HOME: BIRDS, FLOWERS AND TREES IN YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK PART TWO APRIL 2010

Everyone should see the Giant Sequoia trees.  The largest living entities on earth by sheer volume, the Giant Sequoias of California are only slightly shorter than California Coastal Redwoods and at approximately 2000 years old, somewhat younger than Bristlecone Pines.  The greatest concentration of Giant Sequoias is found in Sequoia National Park, our park neighbor to the south, but Yosemite National Park boasts three groves of Giant Sequoia trees - Mariposa, Tuolumne and Merced.  The Mariposa Grove near the Wawona area of the park at the Highway 41 south entrance, is the most accessible and well-known of the three groves.  Besides big trees, you will also find a museum, two gift shops, restrooms, parking lot and tram tour through the grove.  For a more personal experience with big trees, I suggest the Tuolumne or Merced Groves - both require hiking in order to view trees.

For our second day of Yosemite adventure, Diana and I chose the Tuolumne Grove for big tree viewing. Popular in the winter for snowshoeing and skiing, we thought we would test Diana's newly acquired snowshoeing skills (see previous post about the Grand Canyon) on the two mile round-trip hike at the grove.  But spring is unpredictable in Yosemite, and though there was plenty of snow, the trail was packed by so many visitors before us that snowshoes were not necessary.  You will hike a mile before you see any Sequoias among the pines.  Unfortunately the Tuolumne Grove contains one of those abominations known as Tunnel Trees (does every grove have one?).  Back in the day, carving holes in the bases of these giant trees that allowed a stagecoach or car to pass was considered an appropriate demonstration of their size:

Photo by Robert J. Boser

Thankfully, the Tuolumne Grove tunnel tree (top photo) was dead before the tunnel was carved.  The Wawona Tree of the Mariposa Grove in the photo above lived through eighty-eight summers before toppling in 1969.  In the photos below, use the Sugar Pine tree to the right of the sequoia (top photo) and Michelle standing in between sections of a fallen tree for a size comparison:

 

The big trees have always captured the imagination of all who see them.  Check out the Cathedral Grove website for a collection of media images about big trees.  And don't forget the classic film, "The Big Trees", from 1952 starring Kirk Douglas (the film is in the public domain):

THE BIG TREES 1952 STARRING KIRK DOUGLAS

Need a refreshing beverage to enjoy the movie?  Try Redwood Creek Winery, whose vintage poster images celebrate big trees and the great outdoors.  Redwood Creek is a supporter of national parks.  You may support the National Parks Conservation Association through their website, and I know that they have given generous donations to the Yosemite Association on many occasions.

Want to know more about California's Sequoia Groves?  Try the following titles from the Yosemite Association: A Guide to the Sequoia Groves of California for $17.95 and the Sequoia Trees of Yosemite National Park for $3.50.  Place an order by calling 209-379-2648 or send a message to info@yosemite.org 

Junket Ratings:

Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoias: Junk in the Trunk!

The Big Trees Film: Junkety-Junk-Junk

Redwood Creek Wines: Junk-O-Rama

HOME: BIRDS, FLOWERS AND TREES IN YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK PART ONE APRIL 2010

 

Brewer's Blackbird in Yosemite Valley

Wildflowers on the Hite Cove Trail, Sierra National Forest

Giant Sequoias in the Tuolumne Grove, YNP

Settling into my Yosemite Valley home, signs of spring are everywhere: busy birds calling one another, lower elevation flower blooms, budding bushes and trees - all sprinkled with sporadic snowfall that peters out the closer we get to summer.  Our friend Diana, She of the Grand Canyon, came to Yosemite for a business trip and stayed for a few days of fun.  Speaking of fun, we were invited to go birding with resident naturalist Pete Devine of the Yosemite Association (soon to be the Yosemite Foundation).

Pete doing his birding thing

Every Monday and Thursday through May 24, 2010, you can accompany Pete on a two hour morning birding walk in Yosemite Valley.  Meet at the Yosemite Art & Education Center at 8:00 AM and pay a $5.00 fee to have Pete guide you through the calls and flights of Yosemite's local birds.  We walked through Yosemite Village and Cook's Meadow, sighting and hearing birds such as: Acorn Woodpecker, Black-Headed Grosbeak, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Hairy Woodpecker (!), Song Sparrow, Mallard Duck, Yellow-Rumped Warbler and plenty of Steller's Jays, Chickadees, Robins and Red-Wing Blackbirds.  Pete described the bird-filled trees in front of the visitor center "Chickadee City" and explained the difference between Chickadee chirps and their summer breeding song.

Diana watching Chickadees in Yosemite Village

Cook's Meadow in Yosemite Valley

In the wetlands of Cook's Meadow, Pete enthusiastically spotted a Common Merganser diving duck on the Merced River, only momentarily distracted by flying Mallard Ducks overhead:

Diana, with a self-proclaimed indifference to birding, enjoyed the walk in the morning sunshine and Pete's engaging presentation about avian wildlife.  She also learned that the state bird of her new home in Arizona is the Cactus Wren, though she was rather disappointed to know that state bird of her former Florida home, the Mockingbird, hardly represented the fascinating tropical birds to be found there.  So we moved on to our next spring category: wildflowers.

Indian Flat picnic area, Sierra National Forest

We packed a picnic lunch to preface our next adventure on the Hite Cove Trail in the Sierra National Forest outside of YNP.  With an elevation 2000 feet lower than Yosemite Valley, spring comes much earlier to the Merced River Canyon and the community of El Portal.

Diana on the Hite Cove Trail, Sierra National Forest

The Hite Cove trailhead is found on Highway 140 between El Portal and the historic site of Savage's Trading Post.  Very popular in the spring, this trail is also very warm and sunny - the Merced River Canyon is some 1900 foot elevation.  Traveling from Yosemite to El Portal at this time of year can often involve going from snow to sun.  So Diana and I adjusted our layers for a picnic and hike in the sun.  The trail parallels the South Fork of the Merced River a couple hundred feet above the water.  Rock outcroppings covered with colorful lichens along the trail prompted Diana to say that if she were a kid she would bring her Barbie and pretend that she was a rockclimber:

 

Diana looking for her Barbie

Wishing we had worn our shorts, we stopped at two creeks crossing the trail on their way down to the river and considered dipping our toes.  Instead we wrapped up our wildflower viewing and returned to the cooler Valley from the sunny river canyon.  Later in the evening air we fired up our ceramic grill imported from Mexico and cooked Roadside Chicken over a wood fire and some hardwood charcoal:  

We drank just enough wine to plan the next day's visit to the Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoia trees.  Perhaps the Bear Flag wine people should start advertising on this blog.

Junket Ratings:

Yosemite Association Spring Bird Walk: Junk in the Trunk!

Hite Cove Trail in Spring: Junk in the Trunk!