Giant Sequoias and Snow Plants; A Blog of Contrasts; Trip to the Trail of 100 Giants

I wrote this several weeks ago but always thought it not quite right, but finally decided to let it go as originally written: Trip to the Trail of 100 Giants and a Tale of Contrasts.

May 7th, the end of a nine day mountain and Kennedy Meadows experience for son Matt, wife Jennifer and four grand kids; Luke, Elaina, Broden, and Lydia.  We decide to take the long way back to the LA area via Sherman Pass with a little detour to the "Trail of 100 Giants". This trail is a gentle 1.3 mile hike through a grove of Giant Sequoias, some of which, are over 1500 years old. The grove has over 125 trees over 10 feet in diameter and 700 less than 10 feet. The largest tree has a diameter of 20 feet and is over 220 feet tall.  A tid bit: Sequoia is a rare English word in that it contains all of the vowels.

Cold, rain and maybe some snow was the forecast of the day, but this is the purpose of jackets, sweatshirts and hats. Two vehicles took the six of us on a twisted journey up and over and down Sherman pass. Beautiful but interrupted by a little car sickness here and there, probably because Grandpa was driving a little to fast for all those in the back seats.  A stop for lunch along the Kern River was a welcome respite from the curvy roads. After a brief lunch and river walk, it was north again on curvy roads.  As we approached our destination, a lot of clouds and some snow flurries greeted us.

The parking lot at the Trail of 100 Giants had but just a couple of cars in it. We had the whole forest to ourselves!!  Winter clothing was donned and off we were.  To only see the first Sequoia on the path would have been enough to make this journey worthwhile.....it simply takes ones breath away. But each turn of the path yielded more amazing and indescribable things.

The First of  Many Giants

We can go inside this one

Five of us inside looking up with rays of sun and snow coming in

Alone in Awesomeness

Cannot See the Top

Out of the Roots of the Fallen a New Tree Springs Forth

Too Many Rings To Count

Sequoias can live over 2000 years, achieving diameters of over 30 feet and attain heights of over 370 feet.  They once grew throughout much of North America, but now are found only on the Central Coast of California to Southern Oregon.  Also, interestingly, they are somewhat resistant to fires as the bark has no flammable pitch and gets extremely thick. Sequoia (Redwood) lumber is valued because of its resistance to rot and insects, like termites and it does not warp. As such, it was once logged extensively beginning in the 1850's. Much of early San Francisco, Oakland and Sacramento were built using this lumber. Sadly, though, as much as 60% of the trees' lumber was unusable as a result of the tree being felled.  The brittleness of the wood caused much of the tree to shatter as it hit the ground.  An example of this can be shown in the following photo of a tree which had fallen naturally.

A fallen tree showing how it can "shatter" as it hits the ground

As we ventured on, another amazing find was to be discovered. From the damp and dark ground ahead, a bright, scarlet "neon light" appeared not too far away. We hastened our pace to see what it be:

First One

Then Another

And Yet Two More

It was not until I got home to my reference books and internet, did I know what we had seen.  A very, very special plant that goes by the simple name of "Snow Plant" or "Snow Flower".  This plant gets it's name from the fact it often first reveals itself by popping up through late spring snow.  I hope I can sometime see the scarlet red against pure white snow. It is a very strange plant, well worth reading more about.  It cannot do photosynthesis, so there is no green in this plant and it needs a special fungi (which grows on tree roots) from which the Snow Plant roots "steals" nutrients. Because it doesn't do photosynthesis, it doesn't need sun light. Thus, it does not have to share the spotlight with any other flower or plant. It as if this actor has the dark forest floor stage completely to itself for it's grand display.  How vain is that?!?! This flower is so special that it is the only flower that has it's very own National Park Service video...link [National Park Service Snow Plant Video]  I think I have a new favorite flower.

This brings me to the title of this blog post "A Blog of Contrast"

I was amazed that I could be so awed by these two wonders of nature, growing in proximity, which are so totally and fantastically opposite:

Things so grand and things so small.

Things so old and things so young

Things so strong and things so fragile

Things so independent and things so dependent

Things dressed so dull and things dressed so bright
Things which show for thousands of years and things which only show in early spring

My head was as a bobble doll, look straight up, Sequoia, look straight down Snow Plant, and repeat and repeat. It was as if there was competition between the Sequoia and the Snow Plant, each vying for my attention as they displayed their own special and amazing wonders.  For me, there was no winner, as I was equally awed at both, for totally opposite reasons.

Is there any end to the wonders of Creation?