Big Trees from out, a weblog by George Girton

Big Trees . . . . . may 27 2003 — o15.dat

We have been out of town, travelling to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. Sequoia Park (we learned) was the first national park in a state, the state being California. Yellowstone was the first national park, but at the time, Wyoming wasn't a state, so it HAD to be a national park.

We took a lot of hikes and had some adventures. We didn't see any deer, but we saw something that looked exactly like a squirrel -- except with longer legs. Called a Douglas Squirrel or Chicoree, this little guy can eat, or at least chew on, about 500 sequoia tree cones in a day. I chewed on a sequoia seed, and I'm here to tell you it wasn't that great.

We also saw a bear crossing a slope above us; a rattlesnake on a path in front of us (pointed out by a fellow hiker just before we stepped on it); and of course various other members of our human species, snapping photos of each other in various human languages.

My favorite overheard remark, near General Sherman, the biggest tree on earth?

"That's one big plant."

I'll try to post a photo or two later on this week.

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