Thursday in Yosemite-Part One

Thursday morning Christopher and Craig left bright and early to go hiking. They were up and out before the sun even appeared!

They hiked for about 5 hours total, and saw some magnificent scenery...

Meanwhile, Mary and I slept in and then went for a lovely girls' breakfast. She went back to bed after, and I read a book.  The guys got back around 1 pm, so we ate a quick lunch, grabbed snax, and went for a ride to Tuolumne Grove to see the Giant Sequoias. Here is some information on the trees, actually named Sequoiadendron giganteum  which is the sole living species in the genus Sequoiadendron, and one of three species of coniferous trees known as redwoods. The common use of the name "sequoia" generally refers to Sequoiadendron, which occurs naturally only in groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. There are only 68 groves of these trees,  comprising a total area of only 35,620 acres. Giant sequoias are the world's largest trees in terms of total volume. They grow to an average height of 160–279 ft and 20–26 ft in diameter. Record trees have been measured to be 311 ft in height and over 56 ft in diameter. The oldest known giant sequoia based on ring count  is 3,500 years old. Sequoia bark is fibrous, furrowed, and may be 3.0 ft thick at the base of the columnar trunk. It provides significant fire protection for the trees. The leaves are evergreen , awl-shaped, 3–6 mm long, and arranged spirally on the shoots.

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. & Mrs. Gimp

 Next stop, Glacier Point!