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| Giant Sequoia in the Mariposa Grove |
Our next to the last day in Yosemite found us exploring
Wawona and the Mariposa Grove. Mind you, Yosemite is huge and this area of the
park is in the very southern end. The wildfire, which entered the area, is in
the northwestern part of the park near Hetch Hetchy, close to 40-50 miles away
from Wawona and approx. 30 miles away from the Valley floor. In the 1900's, the
Tuolumne River was damned up to create a reservoir. This reservoir, Hetch
Hetchy, provides the water and electricity for San Francisco. It's hard to
fight fires in this area so I hope all goes well.
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| Our touring tram |
We left our campsite early, at 8, to get parking at the
Mariposa Grove and signed up for the 1st tram tour leaving at 9:30.
The giant sequoias in the area are some of the biggest and oldest. The Grizzly Giant, a gnarled, old, tall
tree, is close to 2,000 years old. Some giant sequoias have fused together and
some have been spilt at the base. One has been cut through the trunk so a horse
and buggy could drive through. Surprisingly, this doesn't kill the tree. The
sequoias have a reddish tannin that runs through it providing nutrients to
every part regardless of the damage the trees receive. The trees in the grove
stood as a proud testament of time. Just imagine – the Grizzly Giant was a seedling
during the height of Rome. It's enough to give one shivers. We saw some seedlings during the tour,
near a cabin. They were as tall as the cabin, a bit slender, and were only 20
years old.
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| Baby Sequoias |
After visiting the Grove, we traveled to the Wawona Hotel.
It's an old style hotel, Victorian in appearance. It was built to service the
travelers coming to visit the sequoias. Teddy Roosevelt paid a visit to the
hotel when he was president. There are rooms with baths and some without – you
have to walk down the hall to use a community bathroom. At the Visitor's
Center, the boys turned in their Junior Ranger books and raised their hands
promising to do their best as Yosemite Jr. Rangers. We also toured the Thomas
Hill studios. Hill was a famous
painter who did "The Last Spike," showing the last spike of the transcontinental
railroad being driven in.
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| Wawona Hotel |
We ate lunch at the Wawona Hotel and I had turkey burger
with a chili pepper, not my usual fare, but very tasty. (and pricey)
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| Being Yosemite Jr. Rangers |
After lunch, we toured the pioneer village. There was a
covered bridge, blacksmith shop, horse/mule stables, and even a jail. The
village captured an authentic feel of the turn of the century in Yosemite.
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| At the Pioneer Village |
That afternoon we all took a dip in the Merced at our
campsite. My DH cooked up a Dutch oven treat. Andrew and I visited "Campfire
with a Ranger." It was a very relaxed day, but we learned a lot,
especially about the sequoias.
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| In the Merced |
So I gotta' ask – who's cooked in a Dutch oven camping style
before? What's your favorite thing to cook up in a Dutch oven?
