Sequoia and bears – blog 21

There are a lot more bears in Yosemite than there are giant sequoias – so they should be easier to find.  Of course the bears can hide behind the giant sequoias in a way that the sequoias can’t hide behind the bears.

I asked a very nice lady on the entrance to Yosemite where to go to see bears.  She told me that the ‘bear action’ recently (I assume she didn’t mean ‘bare action’) was at the only gas station in the Park – ‘those bears just love the smell of trash’.

So, off I went yesterday evening – no luck with the bears.  But I did see a complicated junco (the common one that looks different in different parts of the USA and keeps changing its name).

And back I went today too, but after a quick look for bears I went to see the Tuolomne Grove of giant sequoias – about 25 of them, about a mile down the track (and it is down – it’s up all the way back).

There are lots of trees in Yosemite – and some of them, many of them, are huge by UK standards. I actually found myself pointing out a very large tree to the empty (apart from me) car, I was so impressed by it.

At the start of the walk you are told that you’ll see the first sequoia in ‘about a mile’, so after ‘about a mile’ I wondered whether any of the trees were giant sequoia.  ‘Gosh! That one’s really big’ I thought to myself.  Surely there would be a notice saying ‘Giant sequoia’ when one gets to the giant sequoia? I’d have thought so, but you never know.  Gosh that’s another really big tree – I wonder.

And then you get to the notice that says something along the lines of ‘giant sequoia coming soon’ and then you see it and you really don’t need a sign.  Blimey!  That is big!  I mean, really big.

There are three groves of giant sequoia in Yosemite, accounting for about 300 trees.  That’s quite rare.  I think it will be difficult to be impressed by a tree again – giant sequoias have spoiled me for all other trees.

They were definitely worth the walk there (downhill) and even worth the walk back to the car.  The return walk was slower – not just because of the hill but also because of the good views of pileated woodpecker and a new warbler species (lifer – but more on warblers another time).

No bears though – even though bears are common.  No bear action at all for me.  I should have checked behind that last giant sequoia – I bet that’s where they were.

[registration_form]

5 Replies to “Sequoia and bears – blog 21”

  1. Just Googled the Giant Sequoia-wow they are massive, you learn something everyday! On our visit to California in March last year we couldn’t get to Yosemite, too much snow and didn’t pack suitable clothing, always regretted that.

  2. Yosemite is famous for its diseases! Any sign of them yet? Springwatch is showing us lots of ticks on mice and voles but missed the big one on the weasel which took all the hedge sparrow young. Lyme disease is ripe in the USA and Britain but where in USA you see signs warning you about it there are virtually none in the UK.

  3. Giant Sequoias are the tree equivalent of Blue Whales so awe inspiring that words are not enough you have to see them to believe just how BIG they are.

Comments are closed.