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Brilliant biking twisties. Thanks BO
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big oil
Race Dog
Like no other place on Earth, the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park is alive with mystery and wonder. Visiting this forest is a unique experience. There's something mystical about being around these old giants.
The Giant Forest
At the heart of the park, in the shade of towering sequoias and redwood groves, the Giant Forest is home to half of the Earth's largest and longest-living trees. Named in 1875 by John Muir, the forest is a stand of more than 8,000 colossal sequoia trees - many standing just as Muir found them.
The Giant Forest
At the heart of the park, in the shade of towering sequoias and redwood groves, the Giant Forest is home to half of the Earth's largest and longest-living trees. Named in 1875 by John Muir, the forest is a stand of more than 8,000 colossal sequoia trees - many standing just as Muir found them.
big oil
Race Dog
Sequoia National Park's Tunnel Log
Visitors to Sequoia and Kings Canyon can drive through Sequoia Park's fallen "Tunnel Log" located along the Crescent Meadow Road in Giant Forest.
The fallen Tunnel Log of Sequoia National Park came into being after an unnamed giant sequoia fell across the Crescent Meadow Road in late 1937 as a result of "natural causes." The following summer, a tunnel was cut through the fallen log as a visitor attraction. When it fell, the tree stood 275 feet high (83.8 meters) and was 21 feet in diameter at the base (6.4 meters). The tree's age when it fell has not been determined, but probably exceeded 2,000 years.
The tunnel, which remains in use today, is 17 feet wide and 8 feet high (5.2 meters by 2.4 meters). There is a bypass for taller vehicles. "Why not cut a new tunnel tree?" many visitors suggest, when they discover that the Wawona Tree can no longer be driven through. Times change, however, and actions proper for one generation may not fit the needs and goals of a succeeding generation.
Our expectations of national parks have changed immensely during the past half century. When our national parks were young, cutting tunnels through sequoia trees was a way to popularize the parks and gain support for their protection. In those early days, national parks usually were managed to protect individual features rather than to protect the integrity of the complete environment. Today, we realize that our national parks represent some of the last primeval landscapes in America, and our goal in the parks is to allow nature to run its course with as little interference from humans as possible. Tunnel trees had their time and place in the early history of our national parks. But today sequoias which are standing healthy and whole are worth far more.
Visitors to Sequoia and Kings Canyon can drive through Sequoia Park's fallen "Tunnel Log" located along the Crescent Meadow Road in Giant Forest.
The fallen Tunnel Log of Sequoia National Park came into being after an unnamed giant sequoia fell across the Crescent Meadow Road in late 1937 as a result of "natural causes." The following summer, a tunnel was cut through the fallen log as a visitor attraction. When it fell, the tree stood 275 feet high (83.8 meters) and was 21 feet in diameter at the base (6.4 meters). The tree's age when it fell has not been determined, but probably exceeded 2,000 years.
The tunnel, which remains in use today, is 17 feet wide and 8 feet high (5.2 meters by 2.4 meters). There is a bypass for taller vehicles. "Why not cut a new tunnel tree?" many visitors suggest, when they discover that the Wawona Tree can no longer be driven through. Times change, however, and actions proper for one generation may not fit the needs and goals of a succeeding generation.
Our expectations of national parks have changed immensely during the past half century. When our national parks were young, cutting tunnels through sequoia trees was a way to popularize the parks and gain support for their protection. In those early days, national parks usually were managed to protect individual features rather than to protect the integrity of the complete environment. Today, we realize that our national parks represent some of the last primeval landscapes in America, and our goal in the parks is to allow nature to run its course with as little interference from humans as possible. Tunnel trees had their time and place in the early history of our national parks. But today sequoias which are standing healthy and whole are worth far more.
big oil
Race Dog
A few words about the largest living tree on earth, General Sherman, of which I did not photograph. I have around 30 minutes of video footage coming soon of riding in the Giant Forest.
