More California

Kings Canyon National Park is not far south of Yosemite and is similar in much of it's scenery with towering granite walls decorated with inconceivably long waterfalls crashing into the canyon. It doesn't, however, have the throngs of tourists. This seems to correlate to less marked trails so I didn't do any major hikes but enjoyed the drive all the same.

My next destination was Sequoia NP just to the south of Kings Canyon. (Sequoias are trees - really, really big trees - in case you didn't know.) The grandaddy of the forest is General Sherman, who is the world's largest known living thing. He stands at 83.3m with a base circumference of 31.3m. The trunk is an whopping 1487 cubic metres. He stands among an army of sequoias of slightly smaller but similar proportions so it's pretty mind-blowing and difficult to leave without a crink in the neck.

I left the Sierra Nevada for the hot valley below and crossed to the Pacific Coast through dry but pretty hills and vineyards and popped out at a cutsie little town called Cambria, shrouded in fog. It's a bit like California's version of Nimbin by the look of the people in the streets.

I day-tripped north along a windy coastal Hwy 1 to a village called Big Sur where I did a few short hikes along the rugged beaches, cliffs and hills. The area reminds me a lot of Victoria's Great Ocean Road, right down to the eucalypts planted in every gully.

One interesting stop I made along the way was Hearst Castle. Hearst was a media magnate many years ago who had a fascination with European architecture and art so he decided to build a bit of Europe on the Californian coast. The castle is spectacular, sitting all alone on the top of a hill, overlooking the ocean and the wealth that Hearst must have accumulated was obviously vast. The whole place, while now owned by the State Park Service, seemed a bit show-offy but was worth the visit just to see how the mega-wealthy choose to spend their money.