So many trails.... so little time...(sigh)
No, it's not trick photography, the trees really ARE this big.
And they are popular, too. Man, I hate crowds.
Okay, click on this picture below, and look closely at the very bottom of that tree on the left... the one with the fire scar at the base. See the people?
Here, here is a telephoto shot of the same exact tree. The exposure is different, but it's the same view. Compare the photo below with the one above to get some sense of how HUGE these trees are.
This is the General Sherman tree, supposedly the largest living thing on the planet. I had to wait about ten minutes for the crowd to clear out. And there are two dozen more people behind my camera here waiting their turn...
Did I mention how much I hate crowds? To get away from crowds, I have to get away from the easy trails and go for the gold. The Big Kahuna. See that huge rocky-topped mountain below in the background? It is a cliff, several miles away, and the map shows that a trail leads up to the summit. Perfect! Let's go for it!
The only thing I like better than a relaxing drive through a deep forest...
...is a nice relaxing
hike through a deep forest. And this forest is
deep.
"Through the forest glades I wander..." Lovely, just lovely. Photos don't do it justice. Yes, that's moss on the trees, although it doesn't always grow on the north side of the trunks like they say.
Nice shade, great trees, bushes, gorgeous meadows... a few bogs here and there to get your boots nice and muddy. Don't be bashful: go ahead and click on the image and try to put yourself in this location and enjoy the beauty, the peace and quiet...
When you get away from the people, you get to see some animals.
The funny coloration on the chipmunk is due to the sunshine lighting. (Although they resemble the animals from the Rockies, all of these animals were photographed by me today in Sequoia National Park.)
This hike has convinced me that I've got to get a different tripod. As nice as mine is, it takes a while to get the camera on and off it. I need one where I can pop a button and get the camera off the tripod, or push something and have it back on the tripod ready to go. Several times, the camera was on the tripod and a critter popped up, and I couldn't get the camera into position fast enough. Oh, well...
The park is in its dry season, but every now and then you see a meadow which has held the snowmelt water longer than normal, and it is still nice and green and full of summer wildflowers...
Another nice location. Yes, the meadow is chock full of wildflowers, although you can't see the individual plants in the big image. The photo is disappointing... the colors are unbelievable.
Here I'm getting ready to move out from the forest onto the cliff face. This is about 8000 feet above sea level, and over four thousand feet above the valley floor. That's the Sierra range in the background, about 20 miles away. The air is thin up here, and I have to take my time to avoid getting too winded. It's a long way up.
I am not a rock climber. I don't do the pylons, rapelling, belaying, anchoring, etc.
No, I don't climb -- I hike. If I can't walk it, I don't do it. If I have to use my hands, I throw in the towel. Below you see the hiking trail moving out onto the bare rock. I don't necessarily need a trail to follow, as I have a good sense of direction. But a nicely marked trail is always comforting to reassure me I'm still in the "safe zone".
Below, you can see how nice this trail is as it skirts the side of the cliff face on the way to the top. If you accidentally fall over the side, it is probably close to six hundred feet straight down, then you'll tumble over boulders and through trees and other stuff the rest of the way down the several thousand feet to the bottom. It's steep.
Getting close to the top. This is looking back the way I came. It was cool in the shade of the forest, but it's quite hot out here in the sun. I got a slight sunburn just from the few minutes I was out here. The thin air is partly to blame, too.
Made it! I'm hot and tired. The real tippy top is about twenty feet further beyond me here, but it looked just a tad too treacherous for me to continue out to the end. I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid. I know when to play it safe. What's the fun of a hike if you don't live to return to the car, eh? You can't really appreciate how high up this place is until you've been there. I can see why Edmund Hillary and those like him do what they do. This is addicting.
One thing that was very interesting. Because of the altitude and reduced pressure, my bag of chips, my granola bars, and my Hostess Twinkie packaging all swelled up and became like balloons! You can't see it very well in this photo, but the Frito's bag is almost ready to pop! The Twinkie package is so stiff I can't even feel the cake inside. And the snack bars' packaging is so round from being ballooned out, it actually mashed in the sides of the granola bar!
On the way back down, just as I was re-entering the forest, I banged my shin on a sharp-edged granite boulder. Dang. Two great big ow'ies, and no one to kiss it better.
I wanted to go up Kings Canyon, but (sigh), there wasn't enough daylight left. Maybe next time. Tomorrow, I'm hoping to do Yosemite.
No, it's not trick photography, the trees really ARE this big.
And they are popular, too. Man, I hate crowds.
