After Yosemite the next stop was Sequoia home to the worlds largest living thing the General Sherman tree, the tree is named after a civil war hero. The weather in the valley was lovely and warm and the sun was out so we were somewhat surprised to be turned back at the park entrance because we didn't have snow chains. A shop down the road was selling swanky new chains that were light weight and easy to fit but we thought they were a bit of a rip off so we went back further into the local town to find a bargain. For half the price we found some very old-school, one size fits all chains and were given a quick 5 min training on how to fit them which we instantly forgot. We weren't to worried as we thought the chains were just a precaution and that given the weather conditions wouldn't be too bad..........
The sunny foothills
There were even more bears here than Yosemite, we saw 6 black bears while we were there, I have grown to like them more than grizzlies as I have seen more of their behaviour and they definitely have a lot of character.
3000ft up and the roads were pretty icy, we were glad we had the chains in the boot
We tried to make it as far as we could without the chains but eventually had to stop as the road got very bad.
Ralph wrestling with the snow chains - what a man! Of course the demo at the garage had been on dry ground with non-frozen fingers, conditions now made it a bit more of a challenge.
It was hard to fit the chains on very tightly and we had been provided with wire to tie up the loose ends, however it was still incredibly noisy and very tense making as we were scared of damaging the hire car. The noise was not disimilar to an apache helicopter and we had to stay under 20 mph to stop the car shaking too much.
He is not the tallest or widest tree but has the greatest overall mass
This one with Fi in gives you a sense of scale
tree hugger
We decided to ascend Moro rock for a view of the park, despite the signs saying not to attempt in snow and ice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moro_Rock - it was well worth it
Arty shot of rocky bit
Bears had been up the rock earlier - not sure what they made of the view
The icicles were amazing
More artyness
At the top safely
Fi goose steps down on the icy stairs - it was an effective technique
Dead dragonfly, found on the snow with its brains eaten out
Giant sequoia cone
Our bum prints
Giants grove
Snowy tree prettiness
Construction on the main park road meant delays, though luckily we got a great view from where we were stuck in traffic
We saw 6 black bears in the two days we were in the park, they're eating acorns at this time of year. This one was on the road side on our way town from General Sherman. We also saw a large male when on a dusk wildlife walk along a road, he walked down the hill and out onto the road in front of us oblivious to our presence until he looked round moments later - he must have been about 15 metres from us. We also saw a mother and a tiny cub on a hillside above us.
Male mule deer
Moro rock the volcanic plug a bit like Half Dome at Yosemite, this is what we were standing on top of in the earlier photos.
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