We had a fairly short drive to our next destination, Three Rivers which was near the Grand Sequoia National Park. As we had a bit of time to kill before our accommodation check in time, we stopped at a little town called Exeter for lunch. A small and quaint place, well known for the murals on the buildings. We had lunch at a diner called the Whistlestop Diner for burgers which were excellent. And its very true that the servings in the US are massive! After Kirsty got her coffee fix we headed for Three Rivers and our accommodation for the next two nights. It was a lovely home and beautifully decorated but we did wonder why the owner labelled absolutely everything! It was even hotter here, 35 degrees C so we made full use of the rather noisy aircon.
Our drive to Grand Sequoia National Park the next day was again scenic, and as we climbed the very windy road to the top of a ridge and then down the other side, the terrain changed from dry and shrublike to lots of fir trees and more greenery. We started seeing large Sequoias which seemed to grow in groves. Our tour guide, Paul met us at the Wuksachi Lodge and we were struck at how peaceful the place was compared to Yosemite. Yes, there were tourists, but probably a quarter as much and this made our experience in Sequoia a lot more enjoyable. We had a lovely small group on our tour, mostly Americans from all over, including some hilarious folk from Atlanta who were very quick with quips! Paul himself was excellent and very entertaining. We stopped at various sites and were able to get out and experience being amongst these giants of the tree world. And they truly are gigantic . Paul explained that they grow in groves where the most groundwater is available and although their roots are not deep, they are very far reaching. Most of the trees we saw were about 2000 years old which is mind boggling. I loved the feel of the bark, quite furry and soft! We also saw a very 'young' sequoia at 8 years of age. Sequoias grow naturally only on the West slope of the Sierra Nevada. We then went to Moro rock which is a huge dome shaped granite monolith. We were able to walk up to the top by means of stairs and a steep climb, and the views from here were fantastic. By the time our tour ended with a viewing of the ‘Grand Daddy’ of them all, the General Sherman tree, it almost felt like a bit of an anti-climax. Not to take anything away from this massive giant though, in volume it is Earth’s largest living tree and estimated at 2200 years of age. We had a lovely lunch at the hotel, then headed back to Three Rivers. I felt that Grand Sequoia has a lot going for it, not as crowded and seems to be well organised.
