Three Rivers Ca

IN the 106-degree heat of August, Deva DeLisio plants his feet down on the crest of a slab of granite partially submerged in the main fork of the Kaweah River. Water rushing over the rock looks like a wide, short waterfall tilted at a 45-degree angle. The 16-year-old stands, his long, shaggy brown hair crowning his skinny, deeply tanned frame. The pounding of water into the pool beneath creates an intense, almost visceral, sound.

IN the 106-degree heat of August, Deva DeLisio plants his feet down on the crest of a slab of granite partially submerged in the main fork of the Kaweah River. Water rushing over the rock looks like a wide, short waterfall tilted at a 45-degree angle. The 16-year-old stands, his long, shaggy brown hair crowning his skinny, deeply tanned frame. The pounding of water into the pool beneath creates an intense, almost visceral, sound.

Could it have been any more appealing than this? "Dahling, do go and have a little nap after your massage. And when you wake up, doesn't matter when, come down and sit in the creek." I opened the screen door of the guest cabin and thought how right "Darling" sounds when it's spoken with a posh English accent, but how charmingly discrepant that accent seemed out here in cowboy country.

We were surrounded by ostriches. Just stay in place, I heard Jeremy Railton tell me, let them get to know you. I raised my eyes from the bare brown earth to see seven long, flexible necks and seven wackily intense faces moving in on me with their rounded beaks. This was as up-close-and-personal as I'd ever been with a 7-foot-tall bird of prehistoric countenance.

We were surrounded by ostriches. Just stay in place, I heard Jeremy Railton tell me, let them get to know you. I raised my eyes from the bare brown earth to see seven long, flexible necks and seven wackily intense faces moving in on me with their rounded beaks. This was as up-close-and-personal as I'd ever been with a 7-foot-tall bird of prehistoric countenance.

Cabrillo National Monument, 1800 Cabrillo Memorial Drive, San Diego, CA 92106-3601; telephone (619) 557-5450, fax (619) 557-5469, www.nps.gov/cabr. Channel Islands National Park, 1901 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura, CA 93001; tel. (805) 658-5700, fax (805) 658-5799, www.nps.gov/chis. Death Valley National Park, P.O. Box 579, Death Valley, CA 92328; tel. (760) 786-2331, fax (760) 786-3283, www.nps.gov/deva.

Sequoia National Park's hiking season is a fairly short one. The middle elevations--4,000 to 8,000 feet--are often snow-covered from November through May. Higher in the Sierra, particularly after a winter of heavy snowfall such as this year, the summer hiking season is even shorter. Two memorable destinations beckon the late-summer day hiker from the park's Wolverton trail head: Alta Meadow, a fine camping area, and Alta Peak, offering inspiring High Sierra views.

These sequoias are off the beaten track. No roads come near. No tour buses, parking lots or crowds. Maybe this isolation makes Muir Grove one of the most inspiring stands of big trees in Sequoia National Park. But it's not that isolated. It's an easy two-mile walk from the recently rehabilitated Dorst Creek Campground. Still, because it's a hike--not a highway--to the grove, few travelers take the time to walk to this magnificent stand of sequoias.

The hike around Zumwalt Meadow and along the South Fork of the Kings River shows off a gentler, more subtle side of Kings Canyon National Park--a contrast with the park's steep Sierra slopes and towering sequoias. Zumwalt Meadow was named for lawyer Daniel K. Zumwalt, whose client was the Southern Pacific Railroad. History is hazy about Zumwalt's behind-the-scenes role in aiding the formation of General Grant National Park, forerunner of Kings Canyon.

Eagle Lake, a popular weekend backpacker destination, is accessible by one of Mineral King's easier trails. Relatively easier, that is. A 2,200-foot gain at high altitude in 3 1/2 miles is a good workout to say the least. When the light is right, the lake mirrors its scenic surroundings: weathered foxtail pines, polished granite walls, their shaded cracks and crevices, with patches of long-lingering snow. Eagle, like many Sierra lakes, was "improved" to render it more reservoir-like. Mt.

Could it have been any more appealing than this? "Dahling, do go and have a little nap after your massage. And when you wake up, doesn't matter when, come down and sit in the creek." I opened the screen door of the guest cabin and thought how right "Darling" sounds when it's spoken with a posh English accent, but how charmingly discrepant that accent seemed out here in cowboy country.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks offer memorable family walks among the world's largest trees. One of my family's favorites is a hike through North Grove and a visit to the mighty General Grant Tree--between 1,500 and 2,000 years old and thriving. The General Grant Tree was the showpiece of General Grant National Park, forerunner of Kings Canyon, established in 1890. Designated "the Nation's Christmas Tree" in 1926, it still shelters Christmas services beneath its boughs.