I got up in the morning and headed over to the next site; Sentinel Peak which was just down the road from my crash spot. The sites really were not obviously marked on the main road with it taking a bit of map work to find the locations. The National Forest, like the National Park, seems to prefer to try to keep things as rustic as possible and limits the number of distractions in the wilderness. The road led right up to the base of the dome, and since it was only a short hike to the top, I took up my Jetboil stove and oatmeal so I could have breakfast right on the top of the overlook and spent a while taking in the morning view. Sentinel Peak, like may other well known cousins such as Half Dome and North Dome in Yosemite, was formed by a geological called exfoliation.
My next destination was the Needles Lookout Tower as recommended by the forest ranger and informational newsletter I got at the info station before getting to the park. It was a pretty tough 2.5 mile hike that had quite a bit of elevation gain and loss and was pretty strenuous. A couple of things struck me when visiting the site. First off was the precarious position of the tower as seen in the pictures (the one on the right being the first glimpse I had of the tower when hiking in and the other a closer view). This 14x14 space is on a very narrow ridge, but gives a sweeping overview of the entire valley.
Needles Lookout was built in 1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corps and sits on a granite pinnacle. This spot definitely is not for the acrophobic and indeed several people visiting when I was there refused to even go up the stairs to the tower itself. Fortunately not many were there mid-morning, so I was able to sit down and take I the view for quite a while (only 4 people are allowed up at a time due to the tiny walking space. The other thing I found interesting was the aroma that blanketed half of the hike. The entire mountainside had a very sweet smell that either came from the covering of
wildflowers or some particular plant species that I never identified. It, along with the relative cool temperature, made the whole hike quite enjoyable. While a lot of places, such as Yosemite NP have places termed ‘Inspiration Point’ or have some other majestic sounding name, I think this was a prime spot for getting such an epiphany if one was searching for one. It is hard to foresee how anything left on the trip can really top this. Thoreau should not have used 'Walden Pond' as his source for transcendentialism, he should have come here instead.
On the way out of the forest area and towards the national park I made a few stops along some of the overlooks and sites that interested me. I saw a parking area thaseemedmd pretty packed with cars and found a staircase to the valley below. Apparently this is a very popular swimming location for nearby residents and is simply called 'The Stairs'.
While it was a nice area, it was unfortunately trashed beyond belief as it seems the local users will gladly carry down their bags, bottles, and charcoal bags but wouldn't give a second thought to carrying their stuff back up. I did find one spot where there was a natural water chute that was used as a water slide for a hundred feet or so. I gave it a few chances beforrememberingng that while it was a natural slide, it was also made of rock as I made a hard tailbone landing after a particularly hard drop. The water was quite cold, but pretty refreshing as well. I checked out a few other roadside caves and waterfalls before heading out.
There is a little bit of space between the Sequoia National Forest and the Sequoia National Park, so I headed over in the later part of the evening. Just before it got to the boundary, I passed an old fun park that had an old miniature golf course, bumper boats pool, old kiddie railroad, and other such toursity stuff. For some reason, I tend to like derelict sites that offer exploring opportunities, such as old ships (like subs, aircraft carriers, abandoned factories, large old hotels, etc.), abandoned factories, and old buildings. I stopped by and spent a little while walking around the old golf course (too bad I didn't carry a club and ball with me, but then again why would I?). It was neat to walk around
the old golf course (and see a couple of jack rabbits hopping around), and check out the nearly dbumperber boat pool and check out the old train station that probably one ran around the old park. Since it was really close to the park anyway, I just set up my sleeping quarters, fixed myself some food and crashed. Not a bad end for a pretty nice day.
I got up in the morning and headed over to the next site; Sentinel Peak which was just down the road from my crash spot. The sites really were not obviously marked on the main road with it taking a bit of map work to find the locations. The National Forest, like the National Park, seems to prefer to try to keep things as rustic as possible and limits the number of distractions in the wilderness. The road led right up to the base of the dome, and since it was only a short hike to the top, I took up my Jetboil stove and oatmeal so I could have breakfast right on the top of the overlook and spent a while taking in the morning view. Sentinel Peak, like may other well known cousins such as Half Dome and North Dome in Yosemite, was formed by a geological called exfoliation.
My next destination was the Needles Lookout Tower as recommended by the forest ranger and informational newsletter I got at the info station before getting to the park. It was a pretty tough 2.5 mile hike that had quite a bit of elevation gain and loss and was pretty strenuous. A couple of things struck me when visiting the site. First off was the precarious position of the tower as seen in the pictures (the one on the right being the first glimpse I had of the tower when hiking in and the other a closer view). This 14x14 space is on a very narrow ridge, but gives a sweeping overview of the entire valley. 
Needles Lookout was built in 1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corps and sits on a granite pinnacle. This spot definitely is not for the acrophobic and indeed several people visiting when I was there refused to even go up the stairs to the tower itself. Fortunately not many were there mid-morning, so I was able to sit down and take I the view for quite a while (only 4 people are allowed up at a time due to the tiny walking space. The other thing I found interesting was the aroma that blanketed half of the hike. The entire mountainside had a very sweet smell that either came from the covering of 
wildflowers or some particular plant species that I never identified. It, along with the relative cool temperature, made the whole hike quite enjoyable. While a lot of places, such as Yosemite NP have places termed ‘Inspiration Point’ or have some other majestic sounding name, I think this was a prime spot for getting such an epiphany if one was searching for one. It is hard to foresee how anything left on the trip can really top this. Thoreau should not have used 'Walden Pond' as his source for transcendentialism, he should have come here instead.
On the way out of the forest area and towards the national park I made a few stops along some of the overlooks and sites that interested me. I saw a parking area thaseemedmd pretty packed with cars and found a staircase to the valley below. Apparently this is a very popular swimming location for nearby residents and is simply called 'The Stairs'. 
While it was a nice area, it was unfortunately trashed beyond belief as it seems the local users will gladly carry down their bags, bottles, and charcoal bags but wouldn't give a second thought to carrying their stuff back up. I did find one spot where there was a natural water chute that was used as a water slide for a hundred feet or so. I gave it a few chances beforrememberingng that while it was a natural slide, it was also made of rock as I made a hard tailbone landing after a particularly hard drop. The water was quite cold, but pretty refreshing as well. I checked out a few other roadside caves and waterfalls before heading out.
There is a little bit of space between the Sequoia National Forest and the Sequoia National Park, so I headed over in the later part of the evening. Just before it got to the boundary, I passed an old fun park that had an old miniature golf course, bumper boats pool, old kiddie railroad, and other such toursity stuff. For some reason, I tend to like derelict sites that offer exploring opportunities, such as old ships (like subs, aircraft carriers, abandoned factories, large old hotels, etc.), abandoned factories, and old buildings. I stopped by and spent a little while walking around the old golf course (too bad I didn't carry a club and ball with me, but then again why would I?). It was neat to walk around
the old golf course (and see a couple of jack rabbits hopping around), and check out the nearly dbumperber boat pool and check out the old train station that probably one ran around the old park. Since it was really close to the park anyway, I just set up my sleeping quarters, fixed myself some food and crashed. Not a bad end for a pretty nice day.
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