Kings Canyon National Park

These pictures were taken in Kings Canyon National Park on August 19, 2010. We first drove to a place called "Roads End Permit Station," appropriately located at the end of the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway. We then went on a spectacular 9.4 miles long hiking trail, surrounded by canyon walls, huge boulders, big trees, Manzanita bushes and the beautiful Kings River. A couple of backcountry hikers told us they had just seen a female bear with her cub. We ran into another group of hikers who had spotted two rattle snakes on a sunny patch of the trail surrounded by boulders. One of them lifted the snakes with a pole and threw them away from the path (not a recommended operation as we later learned). We ended the hike with a swim at Muir Rock. The last two pictures were taken on the car trip back to our camp, along the Kings Canyon Road.