stunning sequoias

brendan and i left early for kings canyon and sequoia national parks. who's brendan? a kid i met in SLO, and again in yosemite, and offered him a ride if he wanted to join. it was nice to have someone else to talk to and share the trip with. (and yes kelley, i know his last name).

kings canyon is in two parts - one part canyon (closed for the winter) and one part sequoia grove (open). the roads here were pretty clear and we drove down to grants grove to walk among the giants. there was even a tunnel tree - a giant that had fallen.

sequoias are not the tallest trees- redwoods are taller, and i think they may not even be the girthiest, but they may be, i cant remember. the thing that makes sequoias so massive is that they are pretty much huge all the way up - nearly the same girth at the bottom as the top. young sequoias grow tall quickly and then add girth every year after. they also only have branches near the top and not many of them - i wonder about the amount of leaves to support the tree growth. regardless they are considered the largest trees by volume. and that volume is calculated not taking into account the tree branches (some with seven foot circumference) or roots. massive.

after taking in the big trees in the annex of kings canyon we had to drive around to get to sequoia. there is a road that connects the two but it was closed for snow. we took the shorter scenic view and i thought the road was a roller coaster with all the twists and turns - way more curvy than any road i drove in new zealand - which is saying a lot.

we went to sequoia and to the visitor's center and learned that snow chains were required to get to the big trees bc the ice on the steep slopes of the road was treacherous. blah. i avoided chains in yosemite bc i have snow tires, but i had to see the giant forest so i had to get chains. we explored a small area of the park that we could reach - climbing on enormous rocks and looking at streams. we left for the evening and started the search for accommodation (brendan's job), dinner (delicious pizza), and chains (my job).

the owner of the inn, a pleasant egyptian man, offered an hour of humorous conversation and a glass of wine in the evening, and another hour of conversation in the morning with breakfast pastries. finally we escaped and made our way to the park. when it came time to put the chains on the tire, there was some discussion, but i think we remembered the lesson well enough that they were put on properly.

the grove of giant sequoias here was much more impressive bc there were more giants to see and there were some cross country trails (through the snow!). but even the trees can only captivate me for so long and it was time to hit the road. where to go? there are no hostels in cali except on the coast... bakersfield was half way from sequoia to la, but so was SLO... and there is a hostel there with excellent pancakes for breakfast so san luis obispo here we come.