Today is day 41 of our cross country trip. While we were in Sequoia National Park, less than a mile from the General Sherman tree, we reached 6000 miles on the van.
The weather has been excellent, especially for this part of the trip in the mountains that could have been prevented by snow. The General Sherman tree is above 7000 feet.
The entry to the park is at the end of route 198 and then starts on the winding part.
Driving up into the park has many hairpin turns, most of them without guardrails and some of them with rock walls.
On the way up is a feature known as Hospital Rock.
After the long ride up from Visalia, Grammie needed a rest. The bench is made out of Redwood.
One of the trees that had fallen was hollowed out to make way for a footpath.
General Sherman is the largest tree by volume. It is neither the tallest nor the oldest, but the largest based on calculations of the size near the base.
The tree has actually lost the top as well as one of the branches.
There is a viewing area above the base of the tree for viewing.
This is the view of the General Sherman from the viewing area.
The Sequoia trees grow from seeds. In 1 cone, there may be as many as 200 seeds, but they do not come out until opened up by heat, like in a fire. Even if the seeds come out, they may never begin to sprouts because of the covering of the ground by limbs, branches, and needles.
Even if a Sequoia is partially burnt by a fire, most likely the tree will survive, and the bark will continue to cover the burnt parts. Here, the bark of the tree has been growing around a rock.
The establishment of this park was created when the land was purchased by private donors.
A panoramic picture of the surrounding hills.
A zoom of the distant hills.
After leaving the park, we drove by Lake Kaweah that was created when the Terminus Dam was built. Around the area is the Lemon Hill Recreation area. As you can see, many people enjoy the lake. Today, the temperature was almost 70 and there were a few people around.
Grammie had a wonderful day, and is glad that she could share the sights that she has seen with you.
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