<--Previous  Up  Next-->



In Yosemite National Park (California). This picture was taken at the Tuolumne Grove, one of three Giant Sequoia groves in Yosemite. When first discovered, the sequoia's were exploited in many ways - according to a plaque at this tree: "A tunnel was cut in this dead stump in 1878 so that tourists on the Big Oak Flat Road could ride through a tree. Seedlings were exported and sold for $50 each in England (1850 exchange rate). Loggers regarded the giant trees as the ultimate challenge and cut them at a furious pace, destroying 34% of all living sequoias." After surviving in nature for 2000-3000 years, leave it to man to destroy them. The lady in the picture is Gail - I met her and her friend Suzy (from San Diego) while hiking, and enjoyed talking to them on the way back up the trail (Good luck to them on their cross-country bike trek in April 2005!) (10/13/2004)