Sequoia is home to the world's largest trees by mass. They are truly impressive and really make you realize how insignificant you are. Just to the north of the park is Kings Canyon. Without the large trees of Sequoia to obscure your view you are able to see the impressive mountains, meadows and Sierra scenery.
Getting to Sequoia and Kings Canyon is very straight forward. The drive is about 4 hours up the 5 and the 99 into Visalia. After Visalia you start to climb into the mountains and the drive starts to become quite nice. You can expect a tour of California farm country before tis climb.
Sequoia puts its best foot forward, upon entering the park you are instantly stunned with a wonderful view of the granite monoliths of the Sierra and a river that is slowly cutting them down.
The road climbs and twists it begins to drop again and as the road steadily works its way down you are plunged into the world of big trees. There are a lot of signs to help you go to where you want to go. I unfortunately missed the tree you can drive through, which I am still upset about. A must do is to walk the Sherman Trail. This 1 1/2 mile walk is beautiful and very peaceful, even with the plethora of tourists that will accompany you.
The parking spot for the Sherman seems to be much further than a mile and a half away from Sherman Trail, but don't distress, the walk is not as long as the drive. And the walk truly is worth it. As you would imagine, it leads to General Sherman tree, which is the largest tree in the world!
A duplicate of the tree's footprint
The tree is 2,200 years old, but impressively, this is not the oldest tree in the world. The oldest tree is a full thousand years older, and lives in the bristle cone forest on the other side of the Sierra Nevada from Sequoia. To read up on that area, please look at my Eastern Sierra post.
One of the reason why these trees are able to get so large and live so long is because they are remarkably resilient to fire, disease and insects. The size of the trees and their resilience made them very tempting to loggers in the earlier part of the last century. It took a team of two men four days to cut down one tree! A ring of the bark was sent to the world fair that year, where it was declared a California hoax, no one believed that a single tree could be that large in cercumferance! Luckily for us, and unlucky for the logging industry, the wood ended up to splinter easily, making it not as desirable as people once thought. Unfortunately thousands of sequoias fell before logging was abandoned, luckily, trees like General Sherman and Grant were left standing.
Fire resistance. The damage to the bark has little effect on the overall health and growth of the tree.
There are a lot of interesting trees to see in Sequoia, such as this fallen tree that was used for protection for National Guard, Sunday school lessons, and the like. Unfortunately now it is getting weak and you are no longer allowed inside.
There is also a log cabin built in the 1880s that exists in the park. The cabin is made of ceder, but the bottom logs were added and are made of the more resistant sequoia to prevent further decay of the cabin. Unfortunately people have found a need to leave their mark on this historic landmark with their carvings.
As you continue on the road the trees begin to thin and become smaller. It is odd because you feel as if you can breath again, although you never noticed you were being deprived of air. You are now entering Kings Canyon. Kings Canyon unfortunately receives very little attention next to Sequoia. It lacks a selling point like giant trees or glacier cut granite monoliths like Yosemite. Don't let the lack of a single charismatic feature prevent you from enjoying this park. After all, since it is connected to Sequoia, you have very little reason to turn around and miss it.
Even though the park has no singular feature that can draw the crowds, the park does contain an abundance of scenic beauty. Kings Canyon is back pack country. The Muir trail leads through this park, and the mountains, meadows and canyons of the park are so expansive that you know that you are seeing so little of it from the side of the road. If you want to explore the park your best bet is to stay over night so you can use a day for a nice, long hike through the park.
The easiest way to stay overnight in this region is to camp, and there are plenty of beautiful options open to you. But be warned, this is bear country. Bear preparedness is paramount for you to enjoy your camping experience. All it takes is alertness in order to prevent a bear incident. Put your food, lotions, and the clothes you sat next to the fire in the bear lockers they provide at all camp grounds, and remember to throw out your trash. If camping isn't your thing there are three lodges inside the park. From what I've seen, inside park lodges are costly, but beautiful. Here is a link with your out of park options for hotels:
http://www.nps.gov/archive/seki/lodg_out.htm
Bear proof trash cans within the park
A benefit of camping is the night view
When you leave the park you can just turn around and drive back through the park, or you could leave through the northern part of the park and take route 245 down from the west. This is a rural and curvy road through the mountains. Being a rural road you can expect some rural elements
The 245 takes you back to Vasalia. Hop back on the 99 and head home. I hope you had a nice trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment