BGuthrie Photos: CA -- Sequoia Natl Park

CA -- Sequoia Natl Park:

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Description of Pictures: I totally missed the Grant tree. On the other hand, I got to see two bears and four tarantulas.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SEQ_090731_001.JPG: Wilderness Preserved: From this vantage point you catch but a glimpse of a mountain wonderland. These Sierra Nevada wildlands contain some of the most spectacular scenery on the face of the earth. Jagged peaks drop into glacially carved "yosemite" valleys visited by but a handful of people each year. Bowl-shaped cirques cradle jewel-like tarns, lakes left over from the last ice age and awaiting the next. What you are viewing is part of the second largest roadless landscape in the lower 48 states. Straight ahead in the distance is the Wilderness of Kings Canyon National Park, administered by the national Park Service. To your left are the Monarch and John Muir Wilderness areas, administered by the U.S. Forest Service. These wilderness designations were won in the 1960s after a lengthy campaign by concerned citizens. The fruits of their efforts await you at the end of a trail. Or you may prefer to journey these paths in your imagination. Books and park programs can help to introduce you to this landscape. Whether we travel on foot or in the mind, it is our good fortune to know that these wilderness trails are available for the taking.
2. SEQ_090731_019.JPG: A small bear. Very cool!
3. SEQ_090731_057.JPG: A bear @ Sequoia National Park
4. SEQ_090731_096.JPG: Into the Giant Forest: You are standing on the edge of the Giant Forest sequoia grove. Sequoia trees grow in front of you but not behind you. Based on the huge size of so many sequoias here, the Giant Forest appears to provide the best habitat anywhere for sequoias to grow. John Muir, famous Scottish-American naturalist, described entering this grove in 1873: "A magnificent growth of giants... one naturally walked softly and awe-stricken among them. I wandered on, meeting nobler trees where are all noble... this part of the Sequoia belt seemed to me the finest, and I then named it 'the Giant Forest.'"
5. SEQ_090731_130.JPG: There It Is! The largest tree on earth: In front of you stands the General Sherman Tree. Its claim to fame as the biggest tree in the world comes from the volume of its trunk. A few other tree trunks are bigger around. Some trees are taller. But no other tree has more wood in its trunk than the Sherman Tree. The Sherman Tree top is dead, so the tree's trunk no longer gets taller. However, its volume keeps increasing. Each year, the trunk grows wider, adding enough wood to equal another good-sized tree. Check out the life-sized "footprint" of the Sherman's tree trunk on the ground behind you. It gives an idea of the tree's girth -- 109 feet (33 meter) around at the ground, and its irregular shape. Natural growth patterns and fire scars cause the uneven shape. Compare the fire scar on the tree ... with the indentation the scan makes in the tree's outline.
6. SEQ_090731_234.JPG: The General Sherman Tree. It's not the tallest or the widest, but the overall volume of its trunk makes it the biggest tree on earth. Biggest Does Not Mean Oldest: The General Sherman Tree is about 1,000 years younger than the oldest known sequoia. How can this be? Location, location, location! Where growing conditions are best, sequoias grow faster. They outgrow older trees, rooted in less prime locations. It's a Matter of Perspective: Looking up at the General Sherman Tree for a six-foot-tall human is about the equivalent of a mouse looking up at the six-foot-human. Just How Much is That? If the Sherman's Tree trunk could be filled with water, it would provide enough water for 9,844 baths. That's one bath every day for 27 years. [Where do they come up with these analogies?]
7. SEQ_090731_335.JPG: A Changed Scene: Across the road stands the Giant Forest Museum, you can learn about sequoia trees. Not so long ago, a very different scene greeted people here. The museum was a busy market. To the right of it stood a cafeteria and gift shop. A third building housed another gift shop. To complete the scene, imagine the three motels and dozens of cabins that were spread out behind you. But the scene has changed. Commercial services have given way to preservation of sequoias. We can always build gift shops and cafeterias, but the wonders of the Giant Forest -- over 3,000 years in the making -- are irreplaceable.
8. SEQ_090731_356.JPG: The Sentinel: Just Average? If you think the giant tree in front of you is big, in one sense you are right. The Sentinel, a 2,200-year-old sequoia, is a monster compared to most trees. But in this land of giants, the Sentinel is just average. In the grove of sequoias that surrounds you, some trees are nearly twice as large as the Sentinel. At 700 tons (635 m tons), the Sentinel Tree weighs more than two fully-loaded jumbo jet airplanes -- yet it is still just an average sequoia tree.
