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Sequoia National Park

Thursday, November 7, 2024

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Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park

Desolation caused by wildfires.

Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park

General Sherman - the world's largest tree by volume.

Sequoia National Park

There are hundreds of huge Sequoias in the Giant Forest.

Sequoia National Park

This one has grown around this huge boulder.

Sequoia National Park
Hazy
Sequoia National Park

Looking down the valley that we'd be driving down later that day. It was slow going in the RV with lots of tight corners.

Sequoia National Park

Just out of sight behind these peaks is Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48.

Sequoia National Park is right beside Kings Canyon but is more focused on Giant Sequoia trees. It contains the Giant Forest which is the largest grove of Giant Sequoias in the world. 

I've been here twice before but since my last visit the park has been hit with several huge wildfires that might have killed as many as 20% of mature Giant Sequoias in existence. The landscape is dramatically different in many places with huge tracts of burned trees. 

Fire is vital to Sequoias. For decades wildfires in the Sierra Nevada mountains were suppressed which caused a build up of flammable material. As a result when fires do happen now they have the potential to burn far hotter than they normally would have. Sequoias actually need fire to reproduce, and are able to tolerate moderate fires which clear the undergrowth and create space for seedlings. They aren't always able to survive the intense fires that have been occurring lately sadly. 

The Park Service now realises that suppressing fires was a mistake and does controlled burns to try to manage the risk. The huge areas involved though make this an impossible task and it's going to be tough to allow conditions to get back to normal without losing huge areas of forest.