Trail of 100 Giants Ribbon-Cutting

There are a whole lot of things about living on the edge of Sequoia National Forest in a fairly isolated area that are simply unhandy.   But I found myself driving home from the ribbon cutting for the Trail of 100 Giants saying “we get to live here.”  The scenery in the high country is absolutely breath-taking.  I turn a 30 minute drive to the trail into a 45 minute crawl up and back to take in the magnificent landscape.

Yesterday Frederick and I made the drive again to join others celebrating the opening of the trail.  Whereas usually you will find campers and a few day visitors, the parking lot at the Trail of 100 Giants was filled with cars and forest service trucks.  I felt a bit like an interloper since most people there had either developed or expanded the trail in the 1990s and 2000s or worked in this past year clearing out the dead and dying pines.  There were a few environmentalists there as well.  Frederick and I were just folks stopping by. 

But we both felt welcomed immediately by a photographer from an area paper who took some photos of Frederick sitting inside the trunk of the car, eating a peanut butter and honey sandwich and drinking water.  Frederick loved the attention and it probably reinforced in him the element of excitement of being allowed to sit in the trunk. 

The ribbon cutting included some speeches and, well, ribbon cutting.  But the most interesting part of the event was hearing all of the discussions as people walked the trail together.  I walked next to a man for a while who helped design a certain part of the trail in the 1990s.  Another was stationed at the Hot Springs Ranger Station when my parents first moved to California Hot Springs.  One man had made a rather amusing, off-handed comment about the lumber that was removed from the grove.  His comment was overheard by a reporter who wanted permission to quote him but he declined.  I guarantee you, it would have been a memorable quote.  By the end of the trail at least two people asked if they could ride with Frederick in the backpack and even though I acquiesced, they didn’t call my bluff.

The day ended with some chocolate chip cookies and a view of a crescent moon through the sequoia trees. For Frederick, the combination of cookies, lots of attention, and the spotting of a “waxing crescent moon” as he reported, is the recipe for a perfect day.  I smiled all the way home.