9. SEQ_090731_436.JPG: Those are two people walking on the distant trail. Sizes are deceptive here. Too Wet: This open meadow is too wet for trees. Sequoia roots can't live in this soggy soil. Rainwater and melting snow drain here from the surrounding hills. The water collects in a depression in the bedrock, creating this moist opening. Yet giant sequoias need enormous amounts of water. By growing near the meadow but not in it, they can benefit. Their roots capture moisture as it drains toward the meadow. The amount of water in the meadow varies with the season. In spring -- with winter's snowmelt -- there may be standing water across the meadow.
10. SEQ_090731_438.JPG: Prime Sequoia Habitat: Welcome to one of the best places on earth for giant sequoia. In Giant Forest sequoias grow bigger than anywhere else, and Round Meadows is one of the best sequoia habitats within Giant Forest. As you circle Round Meadows on the Big Trees Trail, notice where these magnificent trees thrive and where they do not. Where are they largest? Where are they absent? As you walk the trail you can learn what factors determine where sequoias grow.
11. SEQ_090731_446.JPG: What Is Good Habitat? What do sequoias need to live long enough to grow this high? This 23-foot wide (7m) tree and its enormous neighbors give us our first clues. Look around where they are growing. To reproduce and thrive, sequoias need specific conditions: moist soil, open sunny forest, a climate that is not too cold, and bare, ashy ground. Therefore, they also need the natural processes that create these conditions. As you walk this trail, watch for evidence of these processes.
12. SEQ_090731_452.JPG: Too Wet: This open meadow is too wet for trees. Sequoia roots can't live in this soggy soil. Rainwater and melting snow drain here from the surrounding hills. The water collects in a depression in the bedrock, creating this moist opening. Yet giant sequoias need enormous amounts of water. By growing near the meadow but not in it, they can benefit. Their roots capture moisture as it drains toward the meadow. The amount of water in the meadow varies with the season. In spring -- with winter's snowmelt -- there may be standing water across the meadow.
13. SEQ_090731_459.JPG: Hot Spots: The four large sequoias that you see here are probably the same age. Such clusters may be found where fire once burned very hot. Most fires in this area are low ground fires, not hot enough to kill many big trees. Where fire does flare up enough to kill a patch of trees, seedlings get a good start. No trees block their sunlight or compete for water and nutrients. A thousand years later, a group of giants may stand in what was once a hot spot. As fire moves through the forest, it causes ideal conditions for sequoia seeds to sprout -- bare ground fertilized by ash. It also kills soil fungus that may harm seedlings. Sequoia cones open when fire's heat rises. Soon tiny seeds drop to the ground. If they fall onto a layer of dry leaves, they will not survive. On soil left bare by fire, they can take root.
14. SEQ_090731_481.JPG: Inheritance: This fallen giant grew too heavy for the soft, wet soil at the meadow's edge. When it fell, however, its broken roots exposed bare soil in a sunny spot with plenty of moisture. Those were the perfect conditions for the sequoias directly across the trail to get started. Natural disturbances, such as falling trees and fire, contribute to good sequoia habitat. The fallen sequoia ... tore a hole in the canopy, letting in needed sunlight. But until a fire burns away the broken tree and exposes bare ground, sequoia seeds could never sprout. Sometimes it takes two forms of disturbance before sequoias can regenerate.
15. SEQ_090731_490.JPG: It started raining about here. Note the folks on the right for perspective.
16. SEQ_090731_510.JPG: Just Enough Soil: Bedrock is very close to the surface here. Just a thin layer of soil covers the granite. That can make it tough on some trees. Sequoias, however, do well in this environment. Their shallow roots can support a giant tree in less than 3 feet (1 m) of earth by spreading out far from the tree. Interlocking roots throughout the forest help to support the sequoias. The soil just needs to be deep enough to hold plenty of moisture for these thirsty trees.
17. SEQ_090731_543.JPG: Sun Worshipers: Look across the meadow for a view of sunbathing sequoias. Young sequoias have branches all the way down their trunks, gathering as much solar energy as they can. Their pointed tops grow quickly toward the sun. As sequoias grow taller, they lose lower branches due to fire or lack of sun. Once the trees rise above the rest of the forest canopy, their pointed crowns round off. Dead tops mark the oldest sequoias. Once mature, they grow no taller, but continue to grow thicker.
