SA Guides: Bailey Bridge, Roaring River Falls, Hotel Creek/Lewis Creek loop, Grizzly Falls
One of my favorite places is Kings Canyon. In spring the lengthy drive along the south fork of the Kings River through the canyon can be
exhilarating. I swear I get a rush every time we roll through with the windows down; listening to, inhaling, and feeling the power of the whitewater as we snake along the river on our way to Cedar Grove.
No one likes to see a cherished possession tarnished. And it was with mixed feelings that I recently discovered how my 1/300 millionth share of this place had been diminished by the huge Rough Fire in 2015. "Mixed" in part because even though I understand the ecological necessity of fire and recovery, it still felt like something I care about had been harmed. But also, and more consequentially, because I no longer have the confidence that, as used to be the case, these damaged forests will ever be the same again.
The car lights are at least five miles away to the east at about the same elevation as where I'm sitting, with a broad, shallow Joshua Tree-dotted basin between us. The lights move slowly, and eventually wink out as they either snake behind one of the huge stacks of boulders that seem to grow out of the land here or turn to leave the park.
...but to be honest, we weren't trying all that hard to catch him.
the same area. But now and then you find your way into something unusual - perhaps a new perspective on familiar terrain, or an unexpected and delightful botanical specimen, or it could be as simple as experiencing old haunts in different seasons and conditions. And sometimes, as happened to us the other day, you look down into an apparently stagnant and lifeless pool of water in middle of the desert, see some movement, and wonder out loud, "What the hell is that thing!?"