Okay, click on this picture below, and look closely at the very bottom of that tree on the left... the one with the fire scar at the base. See the people?
Here, here is a telephoto shot of the same exact tree. The exposure is different, but it's the same view. Compare the photo below with the one above to get some sense of how HUGE these trees are.
This is the General Sherman tree, supposedly the largest living thing on the planet. I had to wait about ten minutes for the crowd to clear out. And there are two dozen more people behind my camera here waiting their turn...
Did I mention how much I hate crowds? To get away from crowds, I have to get away from the easy trails and go for the gold. The Big Kahuna. See that huge rocky-topped mountain below in the background? It is a cliff, several miles away, and the map shows that a trail leads up to the summit. Perfect! Let's go for it!
The only thing I like better than a relaxing drive through a deep forest...
...is a nice relaxing hike through a deep forest. And this forest is deep.
"Through the forest glades I wander..." Lovely, just lovely. Photos don't do it justice. Yes, that's moss on the trees, although it doesn't always grow on the north side of the trunks like they say.
Nice shade, great trees, bushes, gorgeous meadows... a few bogs here and there to get your boots nice and muddy. Don't be bashful: go ahead and click on the image and try to put yourself in this location and enjoy the beauty, the peace and quiet...
When you get away from the people, you get to see some animals. 
The funny coloration on the chipmunk is due to the sunshine lighting. (Although they resemble the animals from the Rockies, all of these animals were photographed by me today in Sequoia National Park.)
This hike has convinced me that I've got to get a different tripod. As nice as mine is, it takes a while to get the camera on and off it. I need one where I can pop a button and get the camera off the tripod, or push something and have it back on the tripod ready to go. Several times, the camera was on the tripod and a critter popped up, and I couldn't get the camera into position fast enough. Oh, well...
The park is in its dry season, but every now and then you see a meadow which has held the snowmelt water longer than normal, and it is still nice and green and full of summer wildflowers...
Another nice location. Yes, the meadow is chock full of wildflowers, although you can't see the individual plants in the big image. The photo is disappointing... the colors are unbelievable.
Here I'm getting ready to move out from the forest onto the cliff face. This is about 8000 feet above sea level, and over four thousand feet above the valley floor. That's the Sierra range in the background, about 20 miles away. The air is thin up here, and I have to take my time to avoid getting too winded. It's a long way up.
I am not a rock climber. I don't do the pylons, rapelling, belaying, anchoring, etc.
No, I don't climb -- I hike. If I can't walk it, I don't do it. If I have to use my hands, I throw in the towel. Below you see the hiking trail moving out onto the bare rock. I don't necessarily need a trail to follow, as I have a good sense of direction. But a nicely marked trail is always comforting to reassure me I'm still in the "safe zone".
Below, you can see how nice this trail is as it skirts the side of the cliff face on the way to the top. If you accidentally fall over the side, it is probably close to six hundred feet straight down, then you'll tumble over boulders and through trees and other stuff the rest of the way down the several thousand feet to the bottom. It's steep.
Getting close to the top. This is looking back the way I came. It was cool in the shade of the forest, but it's quite hot out here in the sun. I got a slight sunburn just from the few minutes I was out here. The thin air is partly to blame, too.
Made it! I'm hot and tired. The real tippy top is about twenty feet further beyond me here, but it looked just a tad too treacherous for me to continue out to the end. I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid. I know when to play it safe. What's the fun of a hike if you don't live to return to the car, eh? You can't really appreciate how high up this place is until you've been there. I can see why Edmund Hillary and those like him do what they do. This is addicting.
One thing that was very interesting. Because of the altitude and reduced pressure, my bag of chips, my granola bars, and my Hostess Twinkie packaging all swelled up and became like balloons! You can't see it very well in this photo, but the Frito's bag is almost ready to pop! The Twinkie package is so stiff I can't even feel the cake inside. And the snack bars' packaging is so round from being ballooned out, it actually mashed in the sides of the granola bar!
On the way back down, just as I was re-entering the forest, I banged my shin on a sharp-edged granite boulder. Dang. Two great big ow'ies, and no one to kiss it better.
I wanted to go up Kings Canyon, but (sigh), there wasn't enough daylight left. Maybe next time. Tomorrow, I'm hoping to do Yosemite.
2 comments:
Those trees look amazing!
We have some trees that big in Oregon, one problem though is they get too tall and lightning likes to blow them apart.
Looks like you are having a nice trip :]
In two days I can kiss it better. I love you.
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