18. SEQ_090731_551.JPG: Surviving Change: This spot is unusually wet for sequoias. It was probably drier here when the trees in front of you began growing. During prolonged droughts, wet meadows like this one often shrink. Sequoias can get started in the drier soil around the edge. However, if the climate turns wet again and the meadow expands, roots get flooded. These giants may not make it. Their roots may drown. The moist soil may be too soft to support large trees, causing them to lean and finally fall. Time will tell. Sequoias growing in moist areas often develop flared bases. This adaption apparently provides greater support in the soft soil. It's similar to standing with your feet wide apart for stability. Notice the bases of other sequoias. They may provide clues about local soil moisture.
19. SEQ_090731_565.JPG: Correct Climate: Sequoias need a climate like the Giant Forest has now -- lots of precipitation but not very cold temperatures. Yet this area was not always ideal sequoia habitat. This meadow reveals that, until about 4,000 years ago, very few sequoia grew here. It was either too dry or two cold. This meadow records the history of local climate. Over thousands of years, its soil formed in layers as plants decomposed. Scientists can identify these plants and know what type of climate they require. That tells us what the climate was like when they were growing here. Meadow Layers Reveal Sequoia's Past: Ideal for Sequoias -- today to 4,000 years ago -- There is enough rain and snow to support sequoias and their forest neighbors. Too Dry -- 4,000 to 12,000 years ago -- Sagebrush and dry climate pines grew then. Too Cold -- before 12,000 years ago -- An ice age dominated the landscape. A glacier 500 feet thick (152 m) filled the canyon at Lodgepole just north of here. Cold-tolerant plants that lived here then now grow 3,000-4,000 feet higher in elevation.
20. SEQ_090731_569.JPG: The trees with the sharper tops are younger trees. The older, flatter trees on the left have lost their points.
21. SEQ_090731_572.JPG: Frequent Fire: Numerous fires created the large scar on the sequoia in front of you. Frequent fire is common in good sequoia habitat, and mature trees have ways to survive. Most large sequoias survive fire and live well despite large scars. Thick bark with many air pockets insulates the wood from heat. With little sap or pitch in it, the bark is not very flammable. High branches hold foliage well above most fires. With competing plants burned away, surviving trees get more water, nutrients, and sun. New wood grows from either side of a fire scar, covering a little more each year. This healing growth leaves telltale marks on the tree's annual growth rings. These marks reveal how many fires a tree has survived.
22. SEQ_090731_580.JPG: From Hurt To Healing: Across this meadow, a restaurant, campground, and dozens of cabins once crowded the sequoias. Behind you stood the early park headquarters. Cars once drove where you now stand. Round Meadow's sequoias have been threatened by development more than once, yet people ultimately chose preservation. Late 1800s: There were plans to log the giant sequoias. Local citizens saved them by demanding the creation of Sequoia national Park in 1890. Early 1900s: Round Meadow, ringed by cabins, was still privately owned. In 1916, donations to the National Geographic Society bought Round Meadow for public use. Late 1900s: As the park became more popular, roads, campgrounds, utilities, and public cabins spread around the meadow. In the 1970s, the public began to support efforts to repair years of ecological damage. The park began eliminating facilities, removing the last building in 1999. Today: It's up to us to carry on. If we want to save sequoias, we must preserve their habitat -- the natural places and processes that allow these amazing trees to survive. For decades, sequoias suffered so that this restaurant, which stood directly across from you, and more than 100 other buildings and their associated utilities could operate here.
23. SEQ_090731_588.JPG: Even In Good Habitat: Most sequoias die by falling, as the one in front of you did in 1992. Even in the best sequoia habitat these giants are not immortal. Soft soil, heavy snows, or root damage may unbalance a tree and cause it to lean. If it leans too much, its shallow roots cannot hold its huge weight, and the tree falls. In this tree's case, people may have hastened the process. A road cut near its base early in the 20th century severed some of its roots. It was tall enough that, had it fallen the other way, it would have hit the restaurant that once stood across the meadow. "It was a calm, sunny day in the Giant Forest. Out of the clear blue came loud cracks as the roots snapped, and then a crash like thunder. We found the tree shattered, with an amazing amount of water flowing from the broken wood. Touching the inside of the sequoia was startling -- it was ice cold." -- Bill Tweed, Park Ranger, Sequoia National Park, July 1974
24. SEQ_090731_601.JPG: The tract of land on which this tablet has been erected, together with four other tracts of land, all within the heart of the Giant Forest, was purchased from private owners with funds subscribed by the National Geographic Society together with an appropriate by the Congress of the United States These areas were deeded to the United States on December 30, 1916, for the benefit of and to serve the people of the nation.
