Sequoia National Park

We continued to Porterville, which was only intended as an overnight stop and starting point for Sequoia National Park. The route passed by Lake Isabella and countless beautiful Joshua Trees, so it wasn't too disappointing that we didn't have time for the national park of the same name. At the lake, we hiked along a small loop trail and recovered from the shock of a traffic accident we witnessed on the way. A car had overturned (all airbags deployed), and we tried to help and set the rescue chain in motion, which is not so easy in such remote areas. Fortunately, the passengers were conscious and able to exit the vehicle on their own, and many helpful people passed by, allowing a distress call to be made and the rescue chain to be initiated. So we could only hope that no one had suffered serious internal injuries and that the worst was just the destroyed car.

The next day we set off very early to see the giant trees, which was already fascinating for us because Marike's grandmother had a Sequoia standing in her front yard for a long time (not a Sequoiadendron giganteum, but still the largest tree on the street). Unfortunately, this tree had to be cut down not too long ago because its roots had damaged the neighbor's water pipes.

The drive through the different vegetation zones was already an experience. There was a bit too much hustle at the designated highlights of the park, like the General Sherman Tree, which is the largest single-stem live tree in the world by volume. Undoubtedly impressive, but the tour groups, some of whom were conducting patriotic photo shoots with American flags, were a bit ridiculous. Especially since these giant trees are indeed difficult to photograph, as our pictures from the park show.

However, it became very quiet, and we were practically alone as soon as we moved away from the major highlights on the well-developed hiking trails (on foot and not near a shuttle bus). Everywhere were fantastic, fascinating, beautiful giant trees that just hadn't broken any specific records or been given silly names. It felt almost spiritual to be alone with the giants.