Where's Liz? 2016: Sequoia National Park...The Giant Forest

This is the only stop I made for a picture on the way up...clouds on the mountain tops.

Entering the Giant Forest

I don't think I would park my car in the lower parking lot beneath this leaning giant.

View from the parking lot of the Visitor's Center.

This is named The Sentinel, a 2,200 year-old sequoia. It is a monster compared to most trees, but in this land of the giants, it is just average.

On the Big Trees Trail some of the trees are twice the size of the Sentinel.

Thistle had to stay home, no dogs are allowed on these trails in the National Park.

Fires don't kill these trees, nothing much does. That's why they get to be so old.

There is quite a bit of snow in the woods at this 6500 ft elevation, but the roads are clear.

I was glad I brought my hiking stick along for the slippery snow-covered part of the trail.

This trail was a good choice for this Easter weekend. Most everybody else went on to the more popular General Sherman trail.

I had quiet and almost solitude.

It was like entering a chapel.

A most reverent setting.

The Big Trees Trail makes a loop around a snow-covered meadow.

The snow is quite deep here, but I do not sink in.

You can see the fence is almost buried in snow.

A little boy peers into an opening...great to see the size perspective of these giants of the forest.

Listen to the silence, not even the sound of a bird.

The cones of the Giant Sequoia are about the size of a hen's egg, and the seeds are only the size of an oat flake.

This is an easy paved trail in the summer.

Notice that the giants grow all around the meadow, but not in it. It is because the meadow is too wet. Sequoia roots can't live in this soggy ground, but they do need moist soil near water. Their roots capture moisture as water drains toward the meadow.

See the burn scar on the tree across the meadow? Most fires in this area are low ground fires, not hot enough to burn many big trees. But they do clear the forest floor, making an environment for new trees to sprout and thrive. The fire's heat opens the cones and allows the seeds to fall onto ash-fertilized soil.

Need to rest?

In addition to fire, the thick bark and tannins in the wood of the sequoia make it resistant to damage by insects, disease and decay.

About the only thing that kills a Giant Sequoia is by toppling over, which happens due to their shallow root system.

But even toppling has its advantages...making room for young sequoias to grow.

A hollow tree trunk, but not a sequoia.

Some little girl and her parent left their gloves behind here. Hopefully they will remember and come back for them.

A tiny tree (not a sequoia) is growing on the trunk of a downed tree.

Notice how this sequoia is growing around the boulder.

It looks like it's going to swallow that rock some day.

A picture of the shallow roots of a sequoia.

These two trees appear to share the same root system, and probably germinated after the same fire.

Siamese twins.

You can really see why these are called the giants of the forest when compared to the other trees around them.

Water running into the meadow.

The other side of of the meadow must get more sun...the snow is melted here.

There's a burl growing on the side of that tree.

Boardwalk over soggy ground.

The sign says these sequoias may not survive because it has become too wet.

Sequoias growing in moist areas often develop flared bases. This provides more stability, similar to standing with your feet wider apart.

Do you see the "tall" man? Tall is relative.

When a sequoia is scarred by fire, the bark begins to grow back over the damaged area, and eventually it "heals" itself.

Things are improving in terms of effort to save these wondrous trees. In the late 1800s, there were plans to log them. They were saved from that by the creation of the Sequoia National Forest. In the 1900s a restaurant, campground, and cabins crowded these sequoias, and a road was located where I stand. The national Park Service is still working to restore and preserve natural habitat.

It is up to us to help protect these natural areas.

I couldn't leave without visiting the famous General Sherman Tree. Notice all the snow in the parking lot.

The trail begins at the same elevation as the height of the Sherman Tree.

It's a nice wide trail to accommodate all the visitors it gets.

You can just see the snag that is the top of the Sherman Tree through these trees. The top of the tree is dead and no longer grows taller, but the base and trunk keep growing in thickness, making it the largest tree in the world in terms of volume and weight.

This is where the Spring Break families brought their kids today.

Where these people are standing is a life-size "footprint" of the General Sherman Tree. It is also where you get your first glimpse of the whole tree.