California Expedition - September '06
Bryce Autin, Dane Faucheux, Jason Hughes,
Taylor Lasseigne, and Trey Regan
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| Death Valley National
Park |
Mt. Whitney - Inyo
National Forest |
Sequoia National Park |
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Taylor: We made our way south down Hwy. 395, around the Inyo National Forest, around the southern tip and up the western side of Sequoia National Forest, and up Hwy. 99 to Visalia, CA. Visalia was a fitting spot to stop because in the morning, we could wake and pounce straight away on Sequoia National Park – a mere seventy two mile hop. Visalia was also just far enough from the park to remain unaffected by its touristy high prices. While in town, the group ate at Something Fresh Restaurant and attempted to get a good night’s sleep at a cheap, inhospitable Days Inn. Let me qualify this by saying that we were dead tired and disgusting. We had spent four nights camping, one night in the desert and three nights in the Sierra Nevada. Our collective body odors created such a putrid stench in the Jeep Commander that it remained even after rolling down the windows and adorning the rear-view mirror with one of those little blue winter-fresh deodorizers. This is the state we were in when we reached Visalia, when we reached the Days Inn. Even in this revolting state, even as walking talking biology experiments, we found the Days Inn to be unpleasant and strange, strange in a bad way. Highlights included: one arrogant receptionist, one inoperable air conditioner, one operable yet leaking air conditioner, one fully soaked floor from leaking air conditioner, one strange maintenance man (instead of giving us another room, they gave us a maintenance man), one temporarily broken TV, a mildew smell that overpowered our B.O., a foreboding sign that warned of impending death by chemical inhalation, a stockpile of what looked like old air conditioner carcasses by the side of the building, and a very bizarre scene where three chairs and a BBQ pit encircled an AC – all under a tree. It was a wreck, but it was cheap. We checked in, showered up, and dined at Something Fresh Restaurant – Visalia’s saving grace. The next morning I rose early to wash and dry clothes. I collected laundry from the guys and drove the Commander to the nearest Laundromat. It wasn’t until I loaded three washers with clothes that I realized that I had no detergent! Luckily, there was a convenience store next door with detergent. I returned with clean clothes for everyone, and we headed into Sequoia National Park.
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The group, exhausted and sore from climbing Whitney, poses in front of the park entrance.
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Tunnel Rock is one of the first sites in the park. Anxious to see the big trees, we only stopped here for a brief moment.
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Finally, after much winding uphill, we reach big trees. Here Jason stands by a giant Sequoia for perspective.
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Sadly, we were looking at the wrong park map here.
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| Bryce points out the big trees.
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| Sentinel Tree
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| Shops full of souvenirs.
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| Bryce, Taylor, Dane, and Trey walking through the Sequoias.
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| This piece of bark somehow stands independantly!?
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| Now that's a big pine cone! - even bigger than Taylor's size 10.5 boot!
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| A .6 mile trail encircles Round Meadow. About halfway around this meadow, we spotted a black bear!
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| Taylor posing with a very gracious park ranger.
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| This is still part of Round Meadow.
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| Dane in front of a fallen Sequoia.
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| Bryce points out Trey taking pictures of the bear.
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| Dane and Trey getting far too close to the bear.
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| The bear.
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| General Sherman Tree: The sign reads, "In front of you stands the largest tree in the world, the General Sherman. Estimated Age 2,300-2,700 years old; height above base 274.9 ft.; circumference at ground 102.6 ft.; maximum diameter at base 36.5 ft.; diameter of largest branch 6.8 ft.; trunk volume 1487 cubic metres.
A Wikipedia article states:
General Sherman is the name of a Giant Sequoia. It is the largest tree in the world, and generally considered the largest organism, as measured by the volume of its trunk (1487 cubic metres as of 2002). It is approximately 2,200 years old. The tree is located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in the United States, east of Visalia, California.
It was named after General William Tecumseh Sherman, American Civil War leader, by naturalist James Wolverton in 1879. Wolverton had served as a Lieutenant in the 9th Indiana Cavalry under Sherman. Additionally, the utopian socialist community Kaweah Colony, who settled nearby in the 1880s, named it after Karl Marx. The tree was identified as the largest in a 1931 dispute with the nearby General Grant tree, after which wood volume was the widely accepted determining factor.
In January of 2006 the largest branch on the tree, seen most commonly in older photos as an "L" or "golf club" shape protruding from about 1/4th down the trunk, broke off. No one was present for the incident, but the branch, which had a diameter of over 2 m (6 feet) and a length of over 30 m (100 feet), bigger than most trees, smashed part of the enclosing fence and cratered the walkway pavement surrounding the sequoia. This is not believed to be indicative of any abnormalities with General Sherman's health, and may even be a natural defense mechanism against adverse weather conditions. Also the branch loss does not change the tree's status as the largest tree, as that honor was bestowed based on crude measurements of trunk volume, excluding branches |
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| That's the General Sherman's base encircled by the wooden fence.
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Taylor: Before leaving the park, we squeezed in a tour of the Sequoia Caverns. After the tour we began our trip back to Vegas, with pit stops in Bakersfield, Calico Ghost Town, and Barstow. In Vegas we checked into the Paris Hotel, did some shopping, and found a cheap watering hole to squander or remaining cash. The next morning we took a dip in the hotel pool and slogged over to the airport to return the Jeep Commander. The trip was over, and it was probably for the best – we were all spent. |
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| Death Valley National
Park |
Mt. Whitney - Inyo National
Forest |
Sequoia National Park |
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