July 14, 2024 - California
Giant Forest Hike (Part One)

This morning, Lynnette and I left our Airbnb in Three Rivers and drove northeast on Sierra Drive.  When we crossed into Sequoia National Park, Sierra Drive turned into Generals Highway.  We climbed through the foothills on some very winding roads.  At times we were down to 15 mph.  Then suddenly around 6,000 feet msl or more we were in the forest amongst these giant trees!  It took us about an hour to get from the Airbnb to the Giant Forest Museum.  We got an early start, and were able to get a parking spot at the Giant Forest Museum parking lot.

The Giant Forest was the highlight of our California trip.  Clearly, it's a special place, containing five of the ten most massive trees on Earth including the General Sherman Tree, and the President and Lincoln Trees.  The General Grant is the only giant growing outside the Giant Forest.  The Giant Forest, with its gentle, well-watered terrain, and mild winter climate, represents the optimum site for giant sequoia growth.

The area was "discovered" in the 1850s by gold miners and hunters.  Early reports of the sequoias' size were met largely with disbelief.  John Muir visited Giant Forest in 1875 and considered it the ultimate sequoia grove.  He called Crescent Meadow in the Giant Forest the "Gem of the Sierra."  President Benjamin Harrison signed legislation that established the Sequoia National Park on 25 September 1890.  Only Yellowstone NP is older.

The only roads are Generals Highway and the road from the Giant Forest Museum to Moro Rock and Crescent Meadow which skirt the western and souther edge of the Giant Forest respectively.  The roughly three square mile grove remains the province of the foot traveler.  40 miles of trail run through the Giant Forest.

Here's a picture of the Giant Forest Museum with the Sentinel Tree at left.
   
Three giant sequoias, placed so perfectly that you wonder if someone planted them.
   

We planned to spend the entire day hiking in the Giant Forest.  I bought a Giant Forest Trail Map in the museum for the purpose.  We would be glad we had it!

We decided to start by hiking the Moro Rock Trail which runs mostly south down the western edge of the Giant Forest and ends up at, you guessed it, Moro Rock.  You can take a shuttle from the Giant Forest Museum to Moro Rock, but we were here to hike, not ride a shuttle!

Here we go!
   
Right away we enjoyed vistas of the the foothills through which we had driven up.   Clearly, a fire tore through this area not so long ago.
   
A hazy California summer day.
   
Only the larger sequoias survived the fire that came through here.
   
This could be the Booker T. Washington Tree, the firsts of the many named sequoia trees we would see.
   
Leaving the burned area, we enter the Giant Forest.
   
 
   
 
   
Long dead but still standing.
   
 
   
Reach for the sky!
   
The top half appears dead but the bottom half looks healthy.
   
A fallen giant.
   
Maybe lightning broke off the top of this one?
   
Not much left of this guy but he's still standing.
   
Our first sighting of Moro Rock
   
Getting closer.
   
You can climb a stairway of 400 steps to the top of Moro Rock.  In this picture you can see people standing at the top.
   
We took a short side trail to visit Hanging Rock.
   
Looking through the haze at the valley to the south.  That's the way we drove up.
   
Back on the Moro Rock trail.
   
Moro Rock has a little parking lot but only NP shuttles and those with a disabled parking permit can drive up here.
   
At left are the beginning of the 400 steps to the top of Moro Rock.  We decided to save our legs and skip climbing Moro Rock.  It was a wise decision.
   
Just across the road was the Roosevelt Tree, named in 1903 after President Theodore Roosevelt.
   
The Roosevelt Tree was marked.
   
Fire scars are clearly visible here.
   
Look at the young Sequoia growing out of the top of a still-standing dead Sequoia.
   
 
   
We were looking for the Triple Tree.  Even though this looks like only a Double Tree, a third tree is out of sight, but it is Triple Tree.
   
Another look at Triple Tree, which looks like Double Tree.
   
A look back at Moro Rock.  We walked along the road back to Moro Rock where we in an effort to save our legs caught the shuttle to Crescent Meadow.
   
The shuttle dropped us off at the southern end of Crescent Meadow.  I was impressed with Sequoia NP's shuttle service.
   

We're 2.7 miles from the Giant Forest Museum, with a lot of hiking ahead of us, and Lynnette's looking a little tired.

The High Sierra Trail starts here as well.  On it, you can hike all the way to Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous United States, with an elevation of 14,505 feet.  It takes the average hiker six days to hike the 72 miles to Mount Whitney.  I wouldn't mind doing it but it probably isn't going to happen.  Maybe in my prime I could have done it.  But I could fly the plane by it!
   
More info on the High Sierra Trail.
   
Now we're hiking up the east side of Crescent Meadow.
   
 
   
The fern-covered forest floor reminds me of the Avenue of the Giants.
   
Lynnette is rejuvenated by the beauty of Crescent Meadows.
   
Interesting.
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
Passing by the President Cleveland tree.
   
Looking up the Cleveland Tree.
   
A dense stand of healthy, young sequoias.
   
A the north end of Crescent Meadow is the Chimney Treewhich has been fire-hollowed by natural fires over hundreds of years.  .
   
P61
   
Shortly after Chimney Tree, we find a nice rock to sit on and have lunch, which we bought at a grocery store in Three Rivers last night.
   
After lunch, we continue north on the Congress Trail and begin to climb.
   
 
   
Although the sequoias are large, most are un-named.
   
A little purple to go with the bright green.
   
A giant sequoia once stood amongst those rocks at the top.  It toppled and now the roots stick up in the air.
   
A closer look at the massive roots.
   
 
   
 
   
Previous
Home
Next