Yosemite National Park

Not only have we driven among the Giants, we have also walked among them...the majestic Sequoias of the Mariposa Grove number 500 in Yosemite National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Sequoias are none other than California Redwoods with redder bark or tannin, unbelievable in size...diameter, circumference and height. They develop from very humble beginnings, seeds, the size of a flake of oatmeal numbering 2-300, from cones that are about 2 1/2 inches(egg-sized) in length, quite incredible, given the size of these stately trees; in fact, the ponderosa pine cones, are huge by comparison. Bill stands before the root of a fallen tree, just to give size and also to indicate the shallow root system for this giant. We enjoyed a three hour, four mile hike under beautiful, sunny skies, strenuous at times given the elevation, yet exhilerating. Temperatures are cool at the 5000 foot elevation, with some icy sections on the curves of the road. Some of the roads in the park are already closed to traffic in preparation for snowfall expected Monday, Dec. 6th. and will not reopen until late April or May. Thursday, we had driven to Yosemite Village in the Valley, about 25 miles from the gate, a drive that took a good hour because of the twists and turns in the road. At Tunnel Vista, we stopped for the view of the enormous rock formations that protect the Valley.

This is the tree to beat all trees, well named,the Grizzly Giant, 2800 years old. It stands 293 feet tall, 28 feet in diameter with an 88 foot circumference. Its lower limb is a tree in itself, measuring 7 feet in diameter, bigger than any tree in proximity. The "bark" appears spongy, but is very hard and tough at 18 inches thick, protecting the tree from insect infestations, the pileated woodpecker and fire. Control burns occurin the park that clear out the underbrush, allowing new trees to root. Many of these trees stand together as in the Bachelor and Three Graces, which had to share the space and compete for water and nourishment, yet grew to be enormous. Trees of note were named by John Muir and other pioneers of Yosemite in the late 1800's.

The sequoia is fire-resistent and many are scarred by forest fires due to lightning strikes. This California Tunnel Tree, carved out in 1895, is the second; the first, the famous Wawona, carved out in 1881, fell in 1968/69 due to wet and soggy soil conditions, erosion, high winds and the weakening tunnelling itself, and can still be found along the hike. A huge fire scar can be seen above this tunnel and is gradually healing itself as it grows inward over its wound.







An interesting tree formation known as the Clothespin, below, greeted us at the far end of our hike loop. It does remind me of the wooden clothes pegs I used for crafts with children and the ones my grandmother used for hanging laundry on the line. On our way back, we found a sequoia, at
whose base was an inscribed wooden placard, a monument to a Yosemite pioneer, Samual Mather 1867-1930. We look forward to another such hike, if not again this trip, certainly one in the future. Glacier Point, Mirror Lake and a trail to the base of Half Dome are top on the list. There are over 800 miles of hiking trails within Yosemite. Of course, nothing could be better than to eat the calories that we had just burned. We opted for bacon and cheese Angus burgers with zucchini fries from Pete's Place in nearby Oakhurst, enough for leftovers. Simply delicious!










For more pics, take a look at: (copy and paste into address bar)

http://picasaweb.google.ca/brenda.southwood/YosemiteNaptionalParkPt2?authkey=Gv1sRgCLyXwsDoobO88wE#