We had heard and read about the Sequoia trees in Sequoia National Park before our visit today. Heard statistics about the circumference of the trees’ bases and the heights of the highest points. Read things like, “the trees are as tall as the Statue of Liberty and as wide as a car.” Nothing, however, could prepare us for what we saw.
Our campground would be normally situated about 1 hour from the joint Northern entry station for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Due to a road closure and detour, however, that drive was about 1.5 hours. The first 30 minutes was a hair-raising descent, with many twists and turns, from our site into town. From there, it the road began an almost ceaseless ascent from 2,000 feet to almost 7,500 feet above sea level. The views were spectacular as we slowly climbed into Sequoia.
Not long after entering the park, we rounded a corner and, out of the blue to our left, a giant Sequoia was growing right next to the road. It was honestly startling and a bit unnerving to see something that massive all at once. I told Karen that there should be a warning sign – Danger, massive a$$ tree ahead! That was just the beginning.
As we wound our way along the park road, which included a fair amount of snow still lingering, we saw trees of ever-increasing size. Like typical first-timers, we got out of the RV and took pictures next to the first big trees next to the road. We did that until we realized the trees were everywhere!
The furthest we were allowed to drive, due to the size of our vehicle, was the Giant Tree Museum. Any further south from that point had a 22′ vehicle length restriction. The museum allowed us to get our passport stamped, and was the start of the Moro Rock trail. Moro Rock is a rock outcropping, a spur of granite, that thrusts out of a mountaintop and provides incredible views from its exposed summit. We were eager for the sights!
The trail led through a grove of countless humungous Sequoia trees, some named but most anonymous. We have both been in places so vast that we feel “small”. Those places are usually mountains or canyons or cliffs. It was a much different feeling of “small” being next to living organisms. The “small” feeling was exacerbated.
Moro Rock ended up being a wonderful hike, but the clouds moved in during the hike and we got very little sightseeing from the top. It was still a fun hike! The descent from Moro Rock, as well as the majority of the descent from Sequoia Nation Park, was shrouded in cloud. In fact, there were parts of the drive where we could barely see 20 feet in front of us. Karen did a wonderful job to get us back here safely!
Tomorrow we are off to Sequoia’s neighbor and sister park – Kings Canyon. Not sure what to expect, but we’re certain it will be amazing!
Leave a Reply