Mariposa Grove Of Big Trees, Yosemite National Park, CA.

                              Thursday 5/3/2012

On our last day drive to Yosemite, we took a right to Mariposa Grove of Big Trees.

We have seen the sequoia trees in Sequoia and Kings Canyon, but Mariposa was only 2 miles from the Yosemite National Park Southgate entrance.

The Mariposa Grove has about 500 mature giant sequoia.

The red dots shows where all the sequoia trees are located.

If you visit Mariposa Grove, come early and plan on doing some trails.This picture shows all the trails there.

This shows the distance of the closest trails.

A downed Sequoia Tree and Joe.

It was chilly that day, but the trail was a continuous incline of 500 feet, so I warmed up quickly and Joe had wished he hadn't brought his jacket.

Looking up two downed trees.

Me standing by the "Bachelor and Three Graces". Unfortunately I stood where one of the Grace's is behind the Bachelor.

This gives you a better idea how tall these trees really are.

Heading toward Grizzly Giant.

 

This branch on the Grizzly Giant, believe it or not, is 7 seven feet in diameter, and larger than the trunk of any other tree in the area, other than sequoia trees.



Our last tree to see was the California Tree.

 

The California Tree was tunneled and thought to serve as the low elevation winter replacement for the more famous Wawona Tunnel Tree.

This view of the California Tree, shows more of the inside of the tree.

The California Tree was carved and tunneled in 1895. It was the second tunneled tree. The first was the Wawona Tunnel tree, which fell in 1969. Both trees helped publicizing and promoting the inclusion of the Mariposa Grove in the Yosemite National Park in 1906.

Joe and I had lunch here and were entertained, watching the different poses of everyone under the tunnel tree. ( I would have loved to have taken a picture of one couple that did a really weird pose, but I didn't want them seeing me take their picture. Maybe someday Joe and I will do the same pose).

On our way back to the car, I saw someone taking pictures of these red things popping out of the ground.

Does anyone know what they are?

Most of the trees have railings around them. The medium sized trees don't, so you can stand next to them for a picture.