SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK

Once we decided to travel west this year, one of my bucket list visits was to Sequoia National Park.  I had to see the "big" trees.

We are staying in Lemon Cove in a private campground named Lemon Cove Village.  When Mr. W made the reservation, this park was listed in the Coast to Coast book.  He called to make reservations and was told by the office that they weren't  C2C. He called C2C to ask why they were in the book. C2C told him that they were C2C and he needed to call back.  He did and was told the same thing.  So, he called C2C and complained.  They told him that they didn't take anyone out of their book and as far as they knew, this park was C2C.  When we arrived, there was a sign in the office saying they were C2C.  Do what???? Mr. W started pressing the lady in the office.  She stuttered around and finally said that the owner had not gotten the paperwork in when Mr. W had called for reservations. They were now C2C but you had to give them 24 hour notice that you were C2C.  Hello?  We had given them 3 months notice.  She said it wasn't her call, it was the owner's call.  So, he made her call the owner. We got our C2C discount.  Geez!  It is a nice enough park and it is close to the entrance of Sequoia.  I'm just not sure that it is worth the cost even with the discount.  For those of you who boondock, there is a really nice campground on a beautiful lake that is on the road to Sequoia.  I think it is Horse Creek campground.

We went into Sequoia and slowly made our way through all the stops.  Our friend Terri was with us.  We didn't do any trails hikes.  Most of the roads are still closed.  Mr. W was very concerned about chains for the tires.  There were signs at the entrance and throughout that said the chains could be required at any time.  You can rent them from several stores on the road.  He was not sure they would have them to fit a pickup truck.  He called Pep Boys and they would sell them and if you do not use them, you can return them and get a refund except for a $20 restocking fee.  Pep Boys it was. 

One of the main attractions in Sequoia is the General Sherman tree.  It is the largest living tree. The General Sherman was named after the American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman, in 1879 by naturalist James Wolverton, who had served as a lieutenant in the 9th Indiana Cavalry under Sherman. In 1931, following comparisons with the nearby General Grant tree, General Sherman was identified as the largest tree in the world. One result of this process was that wood volume became widely accepted as the standard for establishing and comparing the size of different trees.

In January 2006 the largest branch on the tree (seen most commonly, in older photos, as an "L" or golf-club shape, protruding from about a quarter of the way down the trunk) broke off. There were no witnesses to the incident, and the branch — larger than most tree trunks; diameter over 6.6 ft and length over 98 ft — smashed part of the perimeter fence and cratered the pavement of the surrounding walkway. The breakage is not believed to be indicative of any abnormalities in the tree's health, and may even be a natural defense mechanism against adverse weather conditions.

Look at the tiny people at the bottom.

Sequoia was established as a National Park on September 25, 1890.  The area which now comprises Sequoia National Park was first home to "Monachee" (Western Mono) Native Americans, who resided mainly in the Kaweah River drainage in the Foothills region of the park, though evidence of seasonal habitation exists as high as the Giant Forest. In the summertime, Native Americans would travel over the high mountain passes to trade with tribes to the East. To this day, pictographs can be found at several sites within the park, notably at Hospital Rock and Potwisha, as well as bedrock mortars used to process acorns, a staple food for the Monachee people.

Pictographs at Hospital Rock

By the time the first European settlers arrived in the area, smallpox had already spread to the region, decimating Native American populations. The first European settler to homestead in the area was Hale Tharp, who famously built a home out of a hollowed-out fallen giant sequoia log in the Giant Forest next to Log Meadow. Tharp allowed his cattle to graze the meadow, but at the same time had a respect for the grandeur of the forest and led early battles against logging in the area. From time to time, Tharp received visits from John Muir, who would stay at Tharp's log cabin. Tharp's Log can still be visited today in its original location in the Giant Forest. However, the trail is closed right now. It should open around April 27th. Ugh!

However, Tharp's attempts to conserve the giant sequoias were at first met with only limited success. In the 1880s, white settlers seeking to create a utopian society founded the Kaweah Colony, which sought economic success in trading Sequoia timber. However, Giant Sequoia trees, unlike their coast redwood relatives, were later discovered to splinter easily and therefore were ill-suited to timber harvesting, though thousands of trees were felled before logging operations finally ceased.

The National Park Service incorporated the Giant Forest into Sequoia National Park in 1890, the year of its founding, promptly ceasing all logging operations in the Giant Forest. The park has expanded several times over the decades to its present size; one of the most recent expansions occurred in 1978, when grassroots efforts, spearheaded by the Sierra Club, fought off attempts by the Walt Disney Corporation to purchase a high-alpine former mining site south of the park for use as a ski resort. This site known as Mineral King was annexed to the park. Its name dates back to early 1873 when the miners in the area formed the Mineral King Mining District.  Mineral King is the highest-elevation developed site within the park and a popular destination for backpackers.

Again, look at the people at the bottom.  All part of the Giant Forest.

A slice of one of the trees

Another major attraction in the park is Crystal Cave.  It is the second longest cave in the park at 3.4 miles long.  It is a constant 48 degrees.  It was discovered in 1918 and very well preserved for the amount of visitors it receives annually.  Caves are found every year in the park.  As a matter of fact, 17 have been found since 2003 alone.  Of course, you guessed it, Crystal Cave wasn't open.  A ranger did say that it wasn't because of snow, it was because of melting snow causing a lot of water in the cave.  The cave should open the first part of May.

The drive to and from the park was beautiful. We saw many beautiful wildflowers.  At least we were in primetime for wildflowers! If you decide to visit, you probably want to wait until May.  But, I'll take this visit! Check - One more off the bucket list.