By: Ryan
Throughout our
travels, the landscape had been shifting around us. The crops would change or
the flats would give way to hills or buttes or mountains. The descent from Yosemite, however, marked a
different and dramatic sort of shift in our environment. We had spent the last few days at high
elevation in damp conditions. The days ranged from sunny, but comfortable to
cool and stormy. As the twisting
mountain roads began to flatten and straighten, something was very clearly
different. The temperature was rising and
the effects of California’s drought were obvious all around us as we entered
the farming communities of the San Joaquin valley. Every pasture that may hold cows or horses in
better years, were now empty stretches of dry, brown turf. We passed many dry irrigation ditches as we
drove among the fruit and nut trees.
Some new orchards were being planted while others were being ripped out
by the roots. The neat rows of green
trees growing out of such parched earth was bizarre food for thought.
We were headed
for Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, but unsure of what we would find
in the way of services inside the parks and in need of showers and laundry
facilities, we decided to find a KOA on the way. To this point, we had had pretty good
experiences with KOAs, but this one was to be a lesson in the nature of
franchise business. In fairness, the Coarsegold KOA would be a nicer place in
wetter times. As we found it, it was a
network of dusty sandlots peppered with twisted, scrubby, shadeless trees. Aside from climatic considerations, the
management could have been a bit more friendly.
Kat had called ahead and reserved a site that was supposed to
accommodate our needs. Upon arrival, check
in, and an attempt at setting up, we realized that if we parked the truck and
trailer in the site, there would be nowhere to stand. I left the trailer in the site and drove back
to the office to secure a more suitable spot.
I explained to the somewhat nervous and clearly new girl behind the
counter what the problem was. She wanted
to help but didn’t know how, so she called over a grumpy old bag who knew how
to help but didn’t want to. There was a
fair amount of huffing and eye rolling and muttering about a 25’ site, but in
the end it handed me an orange piece of paper with a new number on it, N05.
We picked up the
trailer and headed for what the map indicated was the N loop. Upon arrival at said loop, we stared around
bewildered at the possibility that there could be so many sites in this dirt
cul-de-sac. At this point a resident emerged
from one of the RVs in the circle to “help”. I say resident because his was one
of the many RVs in this park for which the “R” stood for “residential” not
“recreational”, and I say “help” because that was clearly what he thought he
was doing.
Flashing a yellow/
green fuzzy smile, “Yall lost?”
“Oh, I don’t really think so. Just trying to figure out where they want us
to be.”
Leaning casually into the driver’s side window, “I guruntee
you los’. Where you spose ta go?”
We chatted a bit
about the numbers and the map, and he said, “Wer you frum?” and, “Oh, you speak
English! It’s a liddle different then my Texan, but English shur.” He pointed us up the hill and we said in our
finest Bostonian, “Thank you, kind sir for the kindness you have bestowed upon
us weary travelers. Good morrow to you,
and may you be well.”
We did find N05 up
the hill, but as it turned out to be uncomfortably close to another of the
resident’s front yards we decided to take No4 instead. Finally situated in our dusty and hot home
for the evening, Kat worked on dinner and laundry while the girls and I hiked
to the pool. After a short swim, I took
a drive to the nearest gas station for quarters because our laundry was clean
but not dry, there was no change machine in the laundry room, and the office
was now closed. When I returned with
change, Kat was enjoying talking to a couple she met in the laundry room. They were from Boston and on their own cross
country trip in an RV they had bought on craigslist just for the trip, and here’s
the kicker: they were doing it with their six kids, which included a boy set
and a girl set of twins. Power to them,
but no thanks.
We eventually
got around to a late dinner of steak and pre-made mashed potatoes. We got to use our little fold up picnic table
for the first time because the table for this group of thirteen site was a few
sites over. Dinner satisfied, a couple of beers helped to improve the
atmosphere, showers were had, and
everyone was ready to call it a day. We were up early next morning, packed up
double time, said good riddance to the Coarsegold KOA.
It was a couple
of hours driving to King’s Canyon and Sequoia Parks, but we made what turned
out to be a very cool stop just before the entrance to the park. We saw a couple of small signs for “Cat
Haven” as we neared the park. A quick
Google search led to their website which explained that it was home to many
large and endangered cats, and that their mission was one of education about
such cats and to further conservation efforts.
https://cathaven.com/
The girls begged (including Kat), so we went to visit the kitties. The tour began with a short slideshow
introducing us to some of the cats we would see, some general information about
cat habitats their numbers and distribution, as well as an overview of their
conservation efforts, many of which revolved around creating situations where
local populations can cohabitate more easily with the wild cats. The slideshow wrapped up and began the
walking tour to meet the cats. I am
generally not a zoo person, but it seemed like these people did everything they
could to make the cats’ captive lives as comfortable, stress free, and enriched
as they could. Our tour guide walked our
group of about 15 from one enclosure to the next explaining the characteristics
of each species as well as introducing us to each individual animal. There were bob cats, leopards, snow leopards,
jaguars, cheetahs, a white tiger, a pair of lions, and a couple of less
familiar species I can’t remember. The
animals all looked healthy and comfortable, and some even interacted with our
guide. At the lion enclosure, the male lion, who had been disinterested at
best, jumped up and ran to the edge of his cage as he saw his favorite handler
approach. He rubbed against the mesh
making anxious and adorable whimper-moans as she rubbed his mane. All you could think was that you were looking
at the biggest housecat you’d ever seen.
