This county is known for deep caverns, placer mining and Mark Twain's jumping frogs. It is also known for some very big trees. They are the giant Sequoias of the Calaveras Big Trees State Park. That's where the Prospector and I spend the day yesterday.
These giant Sequoias, Sequoiadendron giganteum, occur naturally only in groves (about 68 altogether) on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. They are named after Sequoyah (1767–1843), the inventor of the Cherokee syllabary . He wrote a syllable based language in the late 1810s and early 1820s.
Giant sequoias are the world's largest single trees and here they are... right in our own backyard.
Sequoia bark is fibrous and can be 3 ft thick at the base of the trunk.
This is a seed cone.
Right now, the park is clearing thousands of smaller trees, mostly dogwood, from the grove to give the young sequoia seedlings room to grow.
The dogwood is beautiful but has taken over the groves and is becoming a threat to the large trees.
When man chooses to change the system by not allowing fires, he creates a different system that then has to be remedied. Now we, in our "wisdom", are trying to save these huge trees by removing other trees. Sometimes I think we should leave Nature alone. I really believe that after we are gone, Nature will heal itself and find the balance that we have destroyed. We want to save everything and in the process we have created more damage. Just my opinion.
So we walked about a mile and a half around the North Grove... following Jim, our very informed volunteer docent.
The ladies were so cute. Mom only spoke Mexican (Spanish?) and the daughter translated. Mom walked with an umbrella to protect herself from the hot sun.
As we passed other folks, Jim would shout out "Hi, how are you. Isn't it a lovely day. Hope you're having a good time." He was so nice to everyone and seems to love his "job". He knew his history and he liked people. Very pleasant man.
We finally walked through the iconic Pioneer Cabin Tree. At one time this was a drive-thru tree. This Sequoia had a tunnel carved through it to compete with the grand and more impressive Yosemite Valley. The tunnel damaged the tree irreversibly. Visitors can only walk thought it now.
I hope you can read this.
"Today, the injured tree is hanging on to life by only one branch. Look up, the single bough with foliage is working to photosynthesize for the entire tree." It's dying because of man's actions. What a shame.
We saw so many ways that man has damaged this area but thanks to some dedicated people and the State Park system, we may be able to protect these natural wonders from any further damage.
and a small flower
And the ever present Dogwood leaves.
But with all this beauty... the sadness of one tree brought tears to my eyes. Again man, in his attempt to make a profit from nature, did this horrible thing to one of the Sequoias.
I have more photos and I will finish on a lighter note next time. This was a day of beauty and reflection. It only took us a bit over an hour to drive up there. It was definitely worth it. I can now say I have seen the "BIG TREES" and it was well worth the drive.