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By Dr. Harry Tennant
Tuesday, July 3, 2012 Education Ride 365: Giant Trees And An Unnecessary Climb! I spent the last day of the first half of Education Ride 365---June 30th---in the Sequoia National Forest, where the road curves and rises up the mountainside to some of the oldest and largest trees in the world. My teacher-friend Sherry and her husband Danny live on the grounds of this national monument.  23 miles of winding roads up the mountain from Danny and Sherry's home is the "Trail Of 100 Giants." The 'Giants' are Sequoia's that are hundreds of years old. In fact, the first one on the trail is 18.26 feet in diameter, 245 feet tall, and about 1,500 years old!  The two in the photo I took above have grown together. It is near impossible to convey the scale of these giant trees.  Just to get one of these giants framed in a picture takes the perfect angle, a wide angle lens, and the humility of knowing no picture can do these treasures due justice!  Here I am leaning up against the base of one that dates back nearly to the end of the Roman Empire! The top of this tree is over two hundred feet above my head!  Even these seemingly timeless giants will, however, eventually succumb to time. On September 30, 2011 the massive tree in the picture above (as well as the two pictures below) fell after about 1,500 years of growth. If you look closely, you can see two people walking on top of the massive trunk. One is wearing a red sweater and the other is just ahead of her.  This downed tree is actually two Sequoia that grew together, thus the two trunks you see in the picture above. The length simply can't be conveyed in a picture anywhere near ground level!  The portion of it in the picture directly above is another length beyond the picture above that! Notice how it stretches deep into the photo.  Incidentally, "Sequoia" is the only word in the English language that contains all 5 vowels, A-E-I-O-U. July 1st I completed my ride down the mountain from Sherry and Danny's home. They recommended a scenic ride once down the mountain and out of the forest that winds through the foothills heading towards Fresno. I took their recommendation, but ended up making a wrong turn that led me up the side of yet another mountain 3300 feet in altitude from where I was intending to be. It was mostly a one-lane road of switchbacks with steep drop-offs and poor pavement (with sand over much of the pavement). I pressed on thinking eventually I'd start a descent, only to discover that it was a road leading to nowhere...so I eventually had to turn back and do it all again going downhill. 3300 feet up treacherous roadway on a 900-lb motorcycle pulling a long trailer, then 3300 feet back down. Good times for this 'flat-lander!' Day 180---335.9 miles traveled, 5 hours and 43 minutes of moving time, 58.7 miles per hour average moving time, 3 hour and 47 minutes stopped time, 35.3 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 90.4 miles per hour. Day 181---46.56 miles traveled, 1 hour and 16 minutes of moving time, 36.3 miles per hour average moving time, and a max speed of 63.8 miles per hour. Day 182---278.6 miles traveled, 6 hours and 7 minutes of moving time, 45.5 miles per hour average moving time, 3 hour and 7 minutes stopped time, 30.1 miles per hour overall average, and a max speed of 83.8 miles per hour. Posted at 2:10 AM Keywords: Education Ride 365 , EdClick , Cycle Of Education 0 Comments |