About the author....

My wife and I just returned from a great trip to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks.  We hiked among the big Sequoia trees, gained amazing views of the Great Western Divide and walked along cliff-trails that plunged 2,000ft to the valley floor.  Our last day there we took a leisurely hike into Kings Canyon and found a clearing to sketch and read in.  Among the sketches above are: Sphinx Mountain, Bucks Peak, Kristina reading and an old stump.

You see lots of fire damage throughout the parks – in fact, fire is a crucial element in the reproduction of Sequoia trees: the fire causes the giant tree’s tiny pinecones to release its seeds.  I’m not sure what kind of tree this burned fellow is but I enjoyed sketching it.

The lower ramparts of Glacier Monument in Kings Canyon.