day one profile

Immense mountains, deep canyons, and huge trees

Cycling Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks
August 20-21 2005

60 photos and movies (movie) by Steven Hill and Rebecca Heald, steephill.tv
(The free QuickTime player may be needed to view the movies)
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This past weekend, Rebecca and I participated in a really nice, informal, two-day bicycle tour through the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. These parks protect some of the most stunning habitats you'll find anywhere. The huge elevational range (1,500' to 14,491') in this region features immense mountains including Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states; huge trees including the General Sherman Sequoia Tree, the largest (by volume) living thing on earth and deep canyons including Kings Canyon which is deeper than the more famous Grand Canyon in Arizona.

We drove down to Visalia, just southeast of Fresno, late Friday afternoon and arrived at Catharina Berge's house around 11:00 PM. Cat and Bill Zigler are the organizers of this informal tour known as Tour to Cedar Grove, now in it's 4th year. Cat invited the out-of-towners to stay at her place before setting out very early the next morning. If you don't already know, Cat just recently had a very successful Race-Across-America where she placed 8th overall out of 26 starters and was the first female finisher since 2001. Bill provided SAG during the two days of the Cedar Grove tour and did an excellent job. He said he brought a book and chair just in case he got bored but he never had more than five minutes of inactivity. His support during the hot, difficult two days of cycling was appreciated by everyone and might have been too good, in fact, because our 13 person tour globbled up two day's worth of Paul Mckenzie's Clif Bar swag in a single day. Paul brought some new stuff that's part of the ever expanding Clif Bar product line including Clif Shot Bloks which are like jube-fruits and can replace the messy energy gels that end up everywhere but down your throat. And these even taste better. He also brought some unmarked fruity mini-bars which didn't taste very good. I didn't ask him but they were probably the rejects from R&D. wink

locator-map


Day 1: Exeter to Cedar Grove - 106 miles; 12,000 ft climbing

day one profile morning-signin.jpg

Over 2,000,000 people per year visit Kings Canyon and Sequoia parks, so while riding up Generals Highway on a Saturday morning in mid-August we shared the switchbacks with a lot of vehicles. However, most of the vehicles only go as far as Grant Grove to visit the Giant Sequoias making our spectacular descent into Kings Canyon very quiet in comparison to the first half the of ride. I had no idea what Kings Canyon was like so when Paul said "Let's put this puppy in the books" at the Grant Grove rest stop, I thought we'd hammer it the remaining 20+ miles and arrive at camp in no time, but it didn't turn out that way. The Kings Canyon Scenic Byway is beyond description and photos. It weaves it's way down the deepest canyon in North America on good pavement. With the late day sun at our backs casting definition on the granite peaks and the vivid blue sky outlining the tips, the photography conditions were superb. Rebecca and I hung back and took our sweet time descending while taking about 100 pictures along the way. Unfortunately, near the end, Rebecca was getting hungry and her artistic interest was waning as I yelled movie director instructions from 50 feet up the road. So I grabbed a Clif Shot Bloks package from my jersey and zinged it a good distance down the road. I could probably chuck one of those things a 100 feet because the weight and design is just perfect for hurling a good distance. That kept the production rolling. Our ride time that day was around 7 hours but with all our stops we were on the road for over 11 hours! We were the last ones to arrive at the Sentinel campground at Cedar Grove. Luckily, all we had to do that evening was pitch our tent and bathe in the river before we were served a great dinner with vast quantities of everything a cyclist needs after a long day on the road.


Kings Canyon Panorama monarch-wilderness-pan-w1250.jpg The canyons of the Kings River are actually the deepest canyons in North America, deeper even than Grand Canyon, although they lack some of the spectacular topography of that area. From the bottom of the canyon to the top is 8000 feet in places. Scroll right >> to view the complete panorama.

Day 2: Cedar Grove to Exeter - 75 miles, 5,000 ft climbing

day-two-profile

The next morning, it was pay back time for the long, winding descent into the canyon we enjoyed the previous day. After a 10 mile warm-up descent to Boyden Cave Bridge we started the 17 mile climb out of the canyon back up to the Grant Grove Visitor's Center where everyone regrouped. It was another chance to take in the incredible scenery especially since the climb never gets too steep. After that, it was all pretty much downhill until we hit the flats near Exeter again. We took CA-180 out of the park instead of retracing Generals Highway and then descended some really quiet twisty back roads in furnace-like conditions. Along one of these back roads I flatted. A big thanks goes out to Fresno Dale for stopping to lend me his better top-tube pump. -- Steve, August 24 2005

A brief comment from Bill Zigler on the history and future plans of this tour

Regarding the Tour's inception, several local riders had wanted to organize an overnight trip to the Cedar Grove area of Kings Canyon. Many had done a ride called, the "Tour of Two Parks," which took them from Visalia to Three Rivers to Sequoia National Park. The ride continued through Sequoia National Park and Sequoia National Forest, finally entering Kings Canyon National Park. At that point the ride descended highway 180, highway 245 and finally returned to Visalia for around 130 miles with some serious elevation gain.

While this was a picturesque and challenging one day ride, it barely grazed Kings Canyon National Park and did not enter the actual Kings Canyon at all. The group decided that the addition of Kings Canyon would legitimately complete the "Tour of Two Parks" and chose to focus on the Cedar Grove component of the ride to avoid confusion for local riders. Finally we scoped out required logistics and established a campsite and prepositioned food for the evening meal. In the early days we rode the ride unsupported, and carried extra water for the drier sections. During the last two years we have enlisted SAG support, which we hope keeps the riders fresher and makes the ride more enjoyable.

