Any one know of a back country hike that has giant sequoias

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torpified
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Re: Any one know of a back country hike that has giant sequoias

Post by torpified »

for the dayhiking then backpacking model, http://www.redwoodhikes.com/SequoiaNP/SEKI.html has a lot of information about Sequoia day hikes where you can feel more like you're encountering the trees in their natural habitat than in some sort of arbor zoo. I liked both the Wolverton Cutoff and the Muir Grove loops (both filed under Giant Forest) a lot.
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kursavwilage
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Re: Any one know of a back country hike that has giant sequoias

Post by kursavwilage »

The South Fork of the Kaweahs has a trail head I think is called South Fork trail head, there is a trail there that goes through Garfield Grove (Giant Sequoias) and then to Hockett Meadows.... I'm sure that it would not be a crowded trail. That was actually my first ever backpacking trip back in 1978 that hooked me for the rest of my life..... From what I remember there were quite a few Giant Sequoias.
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Re: Any one know of a back country hike that has giant sequoias

Post by dave54 »

zoedmetzger wrote: Sat Aug 03, 2019 7:33 pm :unibrow:
dave54 wrote: Mon Oct 06, 2014 8:56 pm If you want to drive farther:

In 1932 the CCC planted a grove of Giant Sequoia south of the SW corner of Lassen Volcanic NP. A trail starts at north of Mineral, off forest road 30N16, heads north, just cuts across the SW corner of LAVO and goes to Heart Lake, and connects to forest road 17. The trail to Brokeoff Mountain connects with it, and following the Brokeoff Trail east to hwy 89 can connect you with the rest of LAVO trail system where you can put together any number of multi day trips.

The Sequoia Grove is just a 1/3 mile or so from the Glassburner trailhead and along the trail. You would be amazed at how large those trees have grown in just 80 years. They are not old growth, at 80 years they are still youngsters, but large in girth.

This trail is little known and little used except by locals.

Per your recommendation, two of us just went and hiked out the trail to find some sequoias, and were sadly disappointed when there weren’t any... and we can’t find anything on the internet regarding this grove either. Is your distancing correct? Is it directly off the trail? We need answers. And would like to see some sequoias.
The trees are visible on Google Earth at 40.384909;-121.573753. East side of the trail. The Sequoias are the lighter green almost perfectly conical crowns. Looks like a fringe of Sugar Pine (or possibly Western White Pine at that elevation) along the trail. The GS are a few rows in. I haven't been there in about ten years, but there used to be a small metal yellow enameled sign or tag on a post along the trail, that had the date and other identification numbers. About 20? years ago I was shown a stand of native Giant Sequoias by a forester somewhere around Huckleberry Lake. Off-trail bushwhacking to get there. This native grove is not on any other maps of GS grove locations. Someday I may go hiking around up there and try to find it again. Sequoias have been widely planted as part of reforestation projects all up and down the Sierra and southern Cascades. Others are in the large plantation west of Lake Almanor, planted in the early 1960s following a 1924? fire. Not real large yet, and are mixed in with the rest of the trees in that plantation. Other non-native subspecies were also planted in the Prattville Plantation west of Almanor (Apache Pine, a Ponderosa Pine subspecies native to AZ/NM/northern Mexico). An experiment.
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Satchel Buddah
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Re: Any one know of a back country hike that has giant sequoias

Post by Satchel Buddah »

redwood canyon in SEKI is a lovely place for beginners. it offers easy egress (you can get back to the parking lot/trailhead in a couple hours at most). The best campsites are on the granite balconies along the east side (hart tree trail) with a lovely sunset open view. The most impressive sequoia groves are on the west rim of redwood mountain (sugar bowl grove), but that side is dry - no water to be had. Plenty of streams on the east side. Camp fires are prohibited and bear canisters are required. I would not pitch a tent directly under a sequoia - Some of the dead "branches" falling off are about the size of a mature oak tree :). While it's easily accessible and not deep in, there are not many people on the mountain during the week, but I would stay away on the week-ends as you might get large groups of people spending the night here.
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Re: Any one know of a back country hike that has giant sequoias

Post by hurricaniac »

I have visited the Redwood Meadow Grove and Garfield Groves 35 yrs ago, the Garfield grove is the more spectacular of the two.

Way off the beaten track is the seldom visited Castle Creek Grove. Access is an overnight hike from Hospital Rock TH on the MF Kaweah trail.

Here's a list of them all: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_g ... oia_groves
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