Sequoia Blitz

I cannot believe the number of giant trees I have seen in two days. We left the hot springs and took a stroll on Mountain Road 50 north, darting in and out of the High Sierras and the foothills all day. Top tree sighting of the day was on the Trail of 100 giants, just a teaser for what was to follow as we went deeper into the Sequoia National Forest.

The road that first day deteriorated into mountain remote roads, barely paved, quite narrow and bumpy. Eventually we emerged in the foothills to spend a night on one of the three rivers that merge at Three Rivers,a lovely spot with a family swimming hole on the river.

Next morning we hit the real Sequoia National Park, where the ranger didn't care how long our vehicle was after all. Never mind the warnings about 22 feet or less. Just take it slow and use the pullouts he said. I am not believing we went from one end to the other in a day, but of course we are just hitting the RV accessible highlights.

They included climbing up Moro Rock into the clouds,seeing General Sherman, the biggest living thing in the world, General Grant, second biggest, the Kings Canyon, deeper than the Grand Canyon, but hey, it's got a road down into it, a wild and roaring and totally non-navigable Kings River racing downhill over jumbles of huge boulders, mile after mile, an incredible waterfall called Grizzly, and spending the night with NO ONE in a campground at Cedar Grove. I cannot recall such total quiet in my life. It's Yosemite without the crowds.

Did I mention the bear?

Most of the day we were fogged in, which made the giants even more mysterious and unworldly. So, what were you doing 3000 years ago when that little seedling took root? Was he the baby of another 3000 year old giant? What would the tree say if it could talk?