The Nation's Christmas Tree & Other Confusing Tidbits - Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks (National Parks Trip #3)

This post represents another installment in the series documenting our West Coast National Parks trip in the summer of 2017.  Alan and I, along with our 18 year old daughter, Kyra, logged a total of 8,513 memorable miles of adventure over the course of five and a half weeks during the months of July and August.

Guess what!  Day #10 of our West Coast National Parks Trip was my birthday!  Because my birthday falls during the summer, I usually try to plan an outdoor adventure around that time so that my special day is especially special.  (Being the travel planner in the family does have its advantages.)  Although I didn’t specifically plan this trip to coincide with my birthday, as it so happened, we would be arriving at the first of our National Parks stops on my big day.  During our previous National Parks Trip in 2010, we were in Bryce Canyon National Park on my birthday.  This time around, we’d be celebrating my big day in conjunction with our arrival at Sequoia/Kings Canyon.

In 2007, on our first cross-country National Parks Trip with the kids, we camped in a National Park for the first time in Yellowstone.  It was at Yellowstone's Madison Campground that I had a camping epiphany: There is nothing quite like waking up in the peace and natural beauty of a National Park.   Since then, we’ve made it a point to camp within the Parks whenever possible and feasible.  The evening’s destination on Day #10 was the Dorst Creek Campground in Sequoia National Park.  (Please note that Dorst Creek was closed during 2022 due to the impact of the KNP Complex fire that ravaged the Sequoia/Kings Canyon area in 2021.  The National Park Service is hoping to re-open the campground for the 2023 season.)

Tucked into our very scenic pull-through campsite at Dorst Creek

Although Sequoia was established as a National Park in 1890 and Kings Canyon in 1940, the two parks are adjacent to one another.  Kings Canyon’s southern border runs along the northern border of Sequoia.  Together, the two parks encompass more than 1,300 square miles of granite mountains, deep canyons and evergreen forests, and they are managed by the National Park Service as one unit.  Dorst Creek Campground is situated in the northwest corner of Sequoia National Park putting our base camp in a central location that was advantageous for exploring both Parks.  After settling in at Dorst and enjoying a good night’s sleep, we headed out on the morning of Day #11 to explore.

Yup, those trees are BIG!

Our first confusing tidbits of information revolve around the differences between the “giant” trees of the west coast.  Both sequoias and redwoods are incredibly and almost unbelievably huge – as in enormous, colossal and gigantic.  Even though they’re closely related, they’re impressive and memorable for different reasons.  Giant sequoia trees are found only along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in central California at elevations of 4,000 to 8,000 feet.  Redwood trees grow only near the Pacific Ocean along the coast of northern California.  The foliage of a sequoia is scale-like and similar to junipers; the foliage of a redwood is needle-like and similar to hemlocks.  Although both trees are known for their substantial size, they hold records for unique aspects of that size.  The giant sequoia has an immense trunk with a very slight taper and is the largest tree in the world by volume.  The redwood has a slender trunk and is the tallest tree in the world.  Giant sequoias can reach heights of more than 250 feet; redwoods can grow to more than 350 feet tall.  And here you thought they were pretty much the same.

Our truck, peeking out from the left side of a giant sequoia, looks like a tiny Matchbox toy!

One of the most beloved trees in Sequoia National Park is the General Grant Tree with its sweet and inspiring story.  As the story goes, in 1924 when the Park was known as General Grant National Park, a man by the name of R. J. Senior found himself next to a little girl as they were both admiring the tree.  The little girl said, “What a wonderful Christmas tree it would be!”  Her idea stuck with Mr. Senior, who was the president of the Sanger, California, Chamber of Commerce.  The following year, thanks to Mr. Senior and Charles Lee, the Chamber’s Secretary, a Christmas program was held at the Grant Tree at noon on Christmas Day.  At the request of Mr. Lee, President Calvin Coolidge designated the General Grant as the “Nation’s Christmas Tree” in 1926.  The Christmas program became an annual event and a long-standing tradition.

This brings us to our second confusing tidbit: The “Nation’s Christmas Tree” and the “National Christmas Tree” are not the same tree.  However, President Coolidge is, in a way, responsible for both trees.  The “National Christmas Tree” is the tree that is harvested each year from one of our country’s National Forests and displayed at the United States Capitol.  (This year’s tree is from the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina and is affectionately known as “Ruby.”)  The tradition of a National Christmas Tree came about in 1923 when First Lady Grace Coolidge gave permission to the District of Columbia Public Schools to display a Christmas tree on the Ellipse south of the White House.  One night in November of that year, President Coolidge did the honors at the inaugural tree-lighting ceremony and another beloved tradition was born.  I find it intriguing that both of these traditions were created within a year or two of the other and both involved President Coolidge.  You have to admit though – having a Nation’s Christmas Tree and a National Christmas Tree can be a bit confusing.

The lettering beneath "General Grant" reads, "The Nation's Christmas Tree."

Our final confusing tidbit of the day concerns the Fallen Monarch trees.  The Fallen Monarch tree in Kings Canyon National Park is located in Grant Grove, along with the General Grant Tree and the Centennial Stump.  (The Centennial Stump is what remains of a giant sequoia that was cut down in 1875.  A 16 foot section of the tree was transported to Philadelphia for the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876.)  The Fallen Monarch in Kings Canyon is not to be confused with the Fallen Monarch in Yosemite National Park which can be found on the Big Trees Loop Trail in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, the largest grove of sequoias in Yosemite.

Yes, that's the Fallen Monarch in Kings Canyon.  No, those are not my kids.

Since all this confusion was making our heads hurt, we decided to go for a hike to clear our minds.  The Zumwalt Meadow Loop Trail in Kings Canyon did the trick.  (Please note that the Zumwalt Meadows Trail is no longer a loop; it’s now a 1.5 mile out-and-back trail.)  Nature’s menu of attractions and activities never fails to excite and entertain me.  In just one day, we walked among the largest trees in the world, savored views of the Kings River rushing along at the bottom of a deep, deep canyon, and wandered along the edge of a mountain meadow surrounded by massive granite outcroppings.

Kyra framing a shot on the Zumwalt Meadow Trail

Stepping outdoors into the natural world is not unlike walking into an all-night diner that has a 10-page menu and serves breakfast all day.  Mother Nature’s choices are just as varied and delectable, but feed our souls rather than fuel our bodies.

Zumwalt Meadow

With a beautiful blue sky day in which to frolic and giant trees and magnificent scenery all around us, our first of two days at Sequoia/Kings Canyon proved to be one of pure delight.  That delight would turn to fright the next day (for me, at least) when we decided to hike the Moro Rock Trail – an acrophobe’s nightmare.