Sequoia National Park

We are spending a week outside of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, about 50 miles east of Fresno, California. This post will cover Sequoia.

We're staying at Sequoia RV Park, about 20 miles from the entrance of the two parks. It's an okay place with full hook-ups and great views.

Once you enter the parks, there is a lot of driving to be done to see the sites. It's about 30 miles of windy road to get to the main attraction in Sequoia, the General Sherman Tree. The scenery is beautiful all along the way. The General Sherman Tree is the largest tree in the world by volume and weight. The top of the tree is dead, but the trunk keeps growing wider, each year adding as much wood as the size of a good-sized regular tree. The trees next to it are actually taller. The General Sherman is the one in the middle with the dead looking top. It's 275 feet tall, 103 feet circumference at the base, and 2,200 years old. To put it into perspective, if a 6 foot tall person is looking up at the top of the tree, it would be the same as a mouse looking up at the 6 foot tall person.

Here's Kevin on the other side of it.

These sequoia trees are so big, it's pretty impossible to get them into a picture or to get the perspective. Trust me when I tell you, they're huge. There are over 8,000 of them in 33 groves in these two parks.

Near the tree, the park service has mapped out bricks to show the size and shape of the base of the tree. It helps understand just how big it is and how irregular the shape is.

Our next stop was the Moro Rock area. Here you can climb over 350 steps at an elevation of almost 6,000 feet up the side of the rock to get fantastic views. I was all ready to go for it, but only made it about half way. As you can see, the steps go very high and steep (all the way to the top). There are rails along the side, but my fear of heights didn't let me go any further. The views at the halfway mark were good enough for me. Plenty of people did it including kids. Darn fear of heights!!

Here's one of the views. I love the panoramic mode on my camera. Click on any of the pictures to make them bigger.

The next view is of the Great Western Divide in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The highest peak visible from here is about 13,750 feet. Unfortunately, pollution makes the view look hazy most summer days. The clearest days are in the winter.

We got an early start, but by the time we got to the visitor center, we were lucky to get a parking spot in the overflow lot. From the visitor center, they have shuttles that take you to the main attractions. What a great idea. This is the tunnel log. It fell down in 1937, has a diameter of 21 feet, and is 275 feet long. The tunnel is 8 feet high and 17 feet wide. Cars used to drive under it.

Back at the trail to the parking lot there is another rock you can walk out on to get great views. All of the rock here is granite, formed millions of years ago by volcanos. This view is of the San Joaquin Valley to the Coast Ranges, 100 miles to the west. Again, pollution hangs in the valley making for hazy views.

I didn't see many flowers, but these cute little blooms were all along the path to the parking lot.

Here's another giant sequoia at the parking lot. I almost got all of it in the photo. The conditions in this area are perfect for these magnificent trees to grow. In the 1800s, loggers were cutting them down at an alarming rate. Thank goodness the government saw the need to preserve the groves of these trees.

Last year there were several fires in these parks which destroyed many acres. Some parts of the parks are still closed for road repairs. We saw a few burned areas. So sad. Sequoias have chemicals in their bark which make them very resistant to fire, bugs and rotting. That's why trees that fall can lay for hundreds of years without rotting. Many of the giant trees have burn scars on them from previous fires.

So, that's a wrap for Sequoia National Park. My next post will tell you about Kings Canyon National Park which is next to Sequoia. Get ready for more giant trees!!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!