Do you like my new poster? I like my new poster. It captures the beauty and serenity of this amazing National Park perfectly. I love how Sequoia is all about open spaces and meadows in amongst the forst.
Plus, I've frolicked in Crescent Meadow!
I've been hiking in Sequoia! I saw LOTS of animals and gorgeous landscapes!
Get on!!
Okay, enough boasting.
So yes, the plan for our hike was to skirt the gorgeous Crescent Meadow, and follow the trail to the General Sherman Tree.
The Sequoias in the park are named after important figures from the Amercian Civil War.
The General Sherman Tree is the most giant Giant Sequoia in the world. The largest tree by volume, it is 275 feet tall and 36.5 feet across at the base (do the metre conversions yourselves. It's good for you). The tree is believed to be 2,200 years old and weigh 1,385 tons (tons are tonnes in anyone's language).
As it turns out, the quote ended up being directly applicable to us, because the amount of snow on the ground made finding and staying on the trail rather difficult, and we didn't quite make it to the General Sherman Tree.
But we had the bonus of viewing the park in all its Winter Wonderland glory, and without freezing our tails. Every time we got out of the car at progressively higher altitudes, Val and I were worried that we'd find we'd neglected to wear enough layers, but it was continued to be pleasantly mild.
So, after spotting all the animals, we made it past the point where the snowplough finished, and were actually on the trail proper.
And the scenery was AMAZING.
Okay, to be totally honest, there was no discernable trail. It was under the snow. Instead, there were yellow triangular markers on the trees. But it was lots of fun finding the next marker......
.......until we got stuck and couldn't find one.
And we were only just around the meadow.
We split up (well, Mike disappeared over a hill) and tried to find that next marker. And then we got scared that we lost Mike, but a couple of cooo-ees later and he re-appeared, albeit without having found the next marker.
So when we were forced to admit failure on the marker front, we contemplated ploughing forth regardless.
However,
a) the time (3 hours until darkness)
b) our lack of a compass
c) the fact that the meadow would soon be behind us, leaving us with no discernable landmarks, and
d) the fact that we would periodically step in air pockets, burying ourselves up to our thighs in snow,
seemed to indicate that the wisest course of action would be to return the way we came.
Here is Val dominating the snow while warning Mike not to do anything rash. He made great footprints for us to follow, even though he had to cruel himself with his stride length, since his legs are considerably longer than ours (legs on a 6'3"-and-some-change guy versus us girls 5'3" and under!)
More of the meadow:
And here are Val and I next to a sequoia (the red trunk):
Here I started playing with the white balance on my camera, with happy results:
Val was all for following the footprints, but Boy Scout Mike pointed out that the pine needles etc. in the prints indicated they were at least half a day old. Poo.
Val's finger, for scale.
Bear.
Big bear!
Somehow I don't think fires are going to be a problem at this time of year. Kind of ironic how the sign is almost buried in the snow!
Then the sky turned blue as the mountains came back into view, and I just went nuts (okay, let's say even more nuts than usual) taking photos.
I think this group of sequoias is called "The Senate":
When we got back to the car, we tried to drive to the General Sherman Tree, but the road was closed because of the weather.
So we went to the Visitor Centre instead, because we needed to use the facilities and we had to get firewood.
Someone may have bought a T-shirt and a poster and a lot of postcards, but it was all Mike's fault. The list he sent me of what to bring was as follows:
Socks.
Warm clothes (0C at night).
An extra pair of socks.
PJ's that you might be okay wearing under pants.
More socks.
Hats, scarfs, mitts (Val can provide for Nat)
Another pair of socks.
2 pairs of shoes if you have them. If we decide to play in snow on Saturday, it'd be nice to have dry shoes after that.
Socks...Seriously. They don't take up a lot of room.
Your own pillow. Either a super-firm pillow or a soft one + something to put under it (e.g. - a folded pair of jeans).
Your 6th pair of socks. (That's probably enough.)
Games.
A little cash (credit card may not be available). Smores need fire, fire needs wood, wood needs money, money needs to be cash. .:QED - Smores need cash.
Water bottle.
I had packed only 3 pairs of socks (all I had), and given my current pair were a little damp, I started getting paranoid.
Luckily in the U.S. they think of everything in the retail department. The Visitor Centre had socks in abundance. I bought a green fluffy pair with bear paw prints, and a white pair with black bear facts on them, and then one thing kind of led to another.
Plus we did buy firewood, so it wasn't totally gratuituous.
Anyway, where was I?
Oh yes, scenery.
The blue skies held for the drive back , and so we were afforded even more stunning vistas.
I was a happy, happy camper (despite the fact that I had somewhat damp feet. I was in the back seat, and I'm absolutely sure that Mike, in the drivers' seat, didn't mind that I took my shoes off and parked my soggy-sock-clad feet on either side of his head to dry them. An elegant look, that semi-split from the backseat).
So, happy and sated after our walk in the beautiful woods, and our wildlife encounters, we returned to Camp Penthouse.
Pyromania reigned: Mike made not one, but TWO fires. One in the fire pit, for warmth, marshmallow roasting and smores, and one in the little cooker that we rented. It's the thing that looks like a green suitcase:
And then we hit the smores. For the uninitiated Aussies, smores = graham cracker + marshmallow + chocolate + graham cracker on top, roast on fire = gooey sandwich of deliciousness. (And yes, there are variants. Bananas work well).
And yes, there are two bottles of wine on the table. It was that kind of evening.
We sat around the campfire and played games (that may or may not have involved port and much chocolate), and talked for hours.
Camp Penthouse RULES!!!!
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