Southern California

Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Furnace Creek, California, United States
The motivation for this trip was Christina and Justin's wedding in December 2017 (not pictured).  The trip takes in Sequoia National Park, Death Valley NP, Red Rock Canyon NP in Nevada, Las Vegas, Mojave National Preserve, and Joshua Tree NP.  Back in Los Angeles, we got together with Si E and Diane, who guided us to some interesting places.
The weather was very good.  In Los Angeles and near the coast the highs were in the low 20s (C), down to the low teens at night.  Inland, depending on the altitude, it was about ten degrees colder -- freezing at night in Sequoia and at Beatty, Nevada.  But there was no snow to speak of at Sequoia, which can be inaccessible in December.
This winter has been marked by wildfires and floods in the area, but we saw only some charred hillsides.
Before this trip I had a notion that the redwood was the largest tree.  It's the tallest, but the sequoia is the largest by mass.  The largest sequoia, which is called General Sherman, is ten metres thick at the base and about 80 metres tall.  Its bark is thought to be a metre thick, resistant to fungi and insects, with a lovely texture that is the envy of other conifers.   The tree has a branch that is two metres thick, for goodness sake.  If a brontosaurus had a bushy tail and stood on that branch, it would look exactly like a squirrel, except for the neck.  In the museum they showed a brontosaurus standing on the ground with a dinosaur tail, because the National Parks Service is aware that not everyone gets humour.
In the photos, you will see that many of the sequoias are charred.  This is because they have lived through many wildfires, which naturally occur once a century or so -- a sequoia can live over two thousand years.  In fact fires are now known to be essential to the life cycle of the species, because they clear the ground of litter and the heat causes the cones to release their seeds.  
At Sequoia National Park we noted evidence of the decline of traditional literacy skills, a trend which we feel is boosted by twitchy-eyed, nonlinear online viewing.  The General Sherman is celebrated as the world's largest tree.  We arrived when the parking lot was still nearly empty.  A wide paved trail leads to the famous tree.  
Halfway along the short trail, a display board announces "This is it!"  A couple of guys ask us to take their picture:  "Just get General Sherman in it, don't worry about that tree over there."
"Um ... actually that tree over there is General Sherman."
"The sign says this is it."
"But what it means is, that is it.  If you keep reading, General Sherman is the tree that can be seen clearly in its entirety across the clearing."
As we walk away:  "I bet there are several people every year who walk away with a picture of themselves in front of the wrong tree."
"No, this tree is obviously not as big.  No one else would be that dumb."
We continue around the big tree.  As we return, there are three guys hooting and hollering and maybe tooting or twitting, taking pictures of the nondescript tree.  "Hey, would you mind ..."
"Sure, but you do realize that General Sherman is over there, right?"
"No, the sign says ... "
So, we have done our best to minimize the proliferation of fake trees.  You can trust our trees.  They are fair and balanced.

Comments

Faye Jose
2018-02-28

Love. Love. Love the donkeys. And perhaps the tree too. But the donkeys....

Mary Lang
2018-04-08

In Grade 7 or 8, I decided to do my speech about The Sequoia Trees. In 1971 or 1972 I saw them first hand. Glad to see that you two made it to California. December is a good month to be somewhere south, too.

2025-02-17

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