Tesla Model 3 Maiden Voyage - Redwood Canyon - Kings Canyon National Park - CA

I Had just left what could quite possibly be my favorite Supercharger Station at Harris Ranch and set off into the mountains. My end goal, was to drive through Sequoia National Park with a quick stop in the southern side of Kings Canyon. I had been to the Sequoias a couple of times throughout my life, but each time was mostly to drive through so I was excited to get some exploration done. My first stop was going to be a short hike down the Redwood Canyon trail. I hadn’t done a very long hike through any giants in a while, and I set off looking forward to it.

After an hour of driving, the roads became dirt and the giant trees started to crowd overhead. It doesn’t matter how many time I am around redwoods, every time I am astounded by their size. All of the sudden I feel like I am Rick Moranis in Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Walking around, I wouldn’t be surprised if a giant ant came out of the forest intent to take me away as food for it’s colony. I eventually reached the trail head and took off. The lot was empty so anticipated being alone which is rare for parks this close to cities. Bottle of water in one hand and camera in the other, my voyage began.

I decided to take the shorter of the two trails. One was 6 miles and the other was 10. A real trooper could combine them for one huge loop, but I wanted to get to the sequoias in the afternoon so the shorter one was my choice. After walking a couple of miles, I got to a valley that opened up to show the world at its greatest expanding in front of me as far as I could see. There were tons of huge rocks to climb and areas I could set up my camera if my remote worked well. I wished that I had my tripod, but I would have to do without it as I found crevices to stick my camera in. This whole process had taken a while and I thought maybe I should turn around but feeling like I was almost at the halfway point, I decided to push further.

I trudged deeper and deeper into the forest and the day went on longer and longer. Although I knew that lots of time had passed, I didn’t seem to notice it. The miles dragged on into hours and eventually I realized that I had passed the six mile marker and I should have gotten back to my car. Was I lost? I hadn’t left the trail so I wasn’t too worried, but the sun was starting to go down in the distance and I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it down to the sequoias. Eventually made it back to my car and realized that I had done the entire loop. At some point, I must have missed a turn and the adventure started there. I wasn’t disappointed at all though. The hike had been magnificent. As the sun set, I drove off, ready to conquer another evening.