One look at them and you are bowled over by their towering personality. The oldest living entities, these trees are truly the epitome of the grandeur and glory of nature. And it is little wonder that their very presence left me awe-struck. Without further delay let me tell you about my date with the Giant Sequoia trees. I spent a whole day in their company and there is so much more to them than just the fact that they are one of the oldest and tallest species of trees alive. The scale and grandeur of these reddish giants is quite stunning, and there are many easy foot trails that wind through the woody groves leading to quiet undisturbed places, ideal to contemplate the ambience of the forest.

 

Well, Giant Sequoias are rather interesting trees. Botanically known as Sequoiadendrum Giganteum, they've been around since the time of dinosaurs (about 70 million years ago)! Dinosaurs (and many other varieties of living things) went extinct around 66 million years ago, but the Giant Sequoias survived. An average tree has a life span of 1,000 to 3,000 years! What's more, Giant Sequoias are the largest single organisms ever to live on Earth, even bigger than whales and dinosaurs. They live naturally only on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in California, which is where I saw them. A very attractive and incredible wonderland, the Yosemite National Park is also famous for its gigantic granite rocks, deep valleys, foamy river, gushing waterfalls, lush forests, alpine wilderness and a lot more. A complete area packed with natural beauty.

 

Yosemite National Park in fact boasts of not one but three groves of big trees - the Wawona Grove, the Mariposa Grove and the Tuolumne Grove. The best known Giant Sequoia trees are found at the Mariposa Grove, situated towards the southern end of the park, about 35 miles from Yosemite Valley. More than 500 huge, mature Sequoia trees are spread over 250 acres. Some of the trees weigh over two million pounds. 'Mariposa' meaning butterfly in Spanish was named so after the many butterflies that were found in the foothills here. You can move around in the park on a stagecoach or tram (a one hour’s ride) or simply walk. The stagecoach takes you on a guided tour and stops at the important trees, giving an insight on their qualities. I chose to stroll by myself to take in the beauty at leisure.

 

Let's start with the oldest of them all, the Grizzly Giant. Tthe oldest Giant Sequoia in the world, and largest in the grove, it is in the Mariposa Grove. Of the grand age of 2,700 years, it stands 210 ft tall. The other heroic characteristic associated with this ancient giant is that it has braved innumerable natural fires. While most trees can't survive fire, Giant Sequoias are an exception. They are fire resistant because of their thick, spongy bark. At their thickest they can be a little over two feet thick.

 

There is also an opportunity for visitors to see the thick roots of a Giant Sequoia called the Fallen Monarch. It has been lying here for over a hundred years or more. Most of the dead trees take 50 years to decay but The Fallen Monarch has almost stayed intact because of tannin, a natural preservative found in its sap. I wondered how this giant met its end and what I was told was very surprising. The most common cause of death for Giant Sequoias is falling. It's unusual for disease or fire to kill a Giant Sequoia, so most of the Giant Sequoias keep standing (alive) until something knocks them down. Strong winds coupled with heavy snow accumulating in the branches and the undercutting of roots by streams are some of the causes of their toppling. The Fallen Monarch's roots only reached about five or six feet into the ground. That's true of all Giant Sequoias. Stands to reason why toppling is the most common cause of death. There are fences around many of the more popular Giant Sequoias to protect them from the millions of visitors who visit Yosemite each year.

 

The most fascinating and wonderful tree was the one that took me the longest to reach because it was so far away. But don't they say, save the best for the last? And so the best of them was The California Tree that is actually a tunnel tree. Never seen anything like this. It had a tunnel cut through it in 1895, and up until the 1930s people drove through this tree. There is a reason for this. The tunnel was cut because the more famous Wawona Tunnel Tree that millions of tourists drove through during 1881-1969 wasn't accessible for very many months because of snow. The Wawona Tunnel Tree fell during the winter of 1968-1969. There are no trees in Yosemite that you can drive through anymore. The California Tunnel Tree is the only living tunnel tree, wide enough to let a stagecoach pass through its trunk.

 

The other popular trees have interesting names. The Bachelor and Three Graces are a set of trees standing tall together. The tallest tree in Yosemite is called, the Columbia Tree. Then there is one called the Clothespin Tree. There is also a tree named after the man who discovered the Mariposa grove in the first place. Galen Clark discovered the grove in 1857 and was so awestruck with what he found that he spent the rest of his life here, guiding visitors through these phenomena and working for their protection. The preservation code is so strict here that visitors are not allowed to take back even a cone as souvenir. The credit for preserving the resplendent beauty of Yosemite goes to John Muir and Galen Clarke, who treated about 1,200 square miles of scenic wild lands as their own and nurtured it to what it is today.

 

Be prepared to do a lot of walking as the Mariposa Grove is so spread out. The trailhead is in the upper end of the Mariposa Grove parking lot. Most people walk 1.3 km one way towards two of the significant Sequoias: the Grizzly Giant and the California Tunnel Tree. This takes about 45 minutes to an hour (roundtrip). However, that's not all there is to see. With a few hours in hand, one can continue up the trail (straight through the tunnel tree) to the Upper Portion of the Mariposa Grove. There are few Giant Sequoias past the Lower Grove due to the steep, dry slopes. It is in the Upper Grove, that one gets to see Sequoias of all ages. The forest is also more open here. The Upper Grove also has a small museum and water fountain. The Mariposa Grove Museum is located in a small log cabin and has various exhibits tracing the natural history of the Giant Sequoia.

 

Back home, my memory transmits me to the grove of Giant Sequoias. It seems just like yesterday. I am at the Mariposa Grove, enthusiastically reading about these wonders. It’s a beautiful sunny day and I look up at the endearing trees. I feel like a pygmy but I am comfortable being one amidst the giants.