Summary:
Roaring river waterfalls was the highlight of my ride through 
Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks. My ride entered the park from 
the south into Sequoia NP along the Generals Highway and through 
Hume Lake into Cedar Grove. And from Cedar Grove (in Kings Canyon NP),
ride back out through the northern exit. Thankfully, I had carried 
lights and i was able to finish the ride about an hour after sunset.

Detailed Report:

On the 6th Jul, I left from my campsite on the banks of Lake Kaweah 
(Elev 780') just outside of Three Rivers, CA. It was about 5:30am, 
it was bright and already warm all indications of a hot weather. The 
initial miles on Hwy 198 till the sequoia park entrance is all 
rollers and that served as a good warm up for the first major climb. 
At the park entrance was greeted by a courteous Park Ranger who asked 
me about my plans and told me that a 2 mile section of the Generals 
Highway (Hwy 198) was under construction. And passing through that 
section was allowed once at the top of every hour. I paid the 
entrance fees and climbed on ahead and didn't need to stop at my 
planned water stop at Potwisha campground. The road ascends along the 
canyon in which the middle fork of the Kaweah river flows. The road 
is fenced on onside with stone walls and it was quite nice being in 
this

After Hospital Rock, the road turns away from the river. I stopped 
at the Hospital Rock to be puzzled by the ancient pictographs. 
Refilled my water bottles at the picnic area across the Hopital Rock 
and climbed on further.  


About 3 miles past Hospital Rock is the road closure. Few cars were 
waiting and a flagger at the head told me that I cannot ride my bike 
through the closure and I pleaded/protested but not use. He suggested 
I put my bike in the pilot car and get dropped at the other end of 
this 2 mile section. I was disappointed that i couldn't ride through,
but when i rode in the pilot car, I could see lots of dirt/gravel 
on the road. And the construction crews had to move their large 
equipment out of the way for the pilot car to lead the train of cars 
through. I went through this section at the 8:00 hour. I missed about 
2 miles of the climb - may be around 600' of climbing (around the 
amphitheatre point). But the good part was that because of this 
closure, i didn't have to deal with any cars for the next one hour :)
as such the number of cars itself was very low.

After the drop off just past the Amphitheater point, the road 
steadily climbs, all the while either under tree cover or the shadow 
of the mountains. Shortly after the Crystal Cave turn off, there are 
four majestic Sequoias welcoming the visitors to the Giant Forest. 
Each of the two lanes of traffic (north bound and south bound) go 
inbetween two of these sequoias. Once past the Giant Forest museum 
(Elev: 6400'), the road descends to the General Sherman Tree. 
General Sherman is the largest tree (or any living thing) in the 
world. I paid my tribute to the General by walking my bike around it. 
The Hwy 198 is called Generals Highway appropriately after General 
Sherman and other similar tree - General Grant tree. And there are a 
lot of places for water along Generals Highway.

After leaving Giant forest, I was in the sun, but at 6000' elevation, 
it was still cool. Rode through Lodgepole and the road is generally 
rollers all the way till the turn off to Tenmile Campground/Hume Lake.
Just before the turn off, the view from the Kings Canyon Overlook was
amazing. One can view most of the peaks in the Kings Canyon NP from
this point. I turned right and descended from Generals Highway 
towards Tenmile/Hume Lake. The descent was fast with smooth curves 
and a highly enjoyable one. At the bottom is the Hume 
Lake (Elev: 5200'), which was the first and only place i saw a 
moderate sized crowd of people. All other places were serene and 
very peaceful. I sat on the shore watching people basking in the 
warm sun, some fishing and some boating. The lake was deep blue and 
was souddounded by tall green mountains.

