Yosemite – September 23

Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias

The Mariposa Grove is just inside the park entrance to the right. We had a leisurely start this morning and got there around 9 am;  the parking lot was almost empty. The trees are incredibly tall throughout the park. The trees in this grove are also very big and rotund. Some are almost two thousand years old! We plan a loop up to the museum that will pass by most of the named trees.

The first thing you notice when you start to hike is the silence. This is a very quiet and peaceful place. There aren’t too many other hikers yet this morning, and it feels like we have the place to ourselves.

The first tree we pass by is the Fallen Monarch. The roots of these trees are surprisingly shallow for such a large plant. The roots only go about six feet deep, but they can spread out to more than 150 feet. This provides a stable base for the tree and gives it the best chance to get the most water.

Ironically, in an effort to protect this grove, people stopped the growth of new trees. It took a while to figure out that the natural cycle of fires was needed to keep the undergrowth under control and create the perfect environment for the seeds to drop and germinate. Now there are periodic controlled burns to get things back in balance. There are some photos on the trail showing how the forest looked before fire suppression, during fire suppression and now. Things are almost back to normal; at that point the forest service will let nature take its course with the natural cycle of lightning-caused fires every seven to twenty years.

This hike is a steady uphill climb through the forest. The elevation gain from the parking lot to the Wawona Tunnel Tree is 1000 feet. But it is a more gentle climb than the Nevada Fall hike. We pass the Bachelor & Three Graces, the Grizzly Giant on the way to the California Tunnel Tree. Of course we have to take turns taking photos of each other inside the tree. The path crosses right through this tree! I’m amazed that it is so healthy-looking with a huge hole at its base like this. We later see other trees with various holes and burns at the base that are doing just fine.

On the way up to the museum we crossed paths with a blonde coyote. He didn’t seem to be too concerned about the people on the trail. He had his own short cut that crossed the trail in a few places and clearly had places to be. He was gone pretty fast – he wasn’t hanging around for photos or autographs!

Just before the museum we saw two deer running through a small meadow. They stopped when they came close to the path and started browsing quite close to us. They were very alert and were looking around for predators, but they seemed to know that people aren’t a threat here and really weren’t too concerned about us.

There is a small museum at the top with some informative panels on fire and tree growth. Also there are samples of cones from the various trees so you can see which cones belong to which trees. If you aren’t up for the hike up the hill you can take a guided tram ride. We saw everyone wearing headsets. I thought that was nice that we didn’t have to hear an announcer shouting out descriptions as they drove by everything. This way everyone gets to enjoy this amazing grove of trees.

After the museum we headed over to the Fallen Wawona Tunnel Tree. In 1881 someone cut a hole in the base for cars to drive through. In 1969 the tree collapsed in a record snowstorm. It is estimated that the tree may have died 1,000 years prematurely because of the hole weakening its base.

From there we went to the Telescope Tree. You can walk inside of this tree and look right up through the center to the sky! This tree is still alive and is producing viable seeds!

We crossed back over a center trail that we missed on the way up and caught The Clothespin Tree and Faithful Couple on the way back to the parking lot. We found a level shady spot and had a picnic lunch along the trail. I was happy to see that the animals in this section of the park are not being feed like in other areas. While it is fun to see animals get close it is really sad to see them begging or stealing food.

This was a really enjoyable hike. I’d recommend seeing this grove on your visit to Yosemite.

After this we headed over to the pioneer museum. This is a grouping of buildings that were built in various locations in the park and moved to this location in the 50’s and 60’s. The idea is that “…the area does not represent a village. Instead, each building represents a different chapter in the Yosemite.” There is a collection of different kinds of carts and wagons, a covered bridge, various cabins and a powder house that was later used as a jail.

After that we walked over to the visitor center and looked at some of Thomas Hill’s paintings. Then we took a walk around the Wawona hotel. It is a quaint old place with lots of charm.

After that we headed back to the hotel and did laundry and took some time to kick back and relax. We rode out to El Sid’s for dinner. This is a wonderful Mexican restaurant just 15 minutes south of Fish Camp. It doesn’t look very fancy, but the food is excellent. I’d suggest taking it easy on the margaritas for the ride back!

Go back to September 22 — Go forward to September 24