Our next adventure of the day was to head to Yosemite National Park with a slight detour to see one more giant sequoia along the way.
We left Sequoia National Park and immediately drove into Kings Canyon National Park. It was very convenient that the grove of sequoias was on our way.
The Grant Grove parking lot was surrounded by giants. I don’t think I’d ever get tired of seeing those trees.
I mean, seriously! Can you believe this tree?!?!
“Life after Death – Even after they fall sequoias endure. These trees resist decay, sometimes lasting for hundreds or even thousands of years on the forest floor. Compare the Fallen Monarch in front of you with this photograph from 1900. It looks nearly the same today as it did over a century ago. Like the Gamlin Cabin on this trail, the Fallen Monarch sheltered some of the park’s early visitors. Construction crews such as this one camped here, sleeping in beds inside the hollow log. The cavalry kept their horses in it (note the mounted cavalryman in this photograph).”
Fallen Monarch
Fallen Monarch
Inside Fallen Monarch – the tree is hollowed out and being used as a sort of tunnel to get to a hiking path.
Continuing down the Fallen Monarch tunnel
Fallen Monarch exit
Due to the hiking path mistake in Giant Forest, our main focus was seeing the General Grant Tree and then getting back on the road in order to get to Yosemite at a reasonable time. We had already been on the road about an hour and we had about 4 more hours of driving ahead of us.
“The General Grant Tree – The General Grant Tree’s massive trunk makes it the third-largest tree in the world, by volume. And at 40 feet in diameter at ground level, it is the world’s widest-known sequoia. But it is not nearly the oldest. In fact, it is 1,500 years *younger* than the oldest-known sequoia. Location, not age, is the key to a sequoia’s size. In places with the best combination of moisture, sunlight, and nutrients, they outgrow older sequoias rooted in less prime locations. Apparently conditions here are ideal, considering how quickly the General Grant Tree has grown so large.”
Statistics-
- Volume: 46,608 cubic ft,
- Height: 268 feet,
- Age: ~1,700 years old,
- Weight: ~1,254 tons,
- Circumference: 107 feet,
- Diameter: 40 feet,
- Largest Branch (diameter): 4.5 feet,
- First Branch (height): 129 feet
The harsh sunlight on the trunk and the surrounding shade made taking photos a little challenging.
Fun Facts – If the trunk of the General Grant Tree was a gas tank on a car that got 25 miles per gallon, you could drive around the earth 350 times without refueling.
Fun Fact – The General Grant Tree is so wide it would take about twenty people holding hands to make a complete circle around the base.
Fun Fact – If the General Grant Tree’s trunk could be filled with sports equipment, it could hold 159,000 basketballs, or more than 37 million ping-pong balls.
Fun Fact – President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the General Grant Tree to be the Nation’s Christmas Tree in 1926. In 1956 President Dwight D. Eisenhower designated it as a National Shrine, a living memorial to those who have given their lives for their country.
Taking a hiking break
The Robert E. Lee tree, eleventh largest tree in the world
Heading back to the car
We got back on the road and continued the journey to Yosemite National Park. Thankfully the ride out of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks was way less twisty-turny when compared to the drive into Sequoia National Park. Unfortunately, we soon encountered more crazy mountain roads. 😉
During our drive we saw hours of this: brown rolling hills.
As we got closer to Yosemite, we started seeing little tourist trap towns. It reminded me of the area around Niagara Falls. LOL
I saw smoke and wondered whether it was a fire in the park (smoke along the tree line in the right of the pictures). There was a very large forest fire in Yosemite about a week after we left. I was glad we missed the “fun”.
We arrived (yay!!!) but didn’t get our entrance fee waived. LOL
I didn’t take many pictures of our drive into Yosemite. The twisty-turny roads were back again and we had some, uh, car sickness issues with two of my most favorite people in the world. Needless to say, we were desperately trying to get to the hotel before we had an issues…which, unfortunately, did not happen.
We had to pull off into the Bridalveil Falls parking lot to do an emergency clean up and I took some pictures. LOL
I believe this was the only waterfall with water and it was nearly a trickle. The water actually turned to mist as it came over the rocks. It didn’t photograph well but it created a small rainbow. 🙂
El Capitan through the trees at the Bridalveil Falls parking lot
El Capitan
Yosemite Valley was unbelievably beautiful. The valley is roughly 7.5 miles long, averages a width of 1 mile, and has forest, large open meadows, and the Merced River. Looming around the outside of the valley are enormous granite rock formations that rise 3,000 to 4,000 feet above the valley floor.
I believe the rounded rock on the right is North Dome.
Not entirely sure what this is. It looks like a dry waterfall to the left. Maybe Ribbon Fall on the west side of El Capitan? Maybe Yosemite Falls?
Thankfully the rest of the drive from Bridalveil Falls to our hotel was mostly flat and vomit-free. We checked in, found our building and hotel room, unpacked the car, and got more cleaned up.
This was literally the view from our hotel bed. Stunning! I believe the granite peaks in the middle of the picture is Sentinel Rock.
After that, we went to dinner, tried to contact our family at home on the terrible internet, and had an early night. We had lots of sight-seeing to do the next day.
Amazing & Beautiful! I’m glad you went & have shared your pictures.