Next up on the list of National Parks was Sequoia. Once again, we headed out early in the morning to beat the crowds and see the park in the early morning light. We were greeted by a beautiful sunrise, although is was somewhat muted by the smoke from wildfires near Fresno and some prescribed burns that were going on.
We made our way out to the the largest sequoia tree in the world (by volume and weight) , General Sherman!
Along the way, there were plenty of large and beautiful trees.
One thing that we were sad to see, was that many areas of the park that had experienced fire damage. Check out the pictures and the video below.
Much of the damage that we saw occurred during the 2020 Castle (170,648 acres) and the 2021 KNP Complex (88,307 acres) wildfires. The sequoia tree tends to be fire resistant for several reasons. Their thick, spongy bark insulates them from heat injury, and the branches of large sequoias grow high enough to avoid the flames of most fires. But starting in 2015, higher-severity fires have killed large giant sequoias (those 4 feet or greater in diameter) in much greater numbers than has ever been recorded. Lack of frequent fire for the past century in most groves, combined with the impacts of a warming climate have made some wildfires much more deadly for sequoias. Six fires, occurring between 2015 and 2021 killed many large sequoias in numerous groves across the Sierra Nevada. More than 85 percent of all giant sequoia grove acreage across the Sierra Nevada has burned in wildfires between 2015 and 2021, compared to only one quarter in the preceding century. Three of these fires burned into Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.1
Redwood National and State Parks is another wonderful place to see beautiful trees. As you drive up Highway 101, north of Eureka along the coast, you are surrounded by this park. We took a drive on the Newton B. Drury Scenic Byway (off highway 101) to see some of the beautiful redwood trees. Our first stop was the Prairie Creek Visitors Center. We were so excited to see this as we pulled into the area.
The redwood trees along the scenic drive were just beautiful.
On our way back to Eureka, we were treated once again to some elk viewing, this time on the side of the road on 101.
So many beautiful trees. A wonderful land mark. Its so sad what we have lost by fires.
Beautiful and so interesting!
Gorgeous!
They are such majestic trees! What a shame that fires destroyed so many of them.
General Sherman is huge! You looked so tiny! That’s amazing and sad about the fires, that have destroyed God’s beautiful. The Elk are beautiful! It’s crazy how they aren’t scared of things around them.
Have fun and safe travels!
Those trees…How beautiful!