Great Big Trees! Grand Sequoias...

We started the second day of our venture into Yosemite by way of Oakhurst, which is 30 miles south of Mariposa. This entrance took us to the Mariposa Groves, which is home to some very impressive Grand Sequoias. What a beautiful area of the park! This part of the park was set aside by Abraham Lincoln in 1864, so it has been protected for quite some time. There is another grove in the park, just west of Tioga Pass, which we did not get to this time around. There is also Sequoia NP, which we will not make this trip.

The Grand Sequoias are huge by any measure, some are thicker than 25 ft  in diameter. Evidently their root systems are very sensitive to foot traffic; therefore, you cannot get close to the trees like in other forests as the trees are fenced off. The limbs are absolutely huge....like trees all onto their own. 

Grizzly (left) is just one of the many large trees protected from people. The deadwood around the tree are actually branches that have broke off over time. 

In the early years, the park included a carved a tunnel through two different trees. It was large enough for model T's to drive through; certainly, not for today's vehicles (not that you can get to this by vehicle any longer). The tree to the left is still standing. The other tree fell down in the1960's.

What a beautiful area of the park! If time had permitted we would have spent the entire day in this section hiking all of the trails and looking in awe at these grand trees. However, we had other parts of the park to see as this was our last day in the area. Another day (or 7)! At which time we will come back to Mariposa Grove, Tioga Pass Glacier Point, and the various waterfalls. Way too much to see in 1-1/2 days!