The Biggest Living Things On Earth

    You’d be forgiven if you have recently read my post about Redwoods and figured we’d already seen the largest trees in the world. But no, they were the tallest. The largest by volume are the Giant Sequoias. Check this out and see what I mean:

    These suckers don’t bother to taper to a point as they go up. They stay thick alllllll the way up, and as a result, carry a massive amount of volume in their trunks. It’s hard to comprehend that until you stand in front of one and take it all in. Then you get it.

  

 

 

     But before we got to see the trees, we had to set up camp. This entire journey of ours, I’ve been fearing that we were going to show up at a campsite with a narrow entrance that would force us to make some crazy tight and impossible maneuver with the trailer. We’ve gotten a lot better at getting the Buffalo to go where we want, and have successfully fit it in some tight spots, but so far, we hadn’t really been presentedwith something that looked undoable. Until now. Welcome to Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP.

     It's hard to describe if you’ve never tried to back up a trailer before, but it is a counter-intuitive exercise in patience and frustration and opposites. If you want the trailer to go right as you back up, turn the wheel left. This sounds simple, but, trust me, it is a finicky business. One look at our site and we knew there was no way we were fitting in there. Not only was it small, it was bordered by big rocks and wooden posts, which pushed a ridiculous situation squarely into the ludicrous territory. But, it was the site we had, so we gave it a shot. After thanking the camper gods that Anne was behind the wheel, I got out and slowly, with much trial and error, tried to help guide her in. And, by gum, eventually she did it, close enough that we were able to enlist the help of a couple of neighbors to push it the final way into position. A crooked, unlevel position, but we were in. Phew. (BTW, in expressing our confusion to the camp host that we were certain our site was listed as suitable for 18 foot trailers, her reply was “Oh, those descriptions are usually wrong.” Great.)

    And on a side note, do you know how to recognize when you’re in a campsite within a (relatively speaking) short drive to L.A.? You overhear the following things over the course of your first hour there:

·        “I just saw these guys at Coachella and they played forever! So good.”

·        “I use her face lotion and it’s amazing.”

·        “Oh no! The cilantro got crushed under the ice in the cooler.”

·        *sound of a cocktail shaker in the distance*

    Yes, we had moved out of the land of international camping vans and family summer vacations and into…somewhere else. But I can’t complain, because as mentioned, these cocktail-swilling, Coachella-going, influence-peddling folks helped push the Buffalo into position, with goodwill and a smile. Thanks, beautiful people. (And I apologize for the lack of pictures. Some things are not worth memorializing).

    Our first day was spent in Kings Canyon and was a little too much with the crowds. Visitor centers and the trails near them are great, because they give people with all different ability levels the chance to experience what the park has to offer. But walking the short loop to see General Grant, the second biggest tree in the world, along a paved path, where all the trees are fenced in, wasn’t doing it for us. A drive up to Panoramic Point (yet another very dodgy road in California, they do seem to relish a dash of danger with their drives), with truly stunning views of the Western Divide and the Sierra Nevada mountains, got us back on track. I’ve never seen so many peaks above 10,000 feet laid out before me at once. It was a good way to end the day and prep us for the next one, which was spent in Sequoia National Park.

 

  

 

    This one we planned a bit better. The day started strong, with even the drive there feeling more natural, with big trees all along the roadside. Then we hiked up Moro Rock, an awesome rock formation that gives a commanding view of…everything, really. A path up was first created maybe 100 years ago, with the current stone stairs being done in the 30’s. They were so artfully done, blending with the natural features of the rock, that the stairs themselves are on the National Register for Historic Landmarks. I love when you go to visit a place for one thing (in this case, the natural beauty and views) and walk away with a deep appreciation for something completely unexpected (the workmanship of the stairs). Check out these views, and give the stairs a look, too.

 

  

    In most parks, as soon as you walk a mile outside of the visitor centers, the crowds usually melt away. This proved true at Sequoia as well. We finally got out among the trees, and after the obligatory visit to the largest tree in the world, General Sherman, we headed off into the woods to follow a loop trail back to our car. This is where things got interesting. More big sequoias, the quiet natural experience we were looking for among these giants, watching a western bluebird bring insects back to a nest hidden in a rock crevice, and an electrical panel in the middle of the forest (which totally gave me flashbacks to the TV show ‘Lost’) made the hike memorable enough. Then came the fire and the bear.

 

 

 

There's totally some secret lab hidden under here.

A fallen sequoia that was used as shelter for years.

     My next post I’ll share clips of the smoking forest, which was the aftermath of a controlled burn. But it was surreal to hike through and not only see the evidence of the fire, with blackened logs and debris everywhere, but to come across billows of smoke still rising.

    The black bear was a yearling, about the size of a German Shepherd. Olive and I were in front, and I had my head down or was looking at something else when she said, “Look! A bear!” I looked up and it was standing on a log, maybe 20 or 30 feet away. It regarded us with curiosity as we backed away, and then calmly crossed the path and went on its way. A tense moment, but I have to tell you, it was cute as all get out. Unfortunately, no pics.

    Another cool-yet-touristy thing was driving through the Tunnel Log. An attraction from back when the tourist experience was a bit more intrusive, it’s still a fun thing to do. A plaque there explained how it was made by the Civilian Conservation Corps, which I always like to see and feel a special kinship with. Being an AmeriCorps alumni, my service building trails can be traced in a direct line back to them. Plus, my grandfather on my mother’s side served in the CCC in upstate NY somewhere, according to family lore. I saw a picture of him once from those days, a young man in high boots, posing in the snow next to an old jalopy with chains on its tires. I gotta find that photo.

 

 

    One final note: Sierra Nevada weather. It was perfect. Cool mornings, warm but dry days, no rain. Clear nights with a sky full of stars. Glorious camping weather.

 

    When it was time to go we extracted the Buffalo from it’s tight confines, hooked it up, and hit the road. Onward to that mecca of camping and outdoor pursuits—Las Vegas!