The Giant Redwoods of California
Posted by Gav Grayston.First Published Feb 2018; updated Jun 2023.
You can't visit this region without seeing the Giant Redwoods. These trees are absolutely immense.
Stepping into this forest and you feel as if you've been shrunk.
There are many places to see the giant redwood trees. After driving the Tioga Pass, we stopped off at Tuolumne Meadows, which was broadly on route to where we were heading, Yosemite Valley.
The weeks before our visit the area had been engulfed in a forest fire. Fortunately, this was now over, and Tuolumne Meadows was open again, though the place smelt of burnt wood and evidence of the fire was all around.
This burnt trunk was due to a very recent forest fire.
As we learnt, forest fires are part of the natural cycle within this region, and many of the trees rely on regular fires to keep them healthy. Rangers will even set areas alight as managed fires in order to encorage re-growth.
Hard to get the scale of these Giant Sequoia trees in this photo
The Giant Sequoia trees are immense.
A tunnel through a tree
Gnarly roots on this overturned Sequoia
Despite the recent forest fire, wildlife was still abundant.
Wildlife still abundant. Snapped this surprised deer in the forest.
The chipmunks were great to watch.
Next stop: Yosemite Valley.