The concert was in Whittier, CA (Southern California) on Saturday night. The band, a cover band of sorts. The concert was a tribute to The Who and the reason why I was there was because the person who put together the cover band was the drummer, Mike Portnoy, from Dream Theater (one of the bands I sort-of follow). I am not really one who could identify specific songs by The Who (except for the really obvious ones) but I was delighted to find out that I knew most of the songs that they played that evening. I must have heard the songs a lot while growing up. The theater was very small which made the show great - every seat was a great seat at that concert.
Sunday was spent driving up to Sequoia National Park and doing a bit of hiking. I haven't been to this national park since around 1996 or so. The last time I was there was on a company trip when I worked for Wintec Industries in Fremont. When that company was still small the owners, as a perk, paid for everyone to take a bus trip from the bay area down through Sequoia Natl park with a stop at the London Bridge in Arizona on the way to Las Vegas, Nevada. It was a pretty cool trip and strangely enough the person who went with me on that company trip was my cousin Carrie. That was the first time that Carrie and I had taken a trip together where it was just the two of us. She was too young to gamble (I might have been at the time too I am not sure what month we took that trip that year) so we just ended up walking and walking and walking checking out the sights. I think we both had a blast. Anyway, that was the last time I had been up in Sequoia National Park. It was crowded this time but I expected that because of the holiday weekend. I got some good shots of the sequoia trees and big rocks and hiked to a 10 rated waterfall - Tokopah Falls.Tokopah Falls - Rating 3.75
This waterfall is set back in Tokopah Valley. The hike up to the falls is better than when you actually get to the waterfall in my opinion. Not to say the waterfall isn't nice, but the trail goes along the Marble Fork of the Kaweah river which is quite impressive. The waterfall is 1200 ft tall and it is easy to forget that because of the grand scale of the scenery.
I have to mention to my companions that hiked with me to Wolf Creek Falls - I successfully made several stream crossings over logs and did some rockhopping without even getting a toe wet! I have included a picture of one of those log bridges to the left. I did manage to see a couple of other waterfalls in Sequoia Natl Park. One of them I can't officially count because I didn't actually stop to take a picture of it. That one is called Granite Spring and it is right on the side of the Generals Highway as you drive up to the Giant Forest area of the park. The second one that I can count is unofficially named Pinewood Falls.Pinewood Falls - Rating 3
I came around a bend in the road and was pleasantly surprised to see this little cascade. What I like about it is that it sheets 20 ft down over granite. I immediately pulled the car over and jumped out with my camera to get a couple shots.My day in Sequoia was great. It smelled so good there, especially in ghe Giant Forest. The Giant Forest Museum was interesting. They gave a good explanation of why the area was ideal for sequoia trees to grow. It was a bit crowded in there though. The hike on the Big Trees Trail was very enjoyable as well. I have included a couple of pics of the shots I took of Round Meadow and trees on the Big Trees Trail.
Due to the fact that I saw so much in Yosemite on Monday, I will make that its own post. Stay tuned!
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