Pinnacles to Kings Canyon

The travel time between these two parks is roughly 4 hours, so after jumping in the freshly opened pool after our second night's stay at Pinnacles, we headed off to the in between city of Fresno with a "break from camping" night in mind. 

I stopped numbering my "hiking lessons" after #55 right before I headed to the AT back in 2018, but maybe I should start again with lesson #56: "you get what you pay for." Although it really is the same idea as my long ago lesson #2: "go ahead and buy the more expensive piece of equipment you really want, because you will only be ending up buying it later anyway."

Not being a cheap ass is a lesson I don't think I'll ever fully learn. This has nothing to do with hiking; it's just who I am. Reserving the cheapest hotel possible is part of my nature; and especially in this instance because all we needed was a decent bed and a pool. Especially a pool, because as I mentioned in the last post, our car's AC had gone out - and it was hot.

Below is the picture of the so called pool at my "what a deal" $70 hotel room. When we pulled in and my husband saw someone cleaning their crack pipe next to us, he turned to me and said, "I think we need to spend a little more on a hotel."

Zoom in to see the bottom...yuck

So yes, we splurged and found a place with a much nicer pool and it was 100% worth it. Anyhow, Kings Canyon is up around 6,000 ft, so a swimming pool was not required as it is a much more comfortable temperature at that elevation.  

In my happy place

I had booked one night at Princess Campground months earlier (all the campgrounds fill up quickly, FYI) and knew that with travel and set up, hiking was not going to be in the cards for this day. Instead we were touristy and stopped to see the General Grant Tree, which was much more fun than expected. Then after setting up camp in record time and not knowing what else to do I turned to Ken to suggest, "How about we just walk around Hume Lake up the road."

This is what you call a "tourist pose" ;)

His eyes light up like a little kid. "You have got to be kidding me!" he responds, dumbfounded. "That's the lake I grew up going to summer camp at! SO many memories...that will be awesome!" 

But here's the thing about going somewhere that holds 40+ year old remembrances...it will be changed. And most likely, drastically. It's hard to prepare yourself to face the passing of time in this way. But nevertheless, fond memories are still fond memories and are always sweet; even when taken with a little dose of bitter. I wish you all happy trails, even when they are mixed with a little melancholy. 
"Things to know" list below for those interested. 

He looks mostly happy :)

Things to Know about Kings Canyon:

1) If you don't like windy roads that have severe drop offs with no guard rail, don't even think about going to this park. 

2) Best to have a full tank of gas and everything downloaded that you need on your phone beforehand, though you can get Wi-Fi at Grant Grove Village if you really need it.

3) Use the damn turn outs if you're super slow...what is wrong with some people? Also, remain calm when people drive like idiots. It's really not worth getting worked up over.  

4) If you end up camping next to a rowdy group playing loud music, wait it out a little before letting it get to you. Chances are they will reign it in, and they may even give you their extra ranch dressing if you forgot and you ask nice. 

5) There's a little trail right in the Princess Campground called "Indian Basin Grove Loop Trail" that makes a lovely golden hour walk.