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Merced Grove
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by
Tucked away along the Big Oak Flat Road in Yosemite National Park lies a quieter sequoia grove called Merced Grove. With less parking and a descent of 500ft in 1.5 miles, it tends to filter out some of the bigger crowds, allowing you to enjoy these giants with less people. While the surrounding larches, Douglas firs, and sugar pines are large trees, the sequoias are much bigger than the big trees with a magnificent stand of five trees clumped together.
It was an overcast day with clouds wafting through the trees when I hit the trail down to the Merced Grove. Well, it’s not a trail per se, but the old Colterville Road which was one of the first entrances into the Yosemite Valley. The open forest is home to a variety of birds with towering trees. No sequoias are visible initially as you descend to the junction with the spur road down to the grove.
It doesn’t take long, however, to arrive at the grove. Five massive trees clumped together tower above like a fortress. From photos, it’s easy to lose perspective on how large these trees are unless you leave a frame of reference like a person getting dwarfed by these sentries of the forest.
After the main grove, I continued along, keeping my eyes peeled for more big trees and wasn’t disappointed. Peppered throughout the forest, more trees can be seen along the road. Further down, sequoias are right alongside the walk, allowing you great access to see them, their size, and their unique bark; a fibrous bark with almost paper layers dividing the fibers.
Along the way, warblers, kinglets, juncos, and creepers chatted while spring flowers of a variety of sizes (huge Pacific Dogwoods and California Azaleas while diminutive larkspurs and irises dotted the floor). A wonderful old cabin added interest to the hike, now used for educational purposes.
After a few more sequoias, the old road/trail began to narrow, being reclaimed by the forest. I couldn’t find any more sequoias, so I turned around, passed the sequoias, the cabin, the birds, the squirrels, and the flowers and climbed back up to my car.
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