Swank Camp Activity Poll
 

Hey Campers, this poll will help us decide when to do what.

There's a good amount of purely optional excursions and activities that will be offered over the weekend. Some will require driving away from Swank Camp, and two require nothing more than hiking direct from Swank Camp!

Because not everyone will be there the entire 3.5 days, figuring out which activities are the most popular will help us decide which ones to do when most people are in Camp.

Vote for as many activities as you think you'd like to participate in.

Brief descriptions follow:

:iSm:

The Muir Grove of Giant Sequoias: a 2-mile trek from our campground will bring us to this fairly secluded grove of the massive trees the Park is named for. This 4 mile round trip will provide our best opportunity to commune with some of the largest living things on the planet.

Little Baldy: a 3-mile hike from our campsites climbs 700 feet to a granite dome overlooking the Giant Forest region. We could drive part of the way to lessen the 6-mile round trip ... but that would negate the fun of the only trail that leads directly from Swank Camp.

King's Canyon Road Trip: a driving excursion to explore the wonders of the National Park Next Door, with our experienced guides, €uroMeinke and Not Afraid at the helm.

Tokopah Falls: a 3-mile round trip from nearby Lodgepole Campground, along the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River to the impressive granite cliffs and waterfall of Tokopah Canyon. The Falls are 1200 feet high, and are most impressive in early summer!

Crystal Cave: Beautiful stalactites and curtains, impressively large rooms, and ornate marble polished naturally by a subterranean stream make a tour of Crystal Cave an unforgettable experience. 45-minute tours depart every half hour (10:30 - 4:30) and cost $11. (Tickets at Lodgepole Visitor Center, not at the Cave.) A two-hour "Discovery Tour" lasts 2 hours, costs $19, and is limited to 16 persons. Oh, and the temperature inside the Cave is 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Brrrrr.

Griant Grove - In connection with a drive to Crystal Cave, we might want to visit the famous stuff nearby that the Park is known for, such as:
General Sherman Tree - the world's largest living tree
The Congress Trail - a 2-mile stroll thru the heart of the giant sequoia forest and some very famous trees
The Auto Log - a roadway was cut into the top of this fallen tree to give early visitors a sense of scale. Though you can no longer drive on it, the Log is an interesting historic feature.
Crescent Meadow - summer wildflowers, a 1-mile stroll to Tharp's Log and, of course, Bambi!
Moro Rock - a steep, quarter-mile staircase climbs 300 feet to the top of the famed granite dome, offering spectacular views of the Great Western Divide

Both my avatar and sig pictures are from Kings Canyon - avatar is Zumwalt Meadows and the sig is the Kings River from Muir's Pulpit.

I'd be up for the longer cave tour definitely :cool:

An additional thought: Tokopah Falls may or may not be impressive this year since the snow pack has be awful and the falls probably aren't too full. But, I may be wrong.

My vote is for doing the Crystal Caves on Sunday, on our way out, since they are in that direction. Should we get tickets at Lodgepole on our way up (or all go on our way down? I just don't want it to be sold out if we attempt that on the way down).

Tokopah Falls appeals to me as well.

I'm not sure what you mean by the Muir Grove of Giant Sequoias. Is that the one with General Grant (Grant Grove?)

Hume Lake is also really nice, and it isnt on your list :)

Muir Grove is NOT where the General Grant or Sherman is but a more secluded (less touristy) grove of redwoods. The other groves Grant Grove and Giant Forest are easy stops either in or out of the park and each take maybe an hour to see. The humongo trees are impressive but a lovely grove of redwoods without people is sublime. Different experiences, both wonderful.

I suspect that people who have NOT seen Giant Forest and Grant Grove would want to at least experience these most popular and accessible groves. Those who have seem them before may want to opt for a new sightseeing experience.

Where's Hume Lake? and how would we get there? (That is, if we could possibly add something to our already improbable 2 excursions per day.)


The Muir Grove is the less famous, far less visited grove of sequoias that is only accessible by hiking trail. I think this will be a marvelous excursion on foot that we won't have to share with hundreds of humans.

The Giant Forest is the very famous, very-visited grove that's right off the road. Nonetheless, I'd personally like to explore it ... as I feel it's kinda dumb of me to visit Sequoia and skip its most famous stuff.


ETA: OR - what Not Afraid said.

Hume Lake is about a 1/2 hour drive and has canoe rentals available. I've never been there.

How cute are the canoe boys at Hume Lake?

Have you found a way to bring Isaac along? (I think you need to supply your own)