Yosemite National Park is known for its spectacular granite cliffs, the waterfalls, giant sequoia groves and the biological diversity.
In Yosemite we drove through the Yosemite Valley where we saw the rock formation “El Capitan” which is very popular between rock climbers. There are also a couple of granite domes such as the “Sentinel Dome” and the “Half Dome”. Yosemite is also known for its high number of waterfalls but unfortunately during this time of the year most of them are very small.
The park has three groves of ancient giant sequoia trees. We visited the Mariposa Grove with approximately 200 trees. It was really amazing to see these giant trees that are the world’s largest trees in terms of total volume. They grow to an average height of 50-85m and 6-8m diameter. The most popular attraction in the park was the “Grizzly Giant” that is approximately 2000 years old. It is 64m high and has a diameter of 8m. Its first branch from the base has a diameter of 2m. Another one, the “California Tunnel” tree is the only living tree with a tunnel in it.
One amazing thing we’ve seen or done
The longevity of the sequoias is given by their high resistance towards fires, insects and diseases. But what’s more amazing is that the fire actually helps them regenerate and that’s why the national park service started controlled fires in the park a couple of years ago and since then the health of the trees improved.
