Welcome to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias

Mariposa Grove is the largest  Giant Sequoia grove in the Yosemite National Park. It’s home to one of the oldest and largest Sequoias in California Sierra Nevada, The famous and massive Grizzly Giant. But also to other famous Sequoias such:  Columbia Tree: The tallest tree in the Yosemite. The Fallen Monarch, The California Tunnel Tree ,The Bachelor ,Three Graces, The Faithful Couple , The  Telescope Tree among others.  Hiking in Mariposa Grove: Join us to explore an escape from the crowded city to the  natural beauty of the Yosemite mariposa grove among the giant trees. Mariposa Grove is open daily from approximately late April until snow once again closes the road in the fall.  You don’t have to walk to see  be impressed by  the Giant Sequoias of Mariposa Grove  as you can see many are located by the  parking area .But you’ll be awed by the larger trees farther ahead. Our hike start in parking lot by the gift shop . As start moving into the grove , we make already photo stop at the Fallen Monarch  exposing its giant shallow roots . Then  we will see  the Bachelor and Three Graces up  Before we  round the curve and see the amzing and most imosing tree in the world, the famous Grizzly Giant.  Grizzly Giant is one of the largest and oldest living of all the  Sequoias , its estimated age is about  2,700 years,  As you take pictures and amove around its base, look up. That huge limb on the south side is almost seven feet (2 meters) in diameter, and that mere branch is larger than all the tree trunks nearby  of any non-Sequoia in the grove! Some 50 yards beyond the Grizzly Giant is the California Tunnel Tree, cut in 1895  to allow  stagecoaches to drive through,  Only an occasional large Sequoia occurs along this dry slope between the lower and upper groves. About 1/2 mile (0.8 km.) up form the Grizzly Giant, in a level area with more ground moisture, is the Faithful Couple. Here two large trees have fused together at their base but remain clearly separated above.

On the opposite side of the road stand two smaller trees which may form the next “faithful couple” 500 years from now. We hike back downhill now to visit the gist shop before leaving back to San Francisco a with a brake will be scheduled half between San Francisco and the Yosemite

See our comparison diagram between the Sequoias and the costal redwoods.

	REDWOOD FACTS	Factors of comparaison	SEQUOIA FACTS
	Sequoia sempervirens/coast redwoods(cypress family or Cupressaceae)	Scientific name Family	Sequoiadendron giganteum Giant Sequoias (cypress family or  Cupressaceae)
	sempervirens -- from the Latin meaning "always green"	Species Name	Sequoia – from the Cherokee Indian chief Sequoyah
	the tallest living tree on earth up to 370ft	Characteristics	the largest living tree on earth up to 40 ft L.
	Alluvial soils on flats & benches.stands in  dense forest requires moisture & fog	Habitat	In Granatic & rocky soil in scattered coniferous groves  in
	In narrow strip along the pacific coast from s. Oregon down to Monterey County.grew by the sea level up to750 ft	Range & Elevation	Western slope of California Sierra Nevada between 4500 to 7500 ft high
	Up to 2,2000 years	Age	To 3,200 years
	Up to  1.7 million lbs	Weight	Up to 2.8 million lbs.
	200 to 370 ft (Redwood N.P.)	Height	150 to 300 feet
	(23 ft) diameter at base	Circumference at Ground	102.6
	10 to 25 ft	Maximum Diameter at Base	Up to 38 ft. diameter
	Fibrous reddish-brown	Tree trunk	Fibrous reddish-brown very wide
	12 in, Spongy,fibrous with a bright red-brown.Thanks to its thick bar it resists fire	Bark	Thicker up to  33 in. spongy . Thanks to its thick bar it resists fire
	Tinny elliptical,reddish-brown Hanging down at end of leafy twig. maturing in 1 season	Cone shape &  size	Unlike male cone, female cones have 1-20 ovules on each scale. measure  0.4 - 6 cm long with an oval shape . maturing in 2 seasons
	Each cone scale bears 3-7 seeds, each seed 3-4 mm long &  0.5 mm broad, with 2 wings 1 mm wide. The seeds are released when the cone scales dry out and open at maturity.	Seed Size	2-5 seeds under cone scale light brown,2-winged. As large as grape  seeds, So small that it takes 91.000 seeds to equal 1 pound
	1 - 3.50  ft	Diameter of Largest Branch	6.8  to 8 ft. diameter larger than any non Sq.tree
	9 to 75 ft	Height of First Large Branch above the Base	130 to 140 ft high
	By seed or root sprout	Reproduce	By seed only. seeds eaten by squirrels& birds
	2 types of Evergreen :needle & unequal (10-20 mm)flat,stiff& sharp-pointed spreeding in 2 rows	Leaves	Evergreen croweded & overlapping(3-7mm
		Conditions to germinate