The Kingdom of the Sequoia Tree.

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Yosemity Valley, Wawona Campground.
28-10-2002.

Camping on Wawona Campground at an elevation of 6000 feet and at this time of the year means I experience cold nights and mornings that warm up real slow.
My neighbors on this campground, a group of young and friendly mexicans from LA, are sitting around a campfire dressed in thick parkas, woolen bonets and huge glasses that look like ski masks, waiting for the sun to climp up in the air and warm up the Yosemity earth.
They invite me for breakfast, mexican tortillas with dark brown frijoles and cookies from a starbuck coffee shop, hot coffee and oranges.
These guys are trembling with exposure despite their thick parkas. I guess living in LA and being originally from sub-tropical Mexico, early winter temperatures high up in the american Rockies can be a bit chilly. Hehehehe.

The Mariposa Grove is supposed to be a real tourist hotspot in summer but at this time of the year the place is nearly deserted.
This is THE Sequoia Tree grove of the park with some trees more than 3000 years old and well over 300 feet high.
The positive natural energy radiating out of their red barked trunks is so overwelming it takes my breath away...I touch them with my fingers and feel as though thausends of years of quiet contemplations is vibrating through my fingers, entering my hands and going up through my arms, invading my whole body.
Standing in front of these massive and ancient trees feels a bit like standing at the throne of a God.
3000 years of history is captured inside these huge trees. They have seen the original american indians slug it out with bow and arrows, the arrival of first gold diggers and hords of tourists from all over the world doing the Mariposa Grove trails with the noicy diesel powered tram that I saw at the entrance.
But that tram is idly standing by now with me being one of the very few visitors to this Kingdom of the Sequoia Tree.

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Photos

Pine bough
with cones.

Happy mexicans
on Wawona Campground.

Cone
of the Sequoia Tree.