Sequoia National Park / Yosemite

Sequoia National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California, in the United States. It was established on September 25, 1890. The park spans 404,064 acres.
The park is famous for its Giant Sequoia trees, including the General Sherman tree, one of the Largest trees on Earth. The General Sherman tree grows in the Giant Forest, which contains five out of the ten largest trees in the world.

General Sherman is a giant sequoia,
With a height of 83.8 meters (275 ft), a diameter of 7.7 m (25 ft), an estimated bole volume of 1,487 m³ (52,513 cu ft), and an estimated age of 2,300–2,700 years, While the General Sherman is the largest currently living tree, it is not the largest tree known to humans. The Crannell Creek Giant, a coast redwood is estimated to have been 15 to 25% larger than the General Sherman tree by volume. The tree was cut down in the mid-1940s.









Tunnel Log is a tunnel cut through a fallen giant sequoia tree in Sequoia National Park. The tree, which measured 275 feet (84 m) tall and 21 feet (6.4 m) in diameter, fell across a park road in 1937 due to natural causes. The following year, a crew cut an 8-foot (2.4 m) tall, 17-foot (5.2 m) wide tunnel through the trunk, making the road passable again.

Here is some of the wildlife we saw in the park, these Marmots, they are large squirrels in the genus Marmota, of which there are 15 species. when we happened opon them they were wrestling with each other and playing tag.

Among other large sequoias in the park was the second largest tree, the General Grant tree, hard to believe that some of these amazing trees were around before Christ and are still here but they are, Sequoias are fireproof, they have a thick bark layer that can get up to 3ft. thick, they also have the ability to heal themselves, a process called Scaring, as a matter of fact they need an occasional fire, they heat from the fire makes the seeds from the tree open up and spread, only 1 in 1000 seeds will become a new sequoia, so without a fire every once and a while there would be no more sequoias.
These trees don't rot and will never die, unless they get a disease, infestation or fall down from weather a sequoia will just get bigger and older.

This is the root system of a sequoia that fell due to weather in the 1900's , it has a base diameter of 22ft. and because the wood does not rot it looks exactly the same as it did over 100 years ago.









Yosemite National Park
Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, and biological diversity. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness.Yosemite was central to the development of the national park idea. First, Glen Clark and others lobbied to protect Yosemite Valley from development, ultimately leading to President Abraham Lincoln's signing the Yosemite Grant in 1864. Later, John Muir led a successful movement to establish a larger national park encompassing not just the valley, but surrounding mountains and forests as well—paving the way for the United States national park system. If it wasn't for President Lincoln we wouldn't have our parks today.

Upper Yosemite Fall: The 1,430-foot (440 m) plunge alone is among the twenty highest waterfalls in the world. Trails from the valley floor and down from other park areas outside the valley lead to both the top and base of Upper Yosemite Fall. Lower Yosemite Fall: The final 320-foot (98 m) drop adjacent to an accessible viewing area, provides the most-used viewing point for the waterfalls. Yosemite Creek emerges from the base of the Lower Fall and flows into the Merced River nearby.

El Capitan
is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith extends about 3,000 feet (900 m) from base to summit along its tallest face and is one of the world's favorite challenges for rock climbers.

Bridalveil Fall is one of the most prominent waterfalls in the Yosemite Valley in California, seen yearly by millions of visitors to Yosemite National Park. The waterfall is 188 metres (617 ft) in height and flows year round.
The Ahwahnechee tribe believed that Bridalveil Fall was home to a vengeful spirit named Pohono who guarded the entrance to the valley and that those leaving the valley must not look directly into the waterfall lest they be cursed. They also believed that inhaling the mist of Bridalveil Fall would improve one's chances of marriage.

All I can say is curse me cause I'm looking!!!!
These parks were so beautiful, I highly recommend coming to them, you will see more of Gods wonder and beauty than you ever thought possible.