Sequoia National Park For Three Amazing Hours

A recent business trip took me and a work colleague, Fred, to Fresno.  About an hour and a half away was Sequoia National Park, and when business finished early, neither of us could resist. In truth, it is one of the most unique places in the world.  You see, there are all other trees, and then there are Giant Sequoias.  At first sight they make you think perhaps Paul Bunyan really did exist, because that outsized tale in all its glory fits easily into these outsized trees.  

There simply is no way to really portray a Sequoia in a photo.  The seemingly tiny, thin trees surrounding the spiral giant above are in fact 150 feet tall. It would take several men with arms outstretched just to touch at middle finger-tips and surround the bases of those smaller trees, which have pine cones the size of my forearm.  To realize that at one time the Sierras were covered in the far larger Sequoias is to feel the world primeaval.  The fact that these living things were also around at the birth of Christ imbues the trails among them with a reverence I have experienced only in very sacred places.  

In this place you are tempted to look up all the time, but I am thankfully here to tell you that it would be a grave mistake. As we walked among the tall trees in the early evening, the fellow below jumped out about forty feet away, and began shredding a tree of its bark like cotton candy off a paper stick.  Happily, grubs are apparently more interesting than people, and as soon as it was done with them, the bear walked briskly away, leaving us to continue our walk.

A forest like this will breathe life back into you, and both Fred and I were in deep need of that salve. These trees survive searing fire and direct lightning strikes with a shrug, and that tangible resilience and permanence literally emanates from them. It feels like cool water in the blowing desert sands of the world.

The tree above is the General Sherman, known as the largest tree in the world by mass.  Yet for all their size, and the exaggerated wrinkles in their bark, Sequoias are smooth and soft to the touch, with a fine fuzz finish on the outside.

Your neck may creak by the time you are done, but you will never tire of looking up.

Perhaps the best part, though, is that critters notwithstanding, we were virtually alone on our Tuesday evening walk. Apparently, people don't go out of their way to see trees.  If you haven't been, you should go. You will never regret doing it.