So, this hike (if we can even call it that) was a total wimp-out. After leaving the Marvin Pass TH, we picked our way back to General’s Highway, starting to get nervous about having enough fuel in the Jeep to get down to Three Rivers, some 70 road miles away. We knew there was no gas available within either Kings Canyon or Sequoia National Parks, but we had heard there was a private facility located just outside the park boundary where the HSC staffers fill up their own vehicles – vague directions led us to believe said filling station would be just down the highway from the Big Meadows Road junction. So, off the highway we turned at Montecito Lodge, following a poorly paved road westward as it meandered up to a private lake surrounded by various cabins and motel structures – score!, thought we, until we realized there were no commercial gas pumps here, and we didn’t think the facility would appreciate us using the one industrial nozzle we spied hanging below a small elevated tank. Discouraged, we returned to the main road, figuring we could always coast down Hwy 198 into Three Rivers if it came to that. Not to worry, since less than four miles down the highway we came across the Stony Creek Lodge, a full-service operation with convenience store, motel, and affordably-priced gasoline. The Jeep now full, we began to consider the multitude of options we had in doing some short hikes on our way home. We all wanted to see the General Sherman Tree, reached via a short trail off the Wolverton road, and the GPS app showed some nice loops connecting nearby that could yield round-trip distances anywhere between three and seven miles, depending on our chosen route. Chris and Jane had been to the General Sherman Tree trailhead last year on our way home from Pear Lake, but the jammed parking lot had deterred us from even stopping here – the situation was no different this time, except that we were able to get a parking space about 100 yards from the trail (sidewalk, really). Out of the Jeep we sprang (or stumbled, since we were all quite sore from yesterday’s descent to Kings Canyon, and the time sitting idle in the car didn’t help matters much), and the full heat of the day hit us like a brick. We joined the crowds making their way down the paved pathway, realizing the moderate descent would require a not-effortless ascent out the farther we went down – after less than half a mile, we paused at an overlook along the path, recognizing that there were crowds below us to the west, some 50′ lower and a hundred yards away. There, above the people, was the General Sherman Tree, honestly quite unimpressive from this particular viewpoint – we looked at each other, silently agreed we had done enough for one weekend, and headed back to the parking lot. It was in the mid 90s at this elevation, and the shady spots could not come quickly enough as we painfully made our way out. Our collective lame effort would not even be worth this post, expect for the fact that it got Cynthia to an even 40 miles for the year – had to at least share that milestone. We’ll likely come back on a future trip when both atmospheric and physical conditions are better – we all want to further explore the Giant Forest area.