If you walk all the way around the Grizzly Giant, you’ll notice that it has a pronounced lean. The Grizzly Giant Gets A Little Help From Its FriendsĪs long-lived as giant sequoias are, they couldn’t do it without help from their neighbors.
A new branch can take over as the leader, only to die back again when another fire comes through, or during an extensive drought.įor a giant sequoia, the presence of a snag in the top is a proud banner of its ability to endure across millennia. When this happens the top of the sequoia dies back to reduce the water requirement, producing a snag top. However, fire scars interrupt the flow of water from the roots to the tree tops. The Grizzly Giant survived these lightning fires – a good thing since fires are an essential part of the Sequoia lifecycle. Still, if you look at the base of the tree, you will notice charred hollows, fire scars that are probably hundreds of years old. The tree