The road climbs out of Hume Lake for about 3 miles till it reaches 
the Kings Canyon Scenic Byway (Hwy 180). Along this climb, there are 
some breath taking views of the Kings Canyon and the valley below 
where the Kings River flows. Heading east on Hwy 180 is a fast 
descent with smooth curves and you descend all the way till Boyden 
Cave (Elev: 3100'). From Boyden Cave, the road climbs steadily 
towards Cedar Grove. I had under-estimated this portion of the climb 
and ran out of water - because i didn't fillup at Boyden Cave. But, I
managed to get to Sheep Creek Campground where i quenched my thirst 
and filled up and got to Cedar Grove Visitor Center (Elev: 4600'). 
The restaurant there closed at 2pm, so when i reached at 2:30, i had 
to settle for some store bought food for lunch. During the climb 
into Cedar Grove, I was able to feel the heat of the day despite the 
fact the raod runs on the banks of the Kings River. I had a long 
lunch break till 3:15 trying to recover.

I was still weary and tired after my lunch - mostly because of the 
heat and little dehydration earlier. Still, I headed further east - 
about 3 miles ahead is a small bridge.  And a trail shortly past the 
bridge led me the highlight of the today's ride - the Roaring River 
falls. It was in full flow, about 50 feet tall and was full of energy.
It was pretty wide about 15/20 feet. It was really roaring. This 
sight gave me a full boost of energy. I turned around at Roaring River
Falls at 4pm and headed west. I had the big climb on Hwy 180 ahead of
me. I topped my bottles again and headed out of Boyden Cave. The 
climb was hot and it was slow. I managed to muster as much energy as 
i can and keep the pedals moving. Once I got in the rhythm, I was 
able to keep a consistent pace (slower than i would have liked). I 
was able to keep my mind busy by enjoying the views of Kings Canyon 
and the sounds gushing of waters of Kings River. After a brief stop 
at Kings Canyon Lodge to drench myself - in a effort to keep myself 
cool, I continued the climb. I was able to appreciate the fact that 
the road was pretty much carved out of the hillside and the in some 
places there were huge rocks that were cut just enough to create the 
road - the rest looked kind of like a half arch. My bike computer had
long been reduced to just a watch and luckily the road markers helped
me tick off miles until the top of the climb at the rightly named 
Campground 'Princess' - which is just bit west of the turn off to 
Hume Lake.

After a much needed refueling/hydration stop at Princess 
Campground (Elev: 6000'), i descended into Grant Grove and then into 
the Big Stump entrance. It was about 8pm and the sun was going down 
fast. In the middle I had just enough time to stop and enjoy the 
beautiful sunset. Everything turned orangish red and was quite 
magical - and there was a thin piece of cloud near the sun and it 
radiated the rays of the sun and it looked like a huge piece of red 
pillow. I kicked myself for not having even more time to enjoy this 
moment. I wanted to be done with the descending part before complete 
dark. I headed down on 180, smooth curves and no traffic at all. And 
then i turned south on Hwy 245 and descended through some very quite 
roads through sleepy towns like Pinehurst and Badger. I would have 
like to continue on 245 to Woodlake, but due to time/light 
constraints, turned left onto Dry Crek Road. This was one of the 
worst pavements ever and descending it didn't help my foot and butt.

The descent on Dry Creek Road was so bumpy that I had to stop at 
about the midway point to take a break from the constant vibrations. 
After I had completed the descent and on the flat roads, the civil 
daylight ran out. And I pedaled the rest of the way in the dark. The 
only respite in the bumpy road came in during the last 3 miles - 
where the pavement was new and smooth. And just before the road ends 
in Hwy 216, it parallels the Kaweah River, whose sounds are music to 
the ears. Last few miles from Lemon Cove to my campground were small 
rollers which hurt after a long day on the saddle. I ended up in the 
camp by 9:30 about an hour after the sunset.

Reflecting on the ride - I should have refuelled at Boyden Cove 
because the heat and the climb into Cedar Grove sapped my energy 
reserves much more than i could recover. Otherwise, it was beautiful 
ride to enjoy the scenic roads of Kings Canyon and Sequoia NP. But, 
most of the park is wilderness and has to be hiked to be enjoyed 
thoroughly. A big thanks needs to go to Steve Hill of 
www.steephill.tv for documenting his ride through this area.

Ride Stats: ~175 miles, ~16k feet of climbing