NATIONAL PARKS - SEQUOIAS EDITION

Visalia CA (Low 54 Mostly Sunny High 83)

We did Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in one day, a very long day. We wanted to see big trees and a big canyon but did not know that some of the trees were in Kings Canyon National Park. Today we will deal with the giant sequoias. Although closely related to the giant redwoods there are a couple of differences. The sequoias grow on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range while the redwoods grow in a narrow band along the Pacific coast. They also grow a little differently; the sequoias grow as fast as possible as tall as possible and then stop. They then continue growing but expanding their girth, kind of like humans if you think about it. Redwoods stay thin throughout their lifetime continuing to grow upwards. We were here to see the giant sequoias.

The scenery on the way to the trees is amazing.

Here is tunnel rock which used to be part of the road but has now closed.

Here are the trees at big trees trail. It is difficult to get a good picture of this tall trees to get the entire tree.

Here is the General Sherman Tree. Although there are trees taller than its current height of 275' and some trees wider at the base, no other tree's trunk in the world takes up as much space. This is the world's largest tree. From this vantage point you get a good view of the entire tree, remember that top to bottom it is 275'.

Here are some more trees seen top to bottom, they are impressive.

We were kind of surprised there was still snow on the mountain. We were at about 7000 feet. Here is Bob making a snow ball.

From Sequoia National Park you drive along the Generals Highway, so named because it takes you from the General Sherman tree to the General Grant tree, one of the five largest trees in the world. What we did not know is that you actually leave Sequoia National Park and enter the Sequoia National Forest and then into Kings Canyon National Park where the General Grant tree is (more on this weirdness in a future blog posting). Along the way to the General Grant tree you have an overlook of Redwood Mountain Grove.

This grove contains one of the worlds largest groves of the worlds largest trees, 5 square miles with 2100 trees with a trunk diameter of 10' or larger. Next is the General Grant tree area. Here we see a fallen sequoia from a long time ago rotted out but providing a trail. Here is the fallen tree, what they call a monarch, from the side.

Here it is from one of the ends showing people walking through.

Here is the General Grant tree, which is one of the five largest trees in the world.

Here is the fire damage showing on the General Grant tree.

Another angle for the General Grant tree.

Giant Sequoias are amazing and we are so glad we got the chance to see them. We will discuss our visit to the canyon in a future blog posting.

Till next time,

Bob and Jo