Sequoia National Park

In early August 2019 Dan and I decided to take a short road trip to Sequoia National Park. Although we both grew up in California, we still have not been to all the National Parks in our home state. This trip helped move us closer to that goal. Sequoia National Park is famous for its giant sequoia trees, including the General Sherman tree, the largest tree on Earth. The Giant Forest, which is connected by the Generals Highway to Kings Canyon National Park, contains five of the ten largest trees in the world. The park was established in 1890 to protect 404,064 acres of forest, and is also home to Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States (14.505 feet above sea level).

As we wandered among these ancient and massive trees of the southern Sierra Nevada range, we were awed by their strength and beauty and it was impossible not to contemplate the many changes witnessed over millennia by these sentinels of the forest. Giant Sequoias are the third longest-lived tree species with the oldest known specimen to have been 3,266 years old. Their size has more to do with girth, than height, even though the largest of the sequoias stand as tall as a 26-story building. They typically grow to more than 20 feet in diameter and up to 35 feet across.

General Sherman, at 2,100 years old, weights 2.7 million pounds, is 275 feet tall, and has a 102-foot circumference at the ground. The third largest tree by volume is the President, with over two billion leaves, and an estimated age of 3,240 years.

Although sequoias were logged in the 1870’s (something I have such a hard time wrapping my head around) their brittle wood does not make for good lumber. However, due to the presence of tannic acids, they are incredibly hardy, resisting fungal rot, wood-boring beetles, and fire, as their thick bark is flame resistant. And thankfully, these trees are a protected species today, ensuring their continuation into the future.

In addition to the magnificent trees in Sequoia National Park, there is also a hidden system of caves running below ground. We took a guided tour of Crystal Cave, walking along a steep trail flanked by waterfalls to the cave entrance. The cool 54-degree temperature inside the cave was a nice respite from the summer heat, and we enjoyed hearing the history of the cave discovery and seeing the impressive cave formations. 

Luray Caverns

One of the highlights of our visit to Luray was touring the Luray Caverns. The cave was discovered in 1878 by five local men and has been open to the public since 1922. The cavern system is the largest in the Eastern United States and is adorned with looming colorful columns, petrified mud flows, stalactites, stalagmites, and mirrored pools.

There is a spring of water called Dream Lake that has an almost mirror-like appearance, where stalactites reflected in the water appear to be stalagmites. This illusion is often so convincing that people are unable to see the actual bottom, even though the deepest point in the water is only around 20 inches deep. The lake is connected to a spring that continues deeper into the caverns.

The Wishing Well is a green pond with coins three feet deep at the bottom, and like Dream Lake, the well also gives an illusion, but in reverse. The pond looks three or four feet deep, but is actually six to seven feet deep.

Located deep in the caverns is the Great Stalacpipe Organ, an electrically actuated lithophone made from solenoid fired strikers that tap stalactites of various sizes to produce tones similar to those of xylophones, tuning forks, or bells. This one-of-a-kind instrument was invented and built in 1954 by Leland W. Sprinkle, a mathematician and electronic scientist at the Pentagon. He began his monumental project by searching the vast chambers of the caverns and selecting stalactites to precisely match a musical scale. It took him over three years to complete it. 

There isn’t much more I can say about these caverns that couldn’t be better experienced by being there, or at least looking at just a few of the dozens of pictures we took while we were there.