25. SEQ_090731_615.JPG: A Giant's Footprint: The stones in the pavement behind you simulate the "footprint" of Ed by Ned, the twin sequoia trees growing in front of you. The footprint gives an idea of the area on which mature sequoia trees stand. If it seems large, consider the enormous size of the trees balance upon that spot. Ed by Ned -- the nickname given by John and James Jordan in 1906 -- are two individual trees that grew so close together their bases joined. The combined bases of Ed by Ned spread 34 feet long and 25 feet wide (10.3m x 7.6m) -- a great size for a swimming pool.
26. SEQ_090731_626.JPG: Ed By Ned
27. SEQ_090731_635.JPG: Clara Barton tree
28. SEQ_090731_670.JPG: For The Good of the Giants: Try to imagine yourself standing here in the 1950s. You would have been facing a serving station and a parking lot. Behind you stood almost 100 cabins and motel units. Development in the Giant Forest began long ago. As early as the 1890s, people began building here. Campgrounds, hotels, shops, a post office, park headquarters, parking lots, a gas station, and a sewage treatment plant all stood on the roots of the sequoias. Over time, people recognized the damage being done to the grove's ecology and beauty. In the 1970s, the park began to move services to less sensitive areas. In 1999, the last buildings came down. Today, the only facilities left here are those dedicated to one thing -- helping you learn about the giant sequoias.
29. SEQ_090731_686.JPG: Buttress Tree: Length: 272 feet Base diameter: 20 feet Estimated age: 2,300 years Fell without warning June 3, 1959. The weather was clear with no wind. Sequoias lose their balance and fall when their shallow root systems are weakened by fire, erosion, or very well soil.
30. SEQ_090731_692.JPG: Tunnel Log Fell December 4, 1937 Base diameter 21 feet Length 275 feet Tunnel 8 feet high, 17 feet wide
31. SEQ_090731_708.JPG: Stephen Tyng Mather July 4, 1867 - Jan. 22, 1930 He laid the foundation of the National Park Service defining and establishing the policies under which its areas shall be developed and conserved unimpaired for future generations. There will never come an end to the good that he has done.
32. SEQ_090731_733.JPG: Parker Group. These giant trees were named for the eight members of the Parker family -- Captain James Parker, Troop B, 4th Cavalry, US Army was acting superintendent of Sequoia National Park 1893-1894.
33. SEQ_090731_745.JPG: Moro Rock. The Geologic Story: The Story Begins -- Deep within the earth, more than 100,000,000 years ago, hot, molten rock moves slowly upward, cooling as it rises. Finally, its upward progress halted, the semi-liquid mass solidifies. Masses of black and white crystals form. The making of Moro Rock granite is complete. Chapter II -- The movement and collision of great blocks of the earth's crust produces enormous stresses and strains. These forces cause earthquakes and faulting. These forces cause earthquakes and faulting, lifting the Moro Rock granite high above sea level. Erosion removes the underlying material exposing the granite. The Final Chapter -- Relieved of the enormous pressures, the rock expands, cracking in concentric circles. Further erosion causes the rock to slough off like the layers of an onion. This process of granite dome formation is called exfoliation. Other examples of granite domes, formed in a similar manner include Half Dome, Yosemite Natural Park and Tehipite Dome, Kings Canyon National Park. The Human Story: The Story Begins -- Indians roamed here for several thousand years. Neither sign nor record indicate they considered Moro Rock a special place. Chapter I -- Indians led Hale Tharp, the first white man in the area, to the rock in 1858. Three years later, Tharp with his stepsons John and George Swanson were the first to climb it. Chapter II -- The summer was reached by the first stairway in 1917. Built entirely of wood, it ran straight up the crest. Note the absence of a second railing on most of the stairway. In 1931, the National Park Service built the present stone steps. Because of the sensitive design of the stairway and the craftsmanship present in its construction, the stone steps were entered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The Final Chapter -- Climb Moro Rock for a birdseye view of mountain and valley. Take your time; it's nearly 400 steps and a 300 foot rise in elevation. Exhibits along the way point out things of interest. The Name -- No one knows the origin of Moro Rock's name. Moro is a Spanish word and can mean a roan-colored horse (such a horse often grazed at the base of the rock) or a snout or promontory or an unwatered place. Other rocks named "Moro" or "Morro" are found in California, New Mexico, and Puerto Rico.
34. SEQ_090731_789.JPG: Great Western Divide: The soaring, granite peaks of the Great Western Divide separate Sequoia national Park. West of the Divide are the Canyons of the Kaweah River. To the east is the watershed of the North Fork of the Kern River. A higher ridge, the Sierra Crest, is hidden behind the Divide. The Sierra Crest, which runs along the eastern boundary of the park, includes Mt. Whitney, at 14,495 feet (4418 meters), the highest summit in the 48 contiguous states.
