The Big Trees

As fascinating as the desert can be, we needed some green.
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We're back in more ways than one. We're home and I've got my laptop up and running online. I'm really embarrassed that I didn't figure out how to fix the problem sooner. All I needed to do was a System Restore from a time before I began having problems. So now we can tell you what happened during the "blackout."

After driving through Death Valley, we desperately wanted to see something growing. So we went to where things have been doing just that for thousands of years. Sequoia National Park is very close to Death Valley and we still had a lot of desert to cross but this was still different desert than anything else we'd seen. It's amazing how different deserts can be. But slowly we climbed into the mountains and the scenery got more lush. Soon there were pine trees and the temperature began to drop. We went from 103 degrees on the desert floor to a cool 73 by the time we were surrounded by Sequoias.

We went from 103 degrees on the desert floor to a cool 73 by the time we were surrounded by Sequoias.

I don't know what kind of cactus these are. We'd never seen them before.
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Now there is a debate about big trees. Some say taller is bigger than wider. Yes, it's true that the California Giant Redwoods are much taller than the Sequoias, but when you see the girth of these massive trees, it's hard to believe that they are living trees instead of buildings. After seeing the Sentinel, we were eager to see the General Sherman which is the largest living organism in the world. It's also pretty old at over 2,000 years.

Before we got to the star of the park, however, there were other "attractions." Have you heard of the tree you can drive through? So have I, but this isn't what I imagined. Yes, it's a big tree, but you actually drive through a hole they made in the side. Look at the picture; is it what you thought?  Then we stopped at the Buttress, a tree that fell in 1959 on a clear, windless day.  Sequoias have a wide but shallow root system. Fire damage and wet soil can weaken their hold in the earth and a thousand-year-old tree will unexpectedly tumble.

Okay, it's green when you get close.
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To get to the General Sherman tree, we had to walk down a half mile trail from the parking lot. It was a lovely walk but there was no way we could have made it back up. Thankfully, they have a shuttle service in the park and we got a ride back. These trees grow around 7,000 feet. At that altitude, a walk in the park is a whole different concept. The big, old tree was one if those few things that do not disappoint. Dead at the top so it no longer grows taller, it still grows in circumference. Quoting numbers and statistics is simply not sufficient. This is a tree that was alive and growing when Christ walked the earth. It looks the part. I hope the pictures give some account of its magnificence.

Lake Isabella
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It was a long day of driving narrow mountain roads and high altitude. Leaving the forest, we dropped down into the famous San Juaquin valley in California - the salad bowl of the world.

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