We made good time and made it to the Ash Mountain entrance in less than 4 hours. From the entrance, it was another hour drive up to Wuksachi Lodge, where we were staying for four nights. We got lucky and the road construction that was scheduled to start that day was postponed and we didn't have any delays in the park.
Sequoia!!
From the foothills, where you enter the park, you climb over 6000 feet to get to the sequoia forests. It was 109° in the foothills, so we nixed the short hike I had planned and instead just hopped out of the car to take a quick photo at Tunnel Rock.
Roaring river
Mountain vistas
Panoramic view
Our first sequoia spotting!
By the time we reached the lodge and checked in, we were too tired to do anything but relax and read before dinner. After a good night's sleep, we got an early start as we had much to see!
Deer sighting (the first of many) on our way to breakfast
Deer sighting (the first of many) on our way to breakfast
Black bear sculpture at Wuksachi
More deer
We decided that the best way to start our visit was with the granddaddy of all trees, the General Sherman, which is the largest tree (by volume) in the world. The 1/2-mile trail starts at the parking lot and you descend some 200 feet to reach the tree.
General Sherman Tree in the background
The General Sherman Tree is 275 feet tall and over 36 feet in diameter at the base. The tree is dead at the top, so it doesn't grow taller, but it does grow wider each year. General Sherman is estimated to be 2,200 years old.
I really don't have words to describe the beauty and majesty of these enormous trees. It is magical to walk among these giants who've flourished in the quiet groves for millenia.
From the General Sherman Tree, we hiked the two-mile Congress Trail through the Giant Forest. We saw many woodpeckers! Can you see them on the tree trunk below? They are acorn woodpeckers, and they jam acorns into tree trunks and fence posts. We saw them all over the park.
Pine cones everywhere -- this huge one is from a sugar pine.
Fire plays an essential role in the sequoia forest. Sequoia seeds need fire to germinate, and the fire clears out vegetation and provides vital nutrients. Sequoias are fairly resistant to fire, as they have fibrous bark that can be two feet thick. Even with what looks like significant fire damage, the trees often survive and thrive, healing their fires scars over time.
McKinley Tree
Snack break/time to check the map
Room Tree
The boys are standing in a room (hollowed out by fire) inside the tree trunk. What's most amazing is that the tree is still alive and well.
Sequoia grove
This fallen sequoia had several trees growing out of it!
Wildflowers
Sequoias come from these tiny little pinecones!
Chief Sequoyah
The tree in the photo below is growing between two boulders.
Fallen sequoia bridge
Sequoias are resistant to rot and insects and decay extraordinarily slowly.
Beetle Rock! The smog, which we assumed was from LA, actually comes down from San Francisco!
Panoramic view
Back at the parking lot, we did one final one-mile hike on the Big Trees Trail. This trail winds around Round Meadow and provides an impressive view of sequoias on the edge of the meadow.
Sequoias flourish at the edge of a meadow, but the meadow itself is much too wet for sequoias, which have shallow root structures and topple over if the ground retains too much water.
Check out the twin tree below; over time, the base has fused into one.
Up close view of sequoia bark
This sequoia grew around a boulder. Doesn't it look like it's blowing bubble gum?
Henry spent much of the walk searching for the different stages of sequoias: seedling, spire top, mature and monarch.
If you can't already tell by the many photos, we were all absolutely smitten by these giant trees and the peace and beauty we found in the mountains of the Sierra Nevadas. Sequoia National Park is a very special place, and one that I would happily visit again and again.
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