THINGS TO DO in Sequoia National Park
Oh man today on Rock the park looks like we’re on a movie set we’re in the Land of the Giants look at this thing we’re the only thing bigger than the trees let’s see where this takes us oh is the adventure there might have been a major misunderstanding here in our
Skills I’m trying to unlock my inner Spider-Man right now and it all starts now oh my gosh I’m Jack Stewart and I’m Colton Smith we love the national parks oh my gosh it’s all about packing up a car and just doing it just hitting the road our goal is to visit
Every National Park in this country and when you go off the beaten path like we do there’s no telling what will happen next WoW ready for the time of your life yeah get set to rock the park welcome to seoa National Park Land of the Giants home to Mount Whitney the tallest peak in the lower 48 and General Sherman the largest tree in the world everything about this place is huge except for the crowds with fewer than a million visitors a year seoa offers the perfect combination of Adventure scenery and serenity
We plan to explore a hidden Grove of giant seas are you kidding me then we’ll retrace the footsteps of the Pioneers who first sought to tame these wild mountains you ever been in a mine finally we’ll face 1,000 ft of vertical Granite for the climb of a lifetime I’m just trying to remain
Calm seoa borders King’s Canyon National Park and is located in the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California the park is best known for the giant forest oh my gosh which contains five of the 10 largest trees on the planet the largest seoa grow as tall as a 26-story building but it’s not
Their height that makes them so mighty it’s their girth the biggest ones are over 100 ft around look at those ones over there they’re like bigger than our car we are talking trees that are 2,000 years old you don’t find these just anywhere in fact giant seoa only grow in
The western SE Nevadas on dry slopes between 5,000 and 8,000 ft above sea level Park ecologist Tony Caprio says the SEO have been around for hundreds of millions of years and their longevity is due to a surprising element the primary thing sequ require for regeneration is fire the cones are what’s called semi
Serotinus the heat from the fire will open the cones release the seeds those seeds will only grow in enriched soil in full sun without competing plants nearby conditions that only occur after a fire to encourage New Growth the Park Service deliberately sets fires when favorable weather conditions make them easy to
Control seoa bark can grow up to 3 ft thick which protects the trees from fire and holds Clues to its pth this is a section out of a dead Seine seoa and what there are in here are fire scars and we can date these scars to the
Year they occurred and get an idea of the frequency of fire so this is a lot of fire here right this is a lot of fire wow it occurs about every 15 to 25 years it is really cool though because people forget that fire is a part of nature
It’s a very delicate balance it seems to keep these things thriving there are nearly two dozen seoa Groves in the park and we’re going off the beaten path to explore one of the least visited and most special Mir Grove this Grove of SEO is named after John
Mir who’s one of the famous explorers of the 1800s he was more than just an Explorer John mure was one of the most famous advocates for protection of these lands he fought hard for these to be here today for us to see it’s not unusual to spot a so-called
Black bear in seoa National Park they’re quite common and despite their name come in a variety of colors including Brown dark red and even blonde so we’ve been walking for over 2 miles and then out of nowhere whoo are you kidding me this is nut looks like we’re on a movie set these
Things look like they are out of this world and they are just mesmerized they’re magical imagine being the first guy to walk along here and see this you would think you stumbled upon another dimension you look microscopic compared to these things if that doesn’t show the scale I
Don’t know what does gosh not much can kill a giant seoa even fire often leaves just a mark one big enough to climb into oh man whoa this is crazy it just shows how strong these things are oh my Gosh wow I think I I might go a different route crawled through worse yeah I mean she’s been standing for 2,000 years hopefully today’s not the day she falls Down woo wow I didn’t know you could go caving inside a tree that was fun this reminds me of my favorite J on Mir quote he said I believe the best way to the universe is through a forest Wilderness and if you look at these you think we’re in another galaxy
Yeah and before long we’re going to be way out of our comfort zone wa oh man and then way over our heads I’m freaking out right now oh my gosh we’re in seoa National Park about to Trek back in time through Mineral King Valley where early silver and gold
Prospectors hope to strike it rich in the 1870s you always think about the trees in seoa you forget that there are 14,000 foot mountains around us we’re heading to White Chief Bull and our Trail starts at 8,000 ft above sea level woo doggy man the air is so thin oh my gosh this
