Sequoia NP 2nd day

10/3/11

In the morning we took it very slow probably because we wanted to let the sun warm up the day since we had promised to swim in the river. We cuddled up. Once awaken we kind of cleaned up camp and changed into our bathing suits. We went to the river and not thinking it twice jumped right in. It was probably the coldest waters Monica has experienced, but she warmed up to it and dove 3 times more. This was certainly a lot of fun. Next, we build  up the camp fire and warmed water for instant oatmeal, thanks to Jhon Mehuler's technique we were able to eat the oatmeal from the pouch without making further mess.  

We then drove to the Sequoia National Park. In between we tried contacting the backpacking office of Grand Canyon to see about our permit without success. In our way we stopped to see General Grant Sequoia tree with the widest diameter on earth. Funnily it is also the USA national Christmas tree. It's diameter is 28 feet at 6 feet above ground. Next we drove to Lodgepole Sequoia info center and got more food and info of trails. We  then headed to the Giant Trees Grove  which houses the world's largest tree named General Sherman. Once there we stopped to admire General Sherman and took the Congress trail hike which advances to the heart of the  grove. The trail name comes from the name of the different trees and of groups of trees. For example, president tree and the senate group. 

Sequoias are extremely impressive. Compared with redwoods sequoias are wider although redwoods can grow taller. The oldest Sequoia tree in the grove is > 3000 years, which led Paul to compare it with the fact that it was here before Jesus Christ had a story. 

Sequoias are able to live so long  due to a combination of advantages. Their bark is thick to resist forest firewood and they produce tannings which repels insects. This, combined with accelerated growth gives the sequoias their long life. Ironically their main reason to die is due to toppling. Their roots are measly 10 feet deep to support a total length of 250feet tall, which renders them susceptible to wind and falling. 

Then we returned to camp and made a delicious corn beef and hash topped with eggs in our trusty iron skillet. It threatened to  rain so we retreated early to sleep.