Into the Giant Forest

Sequoia National Park, California 2 July 2007

After a long 6+ hours drive through the Mojave Desert with not a sign of life except for other crazy motorists and the ever pious joshua trees, entering the Sierra Nevadas was a much welcomed relief. I was skeptical about this park. Bell kept talking it up but Rocky Mountain National Park is so crazy awesome who could beat it? I also felt the same way when we decided to road trip to the Canadian Rockies. We live in the Rockies how much more different can it be? Oh, if you have never seen the Canadian Rockies they are stunning--check them out. So, before I could erect an opinion I had to see what was all the hype.


When you see the first sequoia you are shocked because they really are that massive. But before you notice their size you see their bark--a surreal red amongst the umbers and sepias of the forest. You roll down your car window and you hear nothing but the stillness that surrounds the trees as if its very being is sucking up all the sound and light around it. They are truly majestic.


The grandaddy of them all, General Sherman. Who stands 275 feet tall, whose trunk weighs an estimated 1385 tons and whose circumference at the ground is nearlys 103 feet. The General Sherman Tree is an estimated 2200 years old. Its largest branch is almost seven feet in diameter. The little asian boy was left in for scale purposes but we really had no choice because he refused to leave the spot so that others may take their photo with the famous giant. Punk.


Sequoia National Park is the second oldest national park. This was an effort by Congress and residents to protect Sierra tracts from logging. The remaining groves were saved because they were too remote for the loggers to find. These magnificent monarchs grow naturally only on the west slope of the Sierra Nevadas. In volume of total wood the giant sequoia is the largest living thing in the world. Sequoias do not die from disease or even fire. Toppling is the main cause of death since they have a shallow root system with no taproot. That night we heard a tree topple. The sound was monstrous like a train running directly into a mountain at full speed.

Our campsite was incredibly scenic. It was nestled among the trees right beside a stream. Bears are a big issue here. We had to use bear boxes to store everything from food to deodorant to magazines with perfume ads. No bear was sighted. We did have a doe who was living in a dell just behind our tent. She had given birth to a fawn just before we got there.

The morning light was phenomenal.

Moro Rock is a domed mountaintop commonly found in the Sierra Nevadas. It was a difficult climb up fraught with many dangers of falling but in the end the view was well worth it.



You gotta love the Tunnel Log! Go, Blue Thunder, Go!


Unfortunately, we didn't do any hikes to see the backcountry glory of this park. That is another vacation in itself. I know we will come back--when Lucy is older and can carry her own pack.

Album

Sequoia National Park July 2, 2007