The Big Trees
Last Saturday my son, Tim, invited me to join them as they were taking their two new house guests (Chinese exchange students John and Tyler) on a "field trip" to see the Calaveras Big Trees in the nearby mountains. How could I turn that down!?
I had already seen similar big trees in two other locations of California, but not this magnificent forest. This is at 4728 above sea level and these treetops, some 250 feet high, were actually hiding in the clouds above us. They say that some of them date back to before the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem.
"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained... (and when I stroll between the toes of these giant Sequoias, my heart says,) "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man that thou visitest him?" Psalm 8:3-4
It was cold up there and we had occasional showers. The mist seemed to add a deeper beauty to it all. We slipped into our rain wear (except for Evan who had left his in the car) and we looked quite ghostly, all dressed up for "trickin' and treatin'".
Now to the famous philosophical question, "When a tree falls in the forest and there are no creatures, human or otherwise, around to hear it crash... Does it really make a sound at all?" Well, I guarantee that when this grand-daddy finally surrendered to the elements and toppled, the deer, rabbits, bears and every other creature for miles around felt the ground shake and ran for cover. Just check out what is left of this root system!
In the late 1800's somebody decided to make a tunnel through this one. That's a lot of hand cutting... long before the existence of chain saws.
The small trees form a green and red carpet for the the giant's feet.
Someone actually cut this massive tree down many years ago. The stump serves as a platform about 22 feet across!
Tim stands with his ever-present camera taking both still shots and video.
"Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad, let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the Lord."
Psalm 96:11-13
If you would like to enjoy Tim's awesome 2 minute video of this trek, just click on https://vimeo.com/75270718.
You may have to put it on pause for a couple of minutes to allow it to download... but it is worth it.
Ralph
