Category: Sequoia National Park, Spring 2019

Our first full day in Sequoia NP was spent hiking to Tokopah Falls.  Only a few miles from the Wuksachi Lodge, the trailhead starts within the Lodgepole Campground.  The 3.7 mile hike (round trip) runs along the glacier carved Tokopah Valley.  The campground was closed when we hiked this so we had to walk another half mile each way from the Lodgepole Visitor Center.

The heavily forested trail is not too steep and mostly follows the river.

There was even a minature waterfall to admire along the way.

There was a LOT of snow left on the ground, and it was 59 degrees, so there was also a lot of water!  We had to forge two creeks that are likely not usually even running.  One of them was so bad I had to run around and find small boulders to fill in enough so we can make it across without soaking our shoes.  Here is a shot of the snow covered trail.  At least we could see the dirty footprints so we could stay on the path.

The trail isn’t too exposed until the last quarter mile, when you will emerge from the forest and get the full view of the waterfalls.

The last quarter mile is a trail cut through huge boulders until you reach the end which is about 50 yards from the falls, close enough to catch a little mist to cool off after the hike.

This marmot welcomed us as we approached the end of the trail.   We saw two other marmots but they ran off as soon as we got close.

An excellent hike with a great reward at the end!  Definitely a must do!  We had the waterfall to ourselves for the full half hour we hung out there, which is a clear sign that we were NOT in Yosemite!

The main attraction in Sequoia National Park are the Sequoias, and this is the largest of them.   This is a great little hike for your first day in the park.

The General Sherman is the largest living tree in the world when measured by wood volume.  It stands 275 feet tall and is over 36 feet in diameter.  Mature Sequoias die off at the top but they remain very healthy below that point, and continue to grow in volume.

The tree was named after the Civil War General by naturalist James Wolverton, who served under Sherman in the 9th Indiana Calvary.  It is estimated at between 2300 and 2700 years old.

The tree is accessible by a short downhill half-mile hike, unless you happen to have a handicapped placard.  There is a parking lot and bathroom about 100 yards from the tree, but all of the parking spaces are handicapped only.   That seems to be a common theme here….tons of handicapped spots everywhere, nearly all of them sitting vacant.  One last shot from up close.

This tree sits in the middle of the Giant Forest, so there are plenty of Sequoias around this tree to check out.   Many of them have historic burn marks from past fires.  Here is a shot of Kim standing inside an old burn mark.

Fire actually helps these trees, as it’s the only way for their seeds to drop from the cones so they can germinate.  If they aren’t exposed to fire for a long enough period of time, some of these fire scars will heal over by outer layers of bark.

We are very fortunate that some forward thinking people such as John Muir decided to preserve these trees.  If loggers were left to their own devices, these would all be long gone with nothing to show but stumps.