16 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



In this district are the only groves of Sequoia Gigantea 

 which are receding themselves to any marked extent, and 

 there are in the Sequoia Park alone over one million 

 trees of the species. They are not scattered throughout 

 or evenly distributed as is so frequently the case of pine 

 forests, but are spotted in groups and groves in certain 

 locations. To the northwest of the Giant Forest, a dis- 

 tance of about eight miles, is the Muir Grove. About 

 three miles from the camp is another group of big trees 



It is amusing to see the tenderfoot tourist attempt to 

 photograph a Giant Sequoia. There is nothing sufficiently 

 approximating these trees in size within reasonable dis- 

 tance. As a result, the scale is almost lost and until one 

 has spent some time in their midst the true proportions 

 of them are not realized. The tourist, to whom their 

 presence is strange, will frequently attempt to photograph 

 them from a distance of 100 feet or so, but he begins to 

 step backwards gingerly, glancing from time to time at 



Photo by Mark Daniels. FRANKLIN LAKE 



Florence Peak is in the background and the author photographed his friends as they were admiring the wonderful setting of the beautiful moun- 

 tain lake. This is on the Great Western Divide near Mt. Whitney. 



near Halstead Meadows, and to the east, a distance of 

 about seventeen miles by trail, and just outside the Park, 

 is a grove of big trees at Redwood Meadows. Scattered 

 along the trail from the Giant Forest to the Redwood 

 Meadows in several places may be found small groves 

 and isolated specimens. The sensation with which one 

 confronts a Giant Sequoia defies description, though many 

 have essayed the task. There is that subconscious feeling 

 of standing in the presence of the oldest living thing on 

 earth whose centuries of life have gathered about it a 

 mysterious force that may be felt by all observers. But 

 think of traveling through a forest of such trees! Think 

 of passing from their sombre shadows into the sparkling 

 sunlight and back again beneath the shaggy branches of 

 another grove ! 



his finder, until he comes to a realization of the fact that 

 if he can place enough distance between his lense and 

 the tree to enable him to take in the trunk up to the 

 first branches without intervening obstruction, he will 

 be most fortunate. At first sight one is inclined to 

 assume the attitude of the farmer who after a prolonged 

 gaze at a hippopotamus ejaculated, "Hell, there ain't no 

 such animal." Perhaps the only ones who have had the 

 tremendousness of these trees deeply impressed upon 

 them are those who have been confronted with the 

 task of hewing them down. As an illustration of 

 their size: The General Sherman, which is the largest 

 tree, is 279 feet high, 36J/2 feet in diameter and is 

 estimated to contain 1,000,000 feet of lumber board 

 measure. When it is considered that this is equiva- 



