It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.
~Robert Louis Stevenson
A 1500 year old sequoia tree - actually two trees fused at the base - along the Trail of 100 Giants in Sequoia National Park crashed to the ground on September 30. A visiting tourist captured some of the fall on video:
Sequoia trees have relatively shallow roots, and the theory about the fall of the mighty tree is that the ground was soggy after a particularly wet winter. "Sequoias do fall. That's how big sequoias die," said Nathan Stephenson of the U.S. Geological Survey.
The US Forest Service now has to decide what to do with the fallen tree. The debris has been cleared, but the trunk is blocking the popular tourist path. This is not just a felled tree, it is a 1500 year old tree in a protected national park. Some of the options include rerouting the trail, creating a tunnel through the trunks, carving steps and building a bridge over the trunks.For now, the trail has been reopened and people are climbing the fallen giant.
Something else I learned: Sequoia trees can live for 4000 years.
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