We finished the tour, hit the gift shop, made lunch in the parking lot,
and got back on the road. Soon we would
pulling into the park where we would find the biggest trees any of us had ever
seen.
Lynx
Rose, the jaguar
Jaguar
Nala
Titan
Diana
As we climbed
into the mountains, the signs of drought began to fade. The park sits between 5,000 and 7,000 feet,
and at that elevation receives more precipitation than the lower lying
foothills. Also the fact that it is a
mixed evergreen forest means you are constantly enveloped by lively greenery
and the fresh scent of pine permeates the air.
This also meant that we were back in bear country, so we would be doing
the bear box shuffle again. Driving into
the park you begin to spot a tree here and there that simply dwarfs all the
others, and we all tried to be the next to point out a big one. It wasn’t until we got to “The Lost Grove”
that we really had our first encounter with the Giant Sequoia. We parked the truck and approached the trees
with mouths gaping. Pictures do these
trees little justice, and it would be ridiculous for me to attempt to describe
their immensity and majesty. Walking
among them, it is impossible not to grin because you can’t help but feel a bit
giddy. At the same time, it is humbling
to stand in the presence of one of the largest living things on the planet
knowing it may have been alive for well over 3,000 years. We marveled at the giants, took our pictures,
and headed for the campground.
The girls trying to be tall
Whoa!
Family tree
Me with tree
We were happy to
get a nice site at Lodgepole campground, just across from the visitor’s center
and market, which also happened to have laundry facilities and public showers;
details that our National Parks book neglected to mention. If we’d have known, we could have skipped the
sandlot and spent an extra night with the trees. Oh, well.
We dropped the trailer at the campsite, loaded the bear boxes (yes, two
of them; one for food and the other for toiletries because apparently bears dig
shampoo), and headed out to find the biggest tree in the world. A short drive brought us to the parking area
for the “Giant Forrest”, the home of “General Sherman”, the most massive tree
on the planet. The redwood trees that
grow further north are actually taller than the tallest sequoias, but the
unimaginable girth of these giants coupled with the fact that they don’t seem
to taper all that much toward their tops, means that no other tree matches them
for shear mass. From the parking lot “General
Sherman” is a half-mile paved walk through the “Giant Forrest” sequoia
grove. Other various pines grow amongst
the sequoias, which themselves are widely spaced. Their wide but relatively shallow root
structure requires such sparse distribution.
Sequoia roots spreads wide in order to accommodate the tree’s water
needs, but there is no taproot and the bulk of the roots penetrate no deeper
than 3’. While this design is necessary for
these trees to get enough water in a sometimes fairly dry place, it is also the
most common reason for their eventual and quite literal downfall. The soft bark of the sequoia can be up to 3’
thick and is a poor conductor of heat, so fire cannot touch them, and in fact
results in less competition. The tree’s tannins
protect it from pests and rot. It is the
tree’s immensity that usually brings it down.
Heavy rain may cause the soil to erode at the tree’s base, while strong
winds may cause the tree to lean. Once a
massive sequoia begins to lean, its shallow roots cannot hold it, and it will
eventually fall. It is for this reason
that the park service asks that visitors keep to the paved walk and refrain
from jumping the fence around General Sherman to take pictures at his
base. There are always a few who feel
that these rules are an unnecessary infringement on their personal
freedoms.
General Sherman, the largest tree in the world.
Strolling under the Giants
To look at
General Sherman standing in the company of his fellow sequoias, it is difficult
to say whether he seems definitively larger than the others or not, but that
takes nothing away from the presence he commands. He is encircled by a fence of bulky timbers
within and, in one case, upon which lies the remnants of fallen limbs. Each of these limbs fell from well over 100’
high and is itself the size of a respectable tree. The limb yard makes standing beneath the
general’s mass somewhat disconcerting.
We slowly circled the general, made our way back through his grove, and
headed back to camp. I have been awestruck in the presence of mountain peaks,
grand vistas, and the vastness of bodies of water, but to walk through the
Giant Forrest is an awe inspiring experience of intimacy rather than
separateness, and one that I will never forget.
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