Yosemite National Park, California: After a drive on winding roads through picturesque mountains, I pulled over at the Mariposa Grove. I wanted to take a closer look at the big trees. The National Park Service says: “The Mariposa Grove, near Yosemite’s South Entrance, contains about 500 mature giant sequoias. Giant sequoias are perhaps the largest living things on Earth.” Wikipedia says: “Giant sequoias grow to an average height of 50–85 m (164–279 ft) and 6–8 m (20–26 ft) in diameter.”
I just knew the trees were so big they were challenging my sense of my proportion on earth. Even the sky had raised itself further away. I wondered if being among the Giant Sequoia was what it was like for a mouse in a normal sized forest. Walking in and around the gnarled openings of the tree trunks, I almost expected to find a wizard in a tall, pointed hat, leaning against a crevice, waiting for me just beyond the next curve of the trunk.
I walked the trails for a little over three hours. Off season, with just me and the trees and a fox and some deer, the Mariposa Grove was breathtaking. Even the snow and an overly inquisitive deer couldn’t hurry me away. Toward the end of my walk amongst so many huge trees, our proportions started to seem normal.
It was Halloween and later that night as I supped on creamy pumpkin soup served in a hollowed out pumpkin, the radio played “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.” It was a fitting end to a magical day.
Click HERE for information and photos of the GIANT SEQUOIAS.
“I know, up on top you are seeing great sights, but down here at the bottom we, too, should have rights.”―-Dr. Seuss, from Yertle the Turtle and Gertrude McFuzz
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