Here is an example of one of the many giant Sequoia trees we saw on our visit. Unfortunately many of the trees were cut down around 1880 - 1920 because of the thought that they would provide vast quantities of lumber. They proved difficult to deal with due to their size and were not good as construction lumber. All of the lumber companies that started with the primary purpose of harvesting Sequoias went bankrupt by the time the area was declared a national park.
We were able to visit two different caves while visiting Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. This is a shot of Crystal Cave. Mom and I both commented that this was the best cave we have been in of the 4 or 5 we have seen. The river that formed the cave was still flowing through the floor of the cave. This cave is cut out of marble versus granite or limestone.
This is the falls that we passed on our way down to Crystal Cave. It was a pretty hefty climb down to get to the cave which meant it was a bit of a hike back up. A bottle of water was definitely a must for the trip back to the top.
Here is one of the friendly bears we managed to stay out of the the way of while on one of our hikes in Sequoia. This dude basically followed the fallen logs and crossed right over the path we were walking on. Fortunately he was well trained to avoid the tourists and turned on the after burners when he got close to the path and hustled right up the hill without stopping for a taste.
Here is a picture of mama bear and her two cubs. The mom spent most of her time climbing to the top of the trees and knocking green pine cones down to the ground. Evidently the green ones taste the best but we didn't try them to see.
What would a trip to Sequoia be without the obligatory shot of the car driving through the cutout trunk of a sequoia tree. Continue on to get a perspective of just how big these babies really are.
Here is a shot in Kings Canyon of their "North Dome". It looks a lot like what you see in Yosemite and is situated right next to a beautiful lake and meadow. It rained while we were on this part of the trip. It was the only time we didn't have gorgeous weather and the rain only lasted about 2 hours.
We did manage to get one or two shots of us together. Here we are at the falls at Roaring River. I tried to fall in while getting better shots of the falls but managed to stay out of the water although mom did mention there was a period of several minutes where she had no clue of my whereabouts. Just so you know, the best shot ended up being at the tourist view point where this was taken.
There is a portion of Kings Canyon called Converse Basin where NEARLY ALL of the Sequoias were cut down. Converse Basin used to be a large grove, but was logged of most of its giant sequoias between 1892 and 1918. Now only about 60 large specimens survive out of what used to be thousands. This grove is the largest contiguous grove in the world. It was really sad to see what had been done. Here is a shot of a couple of young kids who climbed on the top of one of the stumps that remains. It gives you a perspective of just how large these trees were.
There was one tree that was intentionally left uncut. The foreman of the cutting crew said not to cut it and named it after himself. Above is mom at the base of Boole tree. Before 1931, it was thought to be the largest tree in the world, but it's now known as the sixth largest tree, after 5 other giant sequoia: the
General Sherman (largest) tree, the
General Grant, the
President tree, the
Lincoln tree, and the
Stagg tree. We saw all of them except for the Stagg tree which is on private property. The others are all in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Boole tree is 268 feet tall (7 feet shorter than General Sherman) with a trunk diameter of 25 feet at the base (circumference of 113 feet). Number of tooth picks (approaching infinity). Below is a picture of dad who tried to sneak a nap in the hole in the base of the tree. You can google Boole tree or find a description in Wikipedia.
The hike to Boole tree was a one mile one-way trek. We then hiked another mile and a half to complete the 2.5 mile loop. I won't tell you how many times I thought we might be lost as it neared late afternoon but obviously we found our way back safe and sound.
Here is an example of one of the many giant Sequoia trees we saw on our visit. Unfortunately many of the trees were cut down around 1880 - 1920 because of the thought that they would provide vast quantities of lumber. They proved difficult to deal with due to their size and were not good as construction lumber. All of the lumber companies that started with the primary purpose of harvesting Sequoias went bankrupt by the time the area was declared a national park.
We were able to visit two different caves while visiting Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. This is a shot of Crystal Cave. Mom and I both commented that this was the best cave we have been in of the 4 or 5 we have seen. The river that formed the cave was still flowing through the floor of the cave. This cave is cut out of marble versus granite or limestone.
This is the falls that we passed on our way down to Crystal Cave. It was a pretty hefty climb down to get to the cave which meant it was a bit of a hike back up. A bottle of water was definitely a must for the trip back to the top.
Here is one of the friendly bears we managed to stay out of the the way of while on one of our hikes in Sequoia. This dude basically followed the fallen logs and crossed right over the path we were walking on. Fortunately he was well trained to avoid the tourists and turned on the after burners when he got close to the path and hustled right up the hill without stopping for a taste.
Here is a picture of mama bear and her two cubs. The mom spent most of her time climbing to the top of the trees and knocking green pine cones down to the ground. Evidently the green ones taste the best but we didn't try them to see.
What would a trip to Sequoia be without the obligatory shot of the car driving through the cutout trunk of a sequoia tree. Continue on to get a perspective of just how big these babies really are.
Here is a shot in Kings Canyon of their "North Dome". It looks a lot like what you see in Yosemite and is situated right next to a beautiful lake and meadow. It rained while we were on this part of the trip. It was the only time we didn't have gorgeous weather and the rain only lasted about 2 hours.
We did manage to get one or two shots of us together. Here we are at the falls at Roaring River. I tried to fall in while getting better shots of the falls but managed to stay out of the water although mom did mention there was a period of several minutes where she had no clue of my whereabouts. Just so you know, the best shot ended up being at the tourist view point where this was taken.
There is a portion of Kings Canyon called Converse Basin where NEARLY ALL of the Sequoias were cut down. Converse Basin used to be a large grove, but was logged of most of its giant sequoias between 1892 and 1918. Now only about 60 large specimens survive out of what used to be thousands. This grove is the largest contiguous grove in the world. It was really sad to see what had been done. Here is a shot of a couple of young kids who climbed on the top of one of the stumps that remains. It gives you a perspective of just how large these trees were.
There was one tree that was intentionally left uncut. The foreman of the cutting crew said not to cut it and named it after himself. Above is mom at the base of Boole tree. Before 1931, it was thought to be the largest tree in the world, but it's now known as the sixth largest tree, after 5 other giant sequoia: the General Sherman (largest) tree, the General Grant, the President tree, the Lincoln tree, and the Stagg tree. We saw all of them except for the Stagg tree which is on private property. The others are all in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Boole tree is 268 feet tall (7 feet shorter than General Sherman) with a trunk diameter of 25 feet at the base (circumference of 113 feet). Number of tooth picks (approaching infinity). Below is a picture of dad who tried to sneak a nap in the hole in the base of the tree. You can google Boole tree or find a description in Wikipedia.
The hike to Boole tree was a one mile one-way trek. We then hiked another mile and a half to complete the 2.5 mile loop. I won't tell you how many times I thought we might be lost as it neared late afternoon but obviously we found our way back safe and sound.
1 comment:
such cool pictures. Doesn't even compare to what we saw when we drove thorugh.
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