Is steep oh my gosh and we have another 2,000 ft in elevation to go we don’t really know what to expect we know we’re going to see some remains of old mining we’re working hard to get there cuz this is straight uphill you feel that oh I feel it you
Feel that that’s what we call the [Applause] bird we’re only 2 miles into this hike but the trail is already getting pretty Rocky wao dude come here and check this out oh wo wo either that’s a cave or that’s a mine this is a mine man they
Built these mines over a 100 years ago this looks dangerous you can see that up here there are massive Boulders that are just hanging by a thread we’re not going to go into this thing there are dozens of hastily dug and potentially dangerous shafts in these mountains but we can tell right
Away this one is different wo this is the white Chief silver mine that set off the whole mining boom in 1873 do you think we can go in this is one that they told us that we actually could because it’s well preserved oh man have you ever
Been in a mine I don’t think so no I haven’t either all right let’s see where this takes us this is getting Tighter and Tighter oh yeah this rock was all cut out by hand it was tedious and dangerous work this mine has got to be
At least I don’t know 100 maybe 150 ft deep so far this Trail’s been awesome we’re gaining some serious elevation I can feel it in my lungs but I’m ready for the unmaintained part this Canyon is full of loose rocks and boulders left over from the glaciers that carve these
Mountains and it’s constantly shifting due to Avalanche oh all these rocks are just incredibly loose and if you’re in back of me and one falls down not good this type of scramble is the perfect recipe for a sprained ankle or even something worse so we got to be
Careful cuz we’re far away from civilization oh oh my gosh got rock fall everywhere wow even these bigger ones yeah that’s the one incredibly lose we love going off Trail cuz it can add to your adventure but you have to be smart about it cuz you want to come home from that
Adventure oh man look down in there we’ve come so far yeah it’s quite a climb finally we’re coming up on the lip of white Chief bull it looks like just just a huge Stadium of Boulders and rocks this is a glacial Circ it was formed by a glacier that carved out a
Bull-shaped depression on the mountain side it eventually eroded leaving this crazy formation behind oh wow man wo yeah oh that’s awesome look at that you’ve got this giant Cliffside shaped by glaciers and it’s formed just this perfect bowl that just goes all the way down to the canyon and that’s where we’re headed
Next all the way down only to climb all the way up straight up I have no idea where to go right now everything about seoa National Park is massive and our next challenge is no exception we’re climbing Moro Rock a towering Granite Dome on the west side
Of the park are your hands feeling ready to cling on to a cliff for deer life they’re as ready as they’re going to be yeah our climb will be 150 ft but we’re starting from a ledge 900 ft above the valley floor this is the most technical rock
Climb we’ve ever attempted holy cow dude that’s what we’re climbing oh my gosh all I’m seeing is just one giant sheer Rock there might have been a major misunderstanding here in our skills I I’m kind of speechless right right now I I don’t know how I’m going
To get up this thing to make it up that wall we’ll need the help of Alex from Southern yosity Mountain guides so the route we’re going to climb it’s going to be a little bit different from maybe things that you’ve done before we’ll be harnessed to a rope anchored securely
Into the Rock and controlled by a berer in this case Alex who will secure the rope and us as we climb they’re going to be blay from the top which makes it a little scarier we’re not even going to be able to see Alex as he’s ho oting
This rope up there’s going to have to be 100% trust that he’s got us we strap on our helmets we get on our harnesses nice there we go now he tells me to watch him and how he gets up this thing and he just looks like a a a
Spider monkey so remember guys like as you’re climbing you are wearing special shoes with sticky Rubber and even the littlest things make really great footh holds especially on a climb like this I’m more focused on finding feet than am finding good hand placements oh my gosh
I’m trying to watch him but I’m still thinking in my head I I can’t do that I I I can’t do that Alex I’ve never done this before I’m not ready for this calm calm on ble Colton B out Alex all right good luck at first I’m starting off and I’m like okay I got this but I’m only about 3 ft up holy cow dude I do not know where to place my hands and my feet crammed onto one ledge what do you see I see nothing
I I see I mean it’s smooth dude you see that knob right up there yeah you got to use that see I see that man but again it’s about your legs you know yeah but if you have your hands on there you can balance yourself easier said than done
Man Jack’s trying to help me out but now I see that the view from down below it’s completely different than when you’re on the side of this mountain o wait a sec wait a sec there we go baby there we go I think I’m figuring it
Out and then I’m reminded that each step brings a new challenge oh my gosh Colton’s having some issues I can see it’s really hard to find a hand hold I’m trying to coach him through it but he’s getting further away from me so I can’t see him that well
