There are some mighty big trees out here. These were like the 2nd and 3rd parks to be put on the National Park’s registry . Three of the first four parks (these two and Yosemite) were given protected status specifically to protect the sequoia trees. Sequoia trees are really interesting, here are some facts on these weirdos: They require fire in order to propagate, the pine cones (which are tiny) don’t release their seeds unless they are close to a fire; the recently burned ground provides the nutrients and space a seed needs in order to take hold. There are 4 distinct stages in their life cycle and none of them look similar. The sapling is very tiny, in 50 years it enters it’s cone phase where it kind of looks like a Christmas tree, this is when it can first produce pine cones. 100 years later it enters tree phase and looks kind of like a full grown cypress tree. After about another 150 years it enters its monarch sequoia phase and just keeps getting bigger until it dies. We don’t know how long they actually live, the oldest one ever counted was about 3,200 years old. This whole area of the country is beautiful, and there were citrus trees for miles down the main road that you can pick for free.
