SEQUOIA

Today we got up bright and early and headed back to the cool park we found yesterday. Since it was only 8:00am we were the only ones at the park. This meant we had the whole rock area to ourselves. I was so busy having fun climbing on the rocks and watching the dogs so eagerly and easily navigating the rocks that I totally forgot to take pictures of it to show you just how huge this place really was. Darn!! But I did get a picture of the beautiful river.

Here is a small portion of the boulder area - if you look closely you'll see Wazzu playing and Mike walking around the bloulders.



And here you'll see Wazzu and me out on the edge of one of the huge boulders.


And finally, Mike and the youngsters in the middle of a pile of large boulders.



To get where I thought would be a good spot to snap the above picture I had to jump two or three feet from one big boulder to another. They were tall boulders – probably 10 – 12’ tall with water totally surrounding them down at the bottom. I didn’t have too much trouble getting across to take the picture – Wazzu was really smart and didn’t jump across with me. You could tell she wanted to but felt it was just too far to make it for sure. I then got the picture no problem but I couldn’t get back. For some reason jumping over there going up wasn’t too scary. But to get back I had to jump down. This seemed very scary. Mike came over to help and couldn’t believe I made it over there to start with. We couldn’t figure out how I was going to get back. Finally he tied the dogs to a nearby tree and came over and had me lean way out to where he could possibly catch me as I jumped. He caught me as I jumped across and all ended well. What was I thinking?!

The dogs found some kind of small animal in a section of the boulders. Unfortunately it was on the very edge of a cliff. They each took turns leaning out over the cliff trying to see if they could catch their prey. No luck – but at least none of them fell. Here is Wazzu giving it a try.



After playing on the rocks for about an hour we headed on to the meadow for a little play time. There must be something really special about this grass as all three dogs plopped down and started rolling and rolling and rolling.

Wazzu:



Sparkie:



Slugger:



This picture helps give you an idea of what a small portion of the meadow looked like. It was a perfect place for the dogs to play and Sparkie took full advantage of it.



The dogs certainly didn’t get worn out during our little play time but at least they had an opportunity to get some exercise. Little did they know this was all the exercise they’d be getting today.

Here are a couple final shots of the pretty river park we were lucky enough to find.



The water was so pretty and blue and the weather was so nice. What a fun place!




From there we headed up to Sequoia National Park. Dogs aren’t allowed in National Parks except in the parking lots. So they rest of the day as we got in and out and did a few things they had to stay in the car. They weren’t happy about this at all as it looked just like the places we always take them hiking. I think today was torture for them. But we did see some amazing scenery.



The weather was nice but unfortunately we didn’t have clear skies so we couldn’t see all the views they told us about. We enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. On the way up the mountain we stopped at an overlook and saw this view.



As we continued on, we came to Tunnel Rock. The road used to go this way but no longer does.



Sparkie is always up for an adventure so she and Mike went to take a look from on top of the tunnel.



Although it's not quite the season for flowers, we did find these beautiful Lupines next to the tunnel.



The next stop was Hospital Rock. For those of you that can read petroglyphs here is what was written on the rock.



I then climbed on top of Hospital Rock and took a couple pictures of the view from there.





Then we finally got to the area of the mountain where the Sequoia's were. These are the largest trees in the entire world. I took a lot of pictures and was so excited - until I got home and looked at them. Without anything else in the picture to give a size reference the trees don't look big at all!

Here are a couple Sequoias that had gone through a fire. Even though it was so badly burnt it continued to grow and do just fine.



This one was burnt completely through yet managed to continue on for thousands of years.



From those pictures they don't really look that big. But they are HUGE. It really was unbelievable. We came across a grove of Sequoias. It was amazing to us how close together these trees grow. If you look closely you can see me....well you can see a blue dot - that's me. That gives you a little bit of an idea about how big the trees are.



From there we went to see the most massive tree in the entire world. It is a Sequoia. Needless to say I couldn't get it all in one shot! So here is the bottom.



And here is the top! Although you can't really tell, the branches at the tops of these trees are bigger around than the average tree we have at home!



This might give you a little perspective of the size.



As we were driving we saw a Sequoia right next to the road. So to give you a better idea of the size and the color we had Slugger sit next to the tree. He looks so small you can barely see the little guy. And this isn't even the biggest tree! His color sure blends in with the tree.



We kept going up and came to Beetle Rock. It was HUGE - really like many huge slabs of rock. There were no railings at all.



And the view from here was very pretty. Too bad there were so many clouds as I'm sure the mountatins would have been beautiful.



You can see a few mountains in this shot.



The next stop was Moro Rock. A great view but not for those that don't care for heights - and not for those that can't climb steps as there are 400 steps to the top. Since it was paved we thought dogs were allowed. So Mike and Sparkie were going to do the climb. But there was a sign at the bottom of the steps saying no dogs so Sparkie had to come back and wait in the car with the rest of us.

Mike was really impressed with this spot and was nice enough to take pictures so we could see what we missed. Here you see the beginning of the climb.



Mike's in good shape so it was no problem for him but he did pass a lot of people that had stopped to huff and puff! More stairs.



After quite the climb he finally made it to the top.



The view from there was beautiful.



You could see a portion of the road that we had driven up.



Time to head back down.



Now it was late and we hadn't had lunch. So we stopped at a lodge for lunch. Unfortunately they only serve lunch until 2:30 and we didn't get there until 3:00. Good thing we always carry granola bars in the car!

Slugger had a turn out of the car to get his picture taken by the tree and Sparkie had gotten out when we thought she could climb the stairs but Wazzu hadn't been out yet. We knew this was the perfect place for Wazzu to get out as the hill in the parking lot of covered with snow.

She loved running up and down the hill in the snow with Mike. Mike turned into a little kid and had fun throwing snowballs at the car. As you might guess this just about scared Slugger out of his skin!



Shortly thereafter we came to the Car Tunnel Log. Mike was positive we couldn't make it through with the carrier on top of the car. I got out and told him there was plenty of room to spare but he wouldn't believe me so we took the tall vehicle bypass. What do you think - could we have made it?



It was getting late and we had one Sequoia left to see. To get to the tree we had to walk through the middle of a downed Sequoia tree. This will give you some idea of how big it is - look at the size of Mike as he enters the tree.



Here is the inside of the tree. The army used to use this downed tree in the early 1900's as barracks for the men and a place for their horses . As you got in farther it was very wide. I think the sign said it was over 150 feet long.



The last tree we saw was General Sherman. This is the largest tree by volume on the entire planet. It is massive! In fact, it is the largest living thing on earth.




By the end of the day we were tuckered! We hadn't planned on such a long day. Now to make it down the long windy road and find our way home. You may think that's easy....but our home is always in a different spot. Sometimes it's hard to remember where it is!

Debbie
4/10/07

PS Bonus for James.



Can you find Slugger?