Either man I don’t know where to go my legs are getting tired and I think my best bet is to just try to make a leap for it and pull myself up you got it dude I feel myself going back I am terrified and then the Rope tightens Alex has got me oh
Man this is incredibly challenging how you doing we’re up so high right now I’ve got sweat dripping in my eyes I’m just trying to remain calm this is intense this is a lot more than I thought it would be and now I’m just really set on getting to the top
You’re keeping calm that’s good I’m trying to unlock my inner Spider-Man right now every handhold every foothold it’s a battle I mean each step seems to be more difficult than the the last I’m going and I’m going and then finally I find my stride I’m getting one hand on I’m
Getting the other foot on and I’m climbing man I can see the top use those feet all about the feet there you go cuz this is so technical my mind is not thinking about the height which is great all I care about is the challenge of making it up this
Cliff yes all right you’re yelling he made it woo nice job yes that was a rush I loved it but I got to say I’m glad to be sitting right here now I’m just waiting for Jack to join me climb when ready climbing here we go
It’s just me and the Rock so I step onto the Rock and I’m feeling pretty good this thing’s tall but I’m also tall so I might have an easier chance than Colton had at getting past some of these C Spots this Granite is really sharp it’s actually just cutting into my hands I’m trying my best to find these handh holds and it’s not easy oh no oh no oh my gosh there’s a couple stretches down there that all you’re worried about is making sure your hand is in one spot
Your foot is in another it gets your heart pound I have no idea where to go right now oh this climb is way more difficult than I thought it was going to be I see that the ground is way down there and I can’t even see the top yet I
Can’t see Colton I can’t see Alex there’s no one to help me get up this thing oh man it’s always just Out Of Reach Jack how you doing I’m kind of stuck I think right now he’s realizing how hard and challenging this climb is I don’t know where to go from
Here Sho all of a sudden I turn around and I see how high up we are wa I don’t even have a fear of heights but I’m freaking out right now oh my gosh I can’t go down and I don’t know how to go
Up I don’t know what to do oh my gosh oh we’re in seoa National Park tackling a challenging climb of moral Rock I’m 100 ft up from the ledge where we started oh my gosh I can’t go down and I don’t know how to go up oh my gosh oh
Jack how you doing I’m kind of freaking out a bit I know it’s intense man you just got to try to just take a deep bre bre I wonder if I just go for it I think I have to I believe in you all right here I
Come there we go got it that’s the leap of faith right there oh my gosh you’re good man you’re right there I can see your helmet Jack yeah woo all right well done Oh my gosh that was gnarly man going into this my feeling was it’s going to be scary but because that was so technical the heights never got to me it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be but man I’m glad we did it
Cuz now it’s just like yeah like I’m ready for the next thing sometimes going out of your comfort zone it’s the best place to be this is the reward oh yeah how do you beat that this is insane SEO is known for its trees but look at where
We are are right now we’ve seen just amazing rock formations we’ve seen these giant seoa there’s so much to explore Here Sequoia National Park left us breathless and hungry for more and remember hey if we can do it so can you ready let’s do it so the next chance you get go out and rock the park N
Over the course of ten years, America’s national parks have pushed us beyond our comfort zone time and time again – and Sequoia National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada range in California is no exception. Nature reigns supreme here in a land of huge mountains, deep canyons, and the world’s largest and longest-living trees. These massive two-thousand-year-old giant sequoias are mind-blowing and you can’t fully comprehend the size of these ancient wonders until you stand humbly next to one or literally crawl inside like we do. We learn the surprising secret to their longevity and follow in the footsteps of the pioneers who first tried to tame these wild mountains. And the adventure doesn’t end there. Facing a thousand feet of vertical granite, we take on one of the most technically demanding climbs we’ve ever attempted. We’ve since refined our rock-climbing skills, but as we like to say, the first time is the best time! Join us for an unforgettable experience in the Land of Giants!
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4 Comments
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I really enjoyed this video what an amazing, beautiful place. I'm from England and there are breathtaking locations though not on the scale of the states. I'm loving your channel and appreciate the opportunity to see such grandeur I am never likely to see in person. Happy holidays ⛄🎇
What are your recommended day hike trails for this park?
You guys nailed the production and editing for these episodes. Well done.