowshoeing for the first time.  Secondly, I was really looking forward to staying in my first authentic National Park lodge. And thirdly, I was excited to see my first Giant Sequoia Trees.

On our first night, we encountered a bit of a hiccup. There are two main entrances into Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, one of which was closed from to snow.  Of course, we ended up at the wrong entrance for the night. Website instructions to the park are a little confusing, so I recommend that you spend more than a cursory 5 minutes understanding them, unlike myself.  Fortunately, the Wuksachi Lodge, where we had reservations for the night, refunded us for the first night.  Cooler heads prevailed and we ended up staying in nearby Visalia that first night, which is just outside entrance we were supposed to enter through.

The thrill of snowshoeing on our way
to Topokah Falls

The horror of the previous night was quickly forgotten as soon as we entered the park the following morning.  A much overlooked aspect of the park is the enjoyment to be had in the winter-time.  The park has few visitors all year, and even fewer visitors in the winter time, which makes it easier to have the park all to oneself. In winter, too, the Giant Sequoia trees glow an unearthly orange, and make a striking contrast against the wintry white snow. Finally, the large snowfall makes it imperative to rent a pair of snowshoes or cross country skis which makes it fun in and of itself.

To attract visitors, Wuksachi Lodge offers an excellent deal in wintertime.  Nights at the lodge cost only $79/night during the workweek, and $87/night on the weekend.  Prices are typically double that in the summer. Wuksachi also offers free snowshoes to all residents, and also offers a special bed and breakfast offer, which offers unlimited breakfast buffet, which Mark and I partook in everyday.

Ice climbers at Topokah Falls

We quickly rented a pair of snowshoes, and went on a short hike to Tokopah Falls.  Tokopah Falls was recommended by a park ranger for to its contrasting scenery with the rest of the park.  It is special because it offers visitors easy access to the high Sierra (7000'-14,500' of elevation) just 1.7 miles walk from the visitor center.  Most of the park is in the mid-Sierra range (5,500'-7,000'). The hike followed along the babbling Kaweah river, and was very idyllic and pretty, even more so because we were alone the entire time.  I did not weary of the thrill of snowshoeing until we got to perhaps mile #3, when I started to feel the exertion in my hip flexors and butt.

At the end of the hike, we encountered the barren landscape I presume is typical of the high Sierras.  We found a couple of ice climbers climbing the Topokah ice fall with crampons and ice axe. It was very exciting for me to see something that is normally portrayed in scary survival movies such as "Touching the Void", so I felt compelled to watch.  But when fist-sized pieces of ice started to tumble down me, I was warned to step far to the side.

To be continued...