Crystal Lodge

Crystal Cave is Sequoia National Park Surprise
Sequoia National Park is known for its tall trees, but visitors are surprised to discover one of the best cellars they ever wanted to explore.

Oh the giant Sequoia trees are impressive, all right. Who would not marvel at trees that weigh £ 2,700,000, which are more than 2,000 years and have branches seven feet in diametera

Learn more about these later, but along the way to see the trees we stopped in the Foothills Visitor Center just after we got into Sequoia National Park. There was a line at the counter so we thought something was worth the wait, so we pushed a little closer to see what all the fuss was about. Online visitors have been signing up for the Crystal Cave, a tour that cost $ 10 for each adult, less for children, and was yet another drive several miles "in the park. OK, we told the ticket-seller, we are part.

Then came a long windy road - first place in the park and several miles in a canyon to a parking area. From there, we still had a half-mile walk on a steep trail until it seemed we were almost at the rushing river below. And then there it was: the entrance to Crystal Cave, the mother of all Sequoia caves, or at least that the public is invited to discover more.

Now, it's not just a cave. Admission is maybe just a little over a railroad tunnel and no one is allowed unescorted in the park. The guide will be groups of 70 or fewer people in the cave and through the maze of many adjacent caves and chambers until, quite honestly, we probably never could find our own path on. I guess that's why when a little boy had to go to the bathroom, he was escorted to the entrance of a second guide.

Aside from the spookiness that naturally comes from burrows so far into the earth and its dark inner chambers, the real pay-off of this tour is the natural beauty. Throughout the track, "house" in the room, we saw gorgeous stalactites and "curtains", as the ornate marble and all kinds of crystal formations that made this look like a sort of Hollywood movie . Fortunately, there are open, lighted pathways that we followed - our guide never far away - and Chambers had adequate lighting to showcase the formations and their brilliance.

On this hot summer day, the temperature of 48 degrees in the cave was refreshing. Our 45-minute tour was fascinating at every step of the way, and reached its climax when our guide turned off the lights to show us what total darkness was all about: nothing but black and not a visible thing, even a inch in front of your face. Our guide told us that there were times when the generator has not yet, at this stage, we were about to return to the entrance. Although most rooms are huge, this tour is definitely not for the claustrophobic.

After the tour, there was a steep hike back to the parking lot (something to keep in mind if you bring along the Great-grandfather or someone physically unable to climb the grade). But what an experience - well worth the price of admission and clearly the highlight of our visit to the park.

Sequoia is the second oldest park in the network of national parks - Yellowstone is before him. Most people come to see the Sequoia trees, which appear in several groves scattered throughout the park. The trees reach a height of 300 feet, the second in height only for the Redwood trees in Northern California, but much larger in scope.

With a little research you learn that the tree is so large Sequoia because it grows in his life and is virtually immune to the disease. They fall because of natural disasters, which explains how it is possible to have a tree like the General Sherman tree - a highlight of the park and said to be the oldest living thing in the world. Ge.