YOSEMITE VALLEY, United States, June 30, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The Mariposa
Grove of Giant Sequoias, at the heart of California’s Yosemite National Park,
is home to 500 of the towering trees — many at least 2,000 years old, having
sprouted around the time of Jesus Christ.
One of the world’s 65 remaining natural sequoia groves, and the largest in
Yosemite, Mariposa Grove reopened in June, three years after the start of a
$40 million restoration project to protect the ancient giants for future
generations.
The oldest sequoias can live for more than 3,000 years, their bark
resisting insect attacks and helping them survive countless wildfires over
the millennia.
Gone are the gift shop, suffocating fumes from a chugging diesel tram and
115 spaces of parking lot asphalt that once cluttered the site, a major
tourist destination four hours’ drive from San Francisco.
Only a small parking lot remains alongside new restrooms.
The removal of asphalt helps protect the trees’ shallow root system from
compaction, allows water to flow naturally again, and reduces damaging air
pollution from excess vehicles.
Four miles (6.5 kilometers) of new trails and bridges have been
constructed. A new boardwalk through part of the grove is elevated over
sensitive areas and facilitates handicapped access to view the trees.
During most of the day, free shuttle buses ferry tourists to the heart of
the grove from a new visitor center two miles away.
People stand in line to photograph one another at the California Tunnel
Tree, a surviving sequoia through which a wagon-sized hole was long ago
bored.
But like the rest of the forest, Mariposa Grove never closes, so after the
last shuttle bus returns and the road gate is reopened, more adventurous
visitors can drive to the tiny parking lot and hike through the night in the
ancient woods.
And as day becomes night, billions of stars shine down on the 300-foot (90-
meter) tall trees, the 1,800-year-old Grizzly Giant and its age-old fellows
towering over the silent scene.