The world’s largest living tree is a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) named General Sherman, located in Sequoia National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, USA. The tree is 83.6 m (274 ft 3.3 in) tall and has a tape-wrap diameter of 825 cm (27 ft), although the functional diameter (converted from the actual cross-sectional area of the stem) is 764 cm (25 ft). As of 2013, total volume of wood and bark was 1,591 m3 (56,186 cu ft) – 1,389 m3 (49,052 cu ft) of which is in the main trunk. This tree is estimated to contain the equivalent of almost 675,000 board feet of timber, enough to make in excess of 5 billion matchsticks. The aboveground dry mass of the tree is an estimated 582 tonnes (642 US tons). The bark alone has a dry mass of 48 tonnes (53 US tons), and the tree supports 1.68 tonnes (1.85 US tons) dry mass of leaves. Based on research conducted in 2002, General Sherman is estimated to be 2,000 years old, although it's believed that there are reasonably older specimens out there, perhaps up to 4,000 years old, because size doesn't always correlate with age in this species.
Even larger conifers have been reported historically. The Lindsey Creek Tree, a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) felled by a storm in 1905, had a reported trunk volume in the region of 2,550 m³ (90,000 cu ft) and height of 120 m (390 ft). Another superlative specimen was the Crannell Creek Giant, aka Maple Creek Tree, which was also a coast redwood. Logged in the 1920s, the volume is believed to have been conservatively 1,727 m³ (61,000 cu ft) - and perhaps even as much as 1,980 m³ (70,000 cu ft) - even though its height was only 93 m (308 ft).
Outside of its native range, the largest planted Sequoiadendron in the world is in Frankton, New Zealand. In 2011, the tree was 472 cm (15 ft 5.8 in) diameter and 43.5 m (142 ft 8.6 in) tall and had an estimated aboveground dry mass of 141 tonnes (155 US tons).
The world’s largest living tree is a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) named General Sherman, located in Sequoia National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, USA. The tree is 83.6 m (274 ft 3.3 in) tall and has a tape-wrap diameter of 825 cm (27 ft), although the functional diameter (converted from the actual cross-sectional area of the stem) is 764 cm (25 ft). As of 2013, total volume of wood and bark was 1,591 m3 (56,186 cu ft) – 1,389 m3 (49,052 cu ft) of which is in the main trunk. This tree is estimated to contain the equivalent of almost 675,000 board feet of timber, enough to make in excess of 5 billion matchsticks. The aboveground dry mass of the tree is an estimated 582 tonnes (642 US tons). The bark alone has a dry mass of 48 tonnes (53 US tons), and the tree supports 1.68 tonnes (1.85 US tons) dry mass of leaves. Based on research conducted in 2002, General Sherman is estimated to be 2,000 years old, although it's believed that there are reasonably older specimens out there, perhaps up to 4,000 years old, because size doesn't always correlate with age in this species.
Even larger conifers have been reported historically. The Lindsey Creek Tree, a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) felled by a storm in 1905, had a reported trunk volume in the region of 2,550 m³ (90,000 cu ft) and height of 120 m (390 ft). Another superlative specimen was the Crannell Creek Giant, aka Maple Creek Tree, which was also a coast redwood. Logged in the 1920s, the volume is believed to have been conservatively 1,727 m³ (61,000 cu ft) - and perhaps even as much as 1,980 m³ (70,000 cu ft) - even though its height was only 93 m (308 ft).
Outside of its native range, the largest planted Sequoiadendron in the world is in Frankton, New Zealand. In 2011, the tree was 472 cm (15 ft 5.8 in) diameter and 43.5 m (142 ft 8.6 in) tall and had an estimated aboveground dry mass of 141 tonnes (155 US tons).
Crankshaft
Race Dog
Wow!!! Amazing, thank you
TVB
Grumpy Mutt
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Crankshaft said:
+1, it is hard to imagine especially with all those quoted figures!!
mox
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I hope no indigenous birds were harmed during the filming.
