What a magnificent Memorial Weekend venue: Sequoia NP in the Sierra Nevada mountains of CA! There is more awesome beauty here than just the world’s biggest trees—actually the world’s biggest living things. Number one on the tree list is the General Sherman, a Sequoia 31.5 feet in diameter at the base and 275 feet tall. A couple of those behemoths fell well over a century ago and they decompose so very slowly that they carved a road tunnel through it which we drove through. Another one, hollowed out by an ancient fire (the two foot thick bark is very nearly fireproof) was converted to a saloon for19th century tourists and later used as a horse barn by the early park rangers.
The Marble Fork of the Kaweah River roars thru our backyard in Potwisha Campground, about 15 miles, a dozen 10-mph switchbacks and 4000 feet msl down the mountainside. In fact sometimes our portable home, and the ground on which it stands, trembles from the roaring force of that whitewater. And it does a wonderful job of muffling the happy shrieks of two families of ankle-biters across the street who are enjoying this paradise at least as much as we are.
Acres and acres of Elegant Madia
and a few dozen other varieties and colors
The wildflowers here (between 2000 and 7000 feet msl) are more brilliant and abundant than anywhere we have been in California. And blooming trees!
California Buckeyes blooming, near and far
California Buckeyes with 8-inch-long tapered tubular clusters of white blooms are a heavenly feast for the eyes and the olfactory nerves. Flannel bush trees (yes, its a tree but its proper name is bush) have a deep yellow bloom shaped like dogwood blossoms that provide divine accents amongst the multiple shades of green on the mountainsides.
Flannel Bush blossoms and buds
We have not seen the variety of birds that we have elsewhere, but the ones we have seen are the most beautiful and (apparently) the happiest, from the sound of things—Western Tanagers, Acorn Woodpeckers, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Bullock’s Orioles, Red-shouldered Hawks.
A truly awesome landmark that loses out to the uniqueness of the giant Sequoias when visitors tell their tales is Moro Rock, towering over the Kaweah River valley and the snaking road up to the giant Sequoias. We arrived well ahead of the holiday weekend and climbed to the very top of that rock, 4000 feet above the valley floor and 6000 above the ocean. A long ago thoughtful park superintendent ordered steps cut into the rock—360 of them—and handrails provided, and it was still a bit scary, but we had it all to ourselves early one morning. My-oh-my, such breath-taking views! The whole earth is full of His glory (Isa. 6:3b).
Moro Rock above the Kaweah River
A closer view
Karen atop the Moro Rock.
On Christ the solid rock she stands.
The High Sierra to the east from Moro Rock
View of the valley (west)
where we are camped from Moro Rock
Karen waving from the top of Moro Rock