Future plans? We'd like to continue the event during mid-to-late August with more volunteer support. We believe that about 25 is the maximum number of riders we'd like to support in the park (plus by keeping the number low, we feel we can maintain a good, long-term working relationship with Park officials).

For information on participating in the 2006 Tour to Cedar Grove, email Bill Zigler or check out the Southern Sierra Cyclists website closer to the event date.

2005 Tour to Cedar Grove Riders

Gordie Miller Jane Johnson Dale Johnson Dale Handley
Jessie Luna Paul McKenzie Janet Dehaven Nancy Farzan
Mike Camarena Chris Kostman Rebecca Heald Steven Hill
Catharina Berge Bill Zigler

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The chicks, mostly Luna, hovering over the Clif Bar swag.jpg
The chicks, mostly Luna, hovering over the Clif Bar swag
Bill issuing pre-ride instructions.jpg
Bill issuing pre-ride instructions
The flat warmup before the climbing begins.jpg
The flat warmup before the climbing begins
The women set the early pace.jpg
The women set the early pace
Paul dancing up the first climb.jpg
Paul dancing up the first climb
Entering Sequoia National Park via Generals Highway.jpg
Entering Sequoia National Park via Generals Highway
The Sequoia south entrance has fancy stone walls.jpg
The Sequoia south entrance has fancy stone walls
Never take the General scenery for granite.jpg
Never take the General scenery for granite
Refueling at Hospital Rock.jpg
Refueling at Hospital Rock
The two ultra-distance cyclists RAAMing it up a switchback.jpg
The two ultra-distance cyclists RAAMing it up a switchback
From Amphitheater Point, Generals Highway cutting through chaparral and oak-studded foothills.jpg
From Amphitheater Point, Generals Highway cutting through chaparral and oak-studded foothills
Hey Mike, up here.jpg
Hey Mike, up here
New to cycling, young Jesse (smiling) is a natural athlete and it's fitting her last name is Luna!.jpg
New to cycling, young Jesse (smiling) is a natural athlete and it's fitting her last name is Luna!
A lot of miles in the legs of these two road warriors.jpg
A lot of miles in the legs of these two road warriors
Mono Rock (el. 6725') and a caravan weaving up the switchbacks.jpg
Mono Rock (el. 6725') and a caravan weaving up the switchbacks
Bill performing at Amphiteater Point.jpg
Bill performing at Amphitheater Point
movie
Everyone performing in the theatre.jpg
Everyone performing in the theatre
Looking down on the last switchback up to Ampitheatre.jpg
Looking down on the last switchback up to Ampitheatre
Entering Giant Forest.jpg
Entering Giant Forest
Climbing past giants.jpg
Climbing past giants
Not General Sherman.jpg
Not General Sherman
movie
Lots of great car scenery for the first half of the day.jpg
Lots of great car scenery for the first half of the day
Sunny Sequoia.jpg
Sunny Sequoia
Nancy was swept up by Bill on the first day, but came back strong the next day.jpg
Nancy was swept up by Bill on the first day, but came back strong the next day
Wow is right! First glimpse of Kings Canyon, deeper than the Grand Canyon.jpg
Wow is right! First glimpse of Kings Canyon, deeper than the Grand Canyon
Great scenery for a champ or a chump.jpg
Great scenery for a champ or a chump
Kings Canyon Scenic Byway weaving through the canyon.jpg
Kings Canyon Scenic Byway weaving through the canyon
Iron Curve.jpg
Iron Curve
Kings hangover.jpg
Kings hangover
Mike (and his wife) treated everyone like kings at Sentinel campground.jpg
Mike (and his wife) treated everyone like kings at Sentinel campground
Kings Portrait.jpg
Kings Portrait
The Monarchy.jpg
The Monarchy
South Fork Kings Rivers.jpg
South Fork Kings Rivers
Performing for the Kings.jpg
Performing for the Kings
movie
Descending like a queen.jpg
Descending like a queen
Horseshoe Bend from a distance.jpg
Horseshoe Bend from a distance
Ok... rolling.jpg
Ok... rolling
movie
Just another canyon corner.jpg
Just another canyon corner
Approaching Horseshoe Bend... the best corner in the canyon.jpg
Approaching Horseshoe Bend... the best corner in the canyon
Horseshoe Bend looking backwards.jpg
Horseshoe Bend looking backwards
A born survivor above the bend.jpg
A born survivor above the bend
He'll be coming around the bend.jpg
He'll be coming around the bend
movie
At the end of the day, entering Kings Canyon National Park.jpg
At the end of the day, entering Kings Canyon National Park
Our campground showers on the South Fork of the Kings River.jpg
Our campground showers on the South Fork of the Kings River
The dinner table with hungry cyclists.jpg
The dinner table with hungry cyclists
Descending to Boyden Cave Bridge before climbing back out of the canyon.jpg
Descending to Boyden Cave Bridge before climbing back out of the canyon
The next day's movie while climbing past Horseshoe Bend.jpg
The next day's movie while climbing past Horseshoe Bend
movie
Rebecca climbing near Yucca Point. Cat's right, I do like a good corner shot.jpg
Rebecca climbing near Yucca Point. Cat's right, I do like a good corner shot
Dancing like a Cat near the top of Kings Canyon.jpg
Dancing like a Cat near the top of Kings Canyon
Turning onto Pinehurst from CA-245.jpg
Turning onto Pinehurst from CA-245
(Hot and) Dry Creek Rd where I flatted.jpg
(Hot and) Dry Creek Rd where I flatted
Baked fruit after two days in our parked car at Exeter.jpg
Baked fruit after two days in our parked car at Exeter
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