Sequoia Kings Canyon National Parks

Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park   Sequoia 2  

SEQUOIA - KINGS CANYON

Few years ago, when mammoths and dinosaurs roamed the earth, they may very well have taken shelter in the groves of big trees that were then spread pretty generally across the world. But today these largest of all growing tilings are found only in a narrow belt about 250 miles long on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, at elevations from 4000 to 8000 feet. They are towering evergreens, with huge, columnlike trunks, and are known as the Sequoia gigantea. They were named for the Cherokee silversmith, Se-quo-yah, who perfected an 86-character alphabet by which his tribesmen learned to read and write.

On day in the year 1858 Hale Tharp, a pioneer cowman at Three Rivers in east-central California, was led some 20-odd miles up into the hills over an ancient trail by friendly Indians. At last they passed the foot of Moro Rock and were soon in the Giant Forest. Thus Tharp became the first white man to see the fabulous big trees that grow so profusely in this area.

Others came to know and love these age-old patriots, and began to demand that the many groves of them in Tulare County be set aside. But it was not until the logging industry was making considerable inroads that Congress established Sequoia National Park in September 1890, A few days later it set up General Grant National Park, which included other fine groves, of big trees but a few miles distant. North of these two preserves, and also in the very heart of the lofty Sierra, lay a wild mountain area through which the South Fork of the Kings River had slashed a rugged canyon. This newer section was eventually combined with the now discontinued General Grant Park to form a new Kings Canyon National Park in 1940, Although established separately, Sequoia and Kings Canyon are operated as though but a single park.

Within their more than 1300 square miles are towering mountains, deep canyons, magnificent forests. Despite the fact that Mount Whitney, at the extreme eastern edge of the park, is the highest point in the continental United States, and there are numerous other peaks from 11,000 to more than 14,000 feet, it is without doubt the forest patriarchs that give special distinction to the joint parks. Surely far more than half of all the big trees are found within their combined borders. Probably the finest stand of these largest and oldest living things is Giant Forest, about 17 miles in from the Ash Mountain Entrance. Merc is found the herculean General Sherman Tree. Its height is 272 feet, while it is 101^ feet about the base. Thus it is 36# feet through, or more than the width of many city streets. Even at 120 feet above the ground the trunk is still 17 feet in diameter. Ten feet higher up is the tree's largest branch, nearly 7 feet thick.

While this is the king of kings, it has a number of close rivals in fact, scores of others almost as large are found in the various groves throughout the two parks. These big trees seem to prefer to grow in groups, rather than singly, and it is a thrilling experience to walk among them, and to realize what stalwarts they are. They have stood there between 3000 and 4000 years, have survived the ravages of countless fires, have the power of healing their deep scars, and each year produce thousands of tiny cones, from which new seedlings grow. Even the remains of the trees cut years ago for timber are impressive, as their ghostly reminders at Big Stump Basin, Redwood Mountain, and Converse Basin will show.

But even the huge sequoias tend to lose their size and thrill as the view is directed across Kern Canyon to Mounts Whitney, Langley, Barnard, and the other mighty mountains to the east, or when it sweeps north and south over the High Country from Pavilion Dome to Coyote Peaks. While the big trees can be found and seen from the auto roads, here are features that challenge the hardier types to take to the hills. Many fit packs to their backs and set off over the foot trails in search of adventure. Some carry recommended equipment and make successful climbs of certain of the jagged, and demanding peaks, for the Sequoia-Kings Canyon country offers fine opportunities for mountaineering. Since there are extensive numbers of saddle horses and pack mules that can be rented, many enjoy pack trips, ranging all the way from single-day jaunts to points of special interest up to trips of a week or more with competent guides into the High Sierra. Such saddle journeys may begin at the renting corrals at Giant Forest, Wolverton, General Grant Grove, or Cedar Grove in mile-deep Kings Canyon. There are numerous campgrounds in the Giant Forest and General Grant Grove areas, and four large ones about the ranger station in the Cedar Grove area. This latter is thus a popular basing point for longer trail trips.