35. SEQ_090731_874.JPG: Bruce Guthrie @ Sequoia National Park
36. SEQ_090731_877.JPG: The Geologic Story: The Story Begins -- Deep within the earth, more than 100,000,000 years ago, hot, molten rock moves slowly upward, cooling as it rises. Finally, its upward progress halted, the semi-liquid mass solidifies. Masses of black and white crystals form. The making of Moro Rock granite is complete. Chapter II -- The movement and collision of great blocks of the earth's crust produces enormous stresses and strains. These forces cause earthquakes and faulting. These forces cause earthquakes and faulting, lifting the Moro Rock granite high above sea level. Erosion removes the underlying material exposing the granite. The Final Chapter -- Relieved of the enormous pressures, the rock expands, cracking in concentric circles. Further erosion causes the rock to slough off like the layers of an onion. This process of granite dome formation is called exfoliation. Other examples of granite domes, formed in a similar manner include Half Dome, Yosemite Natural Park and Tehipite Dome, Kings Canyon National Park.
37. SEQ_090731_880.JPG: The Human Story: The Story Begins -- Indians roamed here for several thousand years. Neither sign nor record indicate they considered Moro Rock a special place. Chapter I -- Indians led Hale Tharp, the first white man in the area, to the rock in 1858. Three years later, Tharp with his stepsons John and George Swanson were the first to climb it. Chapter II -- The summer was reached by the first stairway in 1917. Built entirely of wood, it ran straight up the crest. Note the absence of a second railing on most of the stairway. In 1931, the National Park Service built the present stone steps. Because of the sensitive design of the stairway and the craftsmanship present in its construction, the stone steps were entered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The Final Chapter -- Climb Moro Rock for a birdseye view of mountain and valley. Take your time; it's nearly 400 steps and a 300 foot rise in elevation. Exhibits along the way point out things of interest. The Name -- No one knows the origin of Moro Rock's name. Moro is a Spanish word and can mean a roan-colored horse (such a horse often grazed at the base of the rock) or a snout or promontory or an unwatered place. Other rocks named "Moro" or "Morro" are found in California, New Mexico, and Puerto Rico.
38. SEQ_090731_883.JPG: Auto Log Base Diameter: 21 feet Fell in 1917. Since then, many types of vehicles have been photographed on this unusual log driveway.
39. SEQ_090731_907.JPG: On Rising Winds: Magnificent views were once commonplace from this location. Now they are rare. The air quality of Sequoia National Park had steadily worsened. Topography and weather patterns in the San Joaquin Valley make the region susceptible to the combined effects of automobile use, agriculture and industrialization. These pollution sources reduce visibility by adding fine particles, man-made sulfates, and gasses like NO(2) to the air. This deteriorating air quality brings more than the loss of visibility; pollution comes in an unseen form as well. Prevailing summer wins rising up our mountain slopes from the valley floor contain some of the greatest densities of ozone in the state. High concentrations of this colorless gas, trapped in a circulating air flow between Fresno and Visalia, build during the morning hours and are swept upslope into the park later in the day. Ozone, which is absorbed by plants, can injure their cells and damage their ability to photosynthesize. Research is revealing to what extend pollution is impacting the park and what the long-term effects will be. Air pollution not only impairs the park resources, it can impair our ability to enjoy them. If we do not stop air pollution where we live, the natural places we retreat to will be ruined. Pollution is affecting your park now!
40. SEQ_090731_921.JPG: Tarantulas kept crossing the road on the way out of the park. I stopped for four of them.
41. SEQ_090731_928.JPG: A tarantula @ Sequoia National Park
42. SEQ_090731_961.JPG: Bruce Guthrie @ Sequoia National Park. Photo taken by Ruth Conner.
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Wikipedia Description: Sequoia National Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sequoia National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of Visalia, California in the United States of America. It was established in 1890 as the second U.S. national park, after Yellowstone National Park. The park spans 404,051 acres (1,635 km�). Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly 13,000 feet (3,962.4 meters), the park contains among its natural resources the highest point in the contiguous 48 United States, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4,421.1 meters) above sea level. The park is south of and contiguous with Kings Canyon National Park; the two are administered by the National Park Service as one unit, called Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

