Noble Giants – John Muir – Tonelli's Travels

A night of tossing and turning resulted in a slow morning, beginning with a trip to the visitors center to grab my hiking information and souvenirs. Based on the recommendation of the park ranger, I headed over to The Giant Forest to see the main attractions, the Sequoias. So off I went, climbing the winding road in Sunny, up to 6,000 plus feet in elevation. We snaked along the edge of the mountain until we reached Sherman Tree area.

Sherman Tree is the largest, by volume, tree in the world. It’s trunk is 109 feet at the ground! While the top of this giant is dead and won’t grow any taller, the trunk continues to gain girth every year. And while it might not be the tallest tree, it’s still pretty darn tall at 275 feet, meaning a 13 story building could fit underneath it! Of course this was my first stop on my walk, down, down, down to the base.

Already in love with these noble giants, I continued my hike down the Congress Trail, aiming for a 5 mile round trip loop through the forest. Well, somehow that turned into a 10 mile trek and I can only figure out two extra miles from the wrong turn I took towards the beginning. Hmmm. It didn’t really matter though because the whole journey was pretty splendid.

The trail switched to the Trail of the Sequoias and I was treated to a quiet path through the woods, largely to myself. I climbed up and down hills, every time in awe of the ginormous trees sprouting straight up all around me. The sequoias are the most attention grabbing with their orange-red bark, dry, flaky, and soft, climbing high into the sky. They aren’t the only giant though. They are accompanied by sugar pines and incense cedars many with lime green moss growing on their trunks, just begging you to touch it. And then on the ground, if you can remember to look down, are vibrant red fungi, delicate pink flowers, and tiny purple ground covering. It’s hard to make any hiking progress when there is so much to admire.

Each time I came to another sequoia, I had to stop and stare. They are so magnificent, shooting straight towards the sky, each one more unbelievably tall and wide than the one before. A picture cannot grasp their grandeur. Standing next to one only a little. I was giddy as I traveled along the path.

Some trees you come across are scarred from fire, but this is mostly to keep them safe. Controlled burns are yearly protocol to remove underbrush and prevent forest fire. Luckily the sequoia is equipped to withstand small fires at their bases, their tanin making them resistant to real damage. It does leave hollows in some trees, where you can climb inside and pretend you are a gnome or fairy living in a magical land.

You can’t really even comprehend how large they are until you pass a fallen one and even on it’s side it is wider than you are tall. Passages and tunnels are cut through one blocking trails, the whole tree impossible to move. Tharp even made one into a home long ago, placing a table and bed inside a hollow trunk, cutting a window into the bark. Looks cozy for a night, maybe?

Time passed easily on my hike. Once again I was reminded how comforting the trees are, how relaxed and happy I feel among them. And these trees, wow, more beautiful than I could have imagined.

Ten miles later I started the slow drive down the mountain, taking time to stop and appreciate the spectacular mountain views. The desert was lovely, but this is the best.