There is a slice cut from a stump of a tree on display to give a sense of the size of the trees too. We then hiked the Congress trail which is a 2 mile loop through the forest with views of many other large sequoia trees.
After we hiked around for a bit we decided to continue on to see a few of the other sites in the park. The AutoLog is a tree that feels and for fun the top edge of the log was levelled and cars could drive up the log for a picture. The tree is so far gone that this is no longer possible but the ‘road unto the log’ is still visible. From there we traveled up to the tunnel log where we were able to drive the car right through the log – amazing.
We continued on the park drive to locate Moro Rock which is a huge granite rock that we could see as we travelled up the road yesterday at the top. This rock has steps and stairs leading to the top which is over 400 steps climb. If the view did not take your breath away, the climb did. And what a view it is at the top with almost 360 degrees of vistas.
We returned to the car to head back to the Visitor’s center and Park Museum where we learned more about the park and the sequoia trees. It is hard to imagine that at one time in the early 1900’s there was a move to lumber the trees. Only because of a few individuals who lobbied to have the area turned into a park saved these ancient trees from being logged. However, the same cannot be said about other area in the state. The trees grow so huge and relatively quickly but because they are bug and disease resistant, have a fire retardant bark and can adapt they have a very long life span. However, since they do not have a tap root, they are susceptible to being blown over and with their height can have lightning strikes. The Sierra Mountains have an ideal climate for sequoia trees in the 7000 to 8000 foot range.
While at the visitor’s center we talked about the hike to the Watch Towers which is in the alpine area. The hike would start about 7000 feet and we would climb about 1600 feet in the 4 miles. We decided that this should take about 4 hours for the full 8 miles round trip and since it was only 1 pm, why not. Well at about 3+ miles before we hit the alpine Mr Weatherman decided differently and we turned back amidst a thunderstorm. Not a great way to finish the time we had in the park. Here is the GPS readings from that trek for those interested. Wes uses his GPS and then downloads the tracks onto a topo map. This is a 3 dimensional view.
When we got back to our campsite we had to help our neighbour sort a few things out. He had not put the fly over his tent and was not there when it started to rain. His air mattress was floating to give you an idea of how much water was inside. We helped him pick up the tent and drain it and he got the fly on before spending time to dry things out.
It rained basically the rest of the day and into the evening. We did get a reprieve around dinner time so we were able to cook dinner and clean up before the rain started again. With only the tent and no electricity it was a quiet night or us and early to bed.
Wes was a bit disappointed that in the last couple of major stops we have been unable to do some of the hiking and sightseeing we planned. The weather as we travel north is definitely looking like fall and is becoming less predictable. We had planned one more day in the park, but are now going to judge in the am if we will stay or move on. Fortunately we have not paid for another night yet. We still have a few places on our list before getting home, but we have less than 2 weeks. Well we will do what we can do.
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