The park is most famous for its Giant Sequoia trees, including the General Sherman tree, the largest tree on Earth. The General Sherman tree grows in the Giant Forest, which contains five out of the ten largest trees in the world, in terms of wood volume. The Giant Forest is connected by the park's Generals Highway to Kings Canyon National Park's Grant Grove, home to the General Grant tree among other sequoias.

Front country:

Many park visitors enter the park through its southern entrance near the town of Three Rivers at Ash Mountain at 1700 ft (518 m) elevation. The lower elevations around Ash Mountain contain the only National Park Service-protected California Foothills ecosystem, consisting of blue oak woodlands, foothills chaparral, grasslands, yucca plants, and steep, mild river valleys. The foothills region is also home to abundant wildlife: bobcats, foxes, ground squirrels, rattlesnakes, and mule deer are commonly seen in this area, and much more rarely, reclusive mountain lions are seen as well.

Moving up in the park, we reach an elevation where winter snowfalls determine which plants survive. Here we find the montane forest-dominated coniferous belt, between approx. 5,500 and 9,000 ft (1,676.4 and 2 743.2 m) in elevation. Found here are Ponderosa, Jeffrey, Sugar, and Lodgepole pine trees, as well as abundant white and red fir. Found here too are the mighty Sequoia trees, the most massive living trees on earth. Between the trees, spring and summer snowmelts sometimes fan out to form lush, though delicate, meadows. In this region, visitors often see mule deer, Douglas squirrel, and American black bears, who have been known to break into unattended cars to steal food left by careless visitors.

Back country:

The vast majority of the park is roadless wilderness; in fact, to the surprise of many visitors, no road crosses the Sierra Nevada within the park's boundaries. This leaves over 84% of the park's area as designated wilderness, accessible only by foot or by horse.

Sequoia's backcountry offers a vast expanse of high-alpine wonders. Covering the highest-elevation region of the High Sierra, the backcountry includes Mount Whitney on the eastern border of the park, accessible from the Giant Forest via the High Sierra Trail. On a traveler's path along this 35 mi/56 km backcountry trail, one passes through about 10 miles/16km of montane forest before reaching the backcountry resort of Bearpaw Meadow, just short of the Great Western Divide. Bearpaw Meadow offers rustic tent cabins and gourmet meals cooked by a seasonal resident park crew.

Continuing along the High Sierra Trail over the Great Western Divide via Kaweah Gap, one passes from the Kaweah River Drainage, with its characteristic V-shaped river valleys, and into the Kern River drainage, where an ancient fault line has aided glaciers in the last ice age to create a U-shaped canyon that is almost perfectly straight for nearly 20 miles (32km). On the floor of this canyon, at least 2 days' hike from the nearest road, is the Kern Canyon hot spring, a popular resting point for weary backpackers. From the floor of Kern Canyon, the trail ascends again over 8000 ft (2 438 m) to the summit of Mount Whitney.

At Mount Whitney, the High Sierra Trail meets with the John Muir Trail and the epic Pacific Crest Trail, which continue northward along the Sierra crest and into the backcountry of Kings Canyon National Park.

Human History:

The area which now comprises Sequoia National Park was first home to Monachee (or Western Mono) Native Americans, who resided mainly in the Kaweah River drainage in the Foothills region of the park, though evidence of seasonal habitation exists even as high as the Giant Forest. In the summertime, Native Americans would travel over the high mountain passes to trade with tribes to the East. To this day, pictographs can be found at several sites within the park, notably at Hospital Rock and Potwisha, as well as bedrock mortars used to process acorns, a staple food for the Monachee people.

By the time the first European settlers arrived in the area, smallpox had already spread to the region, decimating Native American populations. The first European settler to homestead in the area was Hale Tharp, who famously built a home out of a hollowed-out fallen Giant Sequoia log in the Giant Forest next to Log Meadow. Tharp allowed his cattle to graze the meadow, but at the same time had a respect for the grandeur of the forest and led early battles against logging in the area. From time to time, Tharp received visits from John Muir, who would stay at Tharp's log cabin. Tharp's log can still be visited today in its original location in the Giant Forest.

However, Tharp's attempts to conserve the Giant Sequoias were at first met with only limited success. In the 1880s, white settlers seeking to create a utopian society founded the Kaweah Colony, which sought economic success in trading Sequoia timber. However, Sequoia trees, unlike their Coast Redwood relatives, were later discovered to splinter easily and therefore were ill-suited to timber harvesting, though tragically thousands of trees were felled before logging operations finally ceased.

The National Park Service incorporated the Giant Forest into Sequoia National Park in 1890, the year of its founding, promptly ceasing all logging operations in the Giant Forest. The park has expanded several times over the decades to its present size; one of the most recent expansions occurred in 1978, when grassroots efforts, spearheaded by the Sierra Club, fought off attempts by the Walt Disney Corporation to purchase a high-alpine former mining site south of the park for use as a ski resort. This site was annexed to the park to become Mineral King, the highest-elevation developed site within the park and a popular destination for backpackers.

Speleology:

Little known to many visitors, the park is home to over 240 known caves, and potentially hundreds more. The caves in the park include California's longest cave at over 20 mi (30 km), Lilburn Cave, as well as spectacular, recently-discovered caves that remain strictly off-limits to all but a handful of specialists who visit on rare occasions to study cave geology and biology. The only cave open to park visitors remains Crystal Cave, the park's second-longest (at over 3.4 mi/5.5 km), and remarkably well-preserved for the volume of visitation it receives annually.

Park caves, like most caves in the Sierra Nevada of California, are mostly solution caves dissolved from marble. Marble rock is essentially limestone that was metamorphosed by the heat and pressure of the formation and uplift of the Sierra Nevada Batholith (ca. 50-10 million years ago). The batholith's rapid uplift over the past 10 million years led to a rapid erosion of the metamorphic rocks in the higher elevations, exposing the granite beneath; therefore, most Sierra Nevada caves are found in the middle and lower elevations (below 7000 ft/2133 m), though some caves are found in the park at elevations as high as 10 000 ft (3 048 m) such as the White Chief cave in Mineral King. These caves are carved out of the rock by the abundant seasonal streams in the park; most of the larger park caves currently have or have had sinking streams running through them.

Caves are discovered every year in the park; in fact, 17 have been discovered since 2003 alone. The most recently discovered major cave in the park, in September 2006, has been named Ursa Minor. Park caves are valued by scientists and cavers alike for their pristine beauty, variety, and endemic cave life.

Park attractions:

In addition to hiking, camping, fishing, and backpacking, the following attractions are highlights with many park visitors:

* Tunnel Log, a fallen sequoia that automobiles can drive through;
* Crystal Cave, protected since 1918 and the only one of over 200 caves in the two adjoining parks which can be toured; and
* Crescent Meadow, a Sequoia-rimmed meadow that John Muir called the "gem of the Sierra".

in the park include three in the foothills area: Potwisha (42 sites), Buckeye Flat (28 sites), and South Fork (10 sites). Four campgrounds are at higher, conifer-dominated elevations, ranging from 6650 to 7500 feet: Atwell Mill (21 sites), Cold Springs (40 sites), Lodgepole (214 sites), and Dorst (204 sites).
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