Yosemite Day Four

We spent the whole morning cleaning up the cottage. Therefore, when we reached Mariposa Grove at the south entrance, it was almost noon. Yet, since we had not done much hiking these days, we decided to wander in the sequoia grove with empty stomachs.

Of all the trees in that grove, Grizzly Giant is the oldest one, at between probably 1600~2000 years old. (That giant is much larger than what Taiwanese have in the A-Li Mt.) The reason why the sequoias can grow so old is that their barks contain a chemical compound, tannin, which functions as a natural preservation so that the trees are resistant to the disease, insect infestation and even fire. Even if they die, they decay slowly as well.

The Faithful Couple, the trees in the picture above, are a pair of interesting trees. They grew so close together that their trunks had emerged together. However, they are actually two separate trees on the top.

It took us two and a half hour to complete the loop in the grove. We were all sort of hungry and tired. After the exercise, we said goodbye to Yosemite and headed back to the city to feed ourselves.