What an amazing day. First of all, the weather we encountered was a bit varied. We started and ended our day in Visalia, CA, in a sunny and drought-stricken climate. And then this morning we climbed the high Sierras, into Sequoia National Park.
We were treading the path that John Muir blazed as he and other pioneers saw the amazing trees that grow nowhere else on earth. This special ecosystem and weather produce amazing pines and the colossal Sequoias that truly need to be seen to be believed. Even when they are upturned, their roots are works of art.
One of the sights to see is the view from of Moro Rock, which was a beautiful vista. Did I mention that it snowed four inches last night? It felt like Christmas, in the middle of all the lovely pines. And just look at the mountains.
We took a bit of a hike to Tharp Log, where Mr. Tharp built himself a humble cabin in 1858 out of a hollowed-out tree. Unlike many who followed, it looked like he accommodated himself to the environment, rather than the other way around.
The star of the park is General Sherman, considered to be the largest living thing in the world. The general is not the oldest, as it has only been around about 2,200 years. The oldest Sequoia is in Yosemite, and that one is considered to be around 4,000 years old. The general is dead at the top, but still growing downstairs, adding about the size of a normal 60-foot tall tree every year.
So admire this astonishing place, which truly deserves today’s most over-used adjective – awesome…
I salute the General. Beautiful!