02 OCT 2010

This morning we awoke to mostly sunshine which was good. Everything was wet and we needed to think about packing up for our move to the other end of the park so we could explore there. One of the things about this National Park is the poor facilities available. There are only 2 bathrooms for the entire complex and in each one there is only a couple of stalls with only one sink without a counter, for washing. This means that it is difficult to get time and a place to clean up except at the tent site.


So we both felt the need to have a shower (available for $3.00 at the Visitor’s Center a short drive away) and made plans to do that while the tent dried off a bit. This meant delaying traveling, but we felt that it was better to pack dry than wet. Man the shower felt great!

By the time we got all this done and tore down the tent and packed the car, it was almost 11 and the clouds were back. We got things put away wondering if we would beat the rain that was coming back in and expected according to the forecast.

Now Sequoia Park abuts Kings Canyon Park and our thought was to head to Kings Canyon Park at the west side and find a campsite for one night so we could explore that end of the park. However, since it was expected to rain, and the clouds really did confirm this, we decided to explore on our way through and travel on to Monterey for a couple of nights.

We drove through such areas as Lost Grove where there were more sequoia trees, Redwood Mountain overlook (where there are not redwoods but actually Sequoia trees) and on to Grant Grove. Now the question we had to figure out was why the Redwood Mountain was misnamed since Redwoods only grow on the coast and lower elevation. So we stopped at the Visitor’s center to ask that question. Apparently when the Sequoia trees were first found they were mistaken as redwoods and in fact for along time called Sierra Redwood trees. In actual fact they are very different although they are of the same family, large and red with long lifespans.

Height: Redwoods – 368 feet vs Sequoias – 311 feet
Age: Redwoods – 2000 years vs Sequoias – 3200 years
Weight: Redwoods - 1.6 million lbs. vs. Sequoias – To 2.7 million lbs.
Bark: Redwoods - To 12 in. Thick vs. Sequoias – To 31 in. thick
Branches: Redwoods - To 5 ft. Diameter vs. Sequoias – To 8 ft. diameter
Bases: Redwoods - To 22 ft. Diameter vs. Sequoias – To 40 ft. diameter
Reproduce: Redwoods - By seed or root sprout vs. Sequoias – By seed only
Seed Size: Redwoods - As large as tomato seeds vs. Sequoias – As large as oat flakes
Cone: Redwoods - Shaped like a large olive vs. Sequoias – Shaped like a chicken's egg
Foliage: Redwoods - Single needles that fall off vs. Sequoias – Small, overlapping, awl-shaped needles

Now you know more than you likely wanted to about these two incredible trees.

Ok, on with the journey. We wanted to spend some time wandering around Grant’s Grove and in particular look at General Grant’s tree. We enjoyed the walk through the trunk of a fallen tree that had rotted out down the center. We looked a several different sequoia trees that had been burnt, marred or disfigured in some way. We even had a chance to enjoy looking at an old historic building on the site used originally by loggers and cattlemen.

General Grant is a taller tree then General Sherman of yesterday, but not as old and not as large in volume.

We left the park very much impressed and discussed what we might do the next time we return. We would want to do more planning ahead and even look at doing a couple backpacking hikes to some back country locations. This trip was good but the weather did hamper some of our plans.

As we drove we looked at Monterey for our next stop. We had considered staying at a KOA campground until we found out that the tent site would be $52 per night - for a tent site. Not sure what an RV site would be. I got onto the Blackberry and did some research and found a really good opportunity to stay in Seaside for $42 a night with complementary breakfast included and a lot closer to Monterey than the KOA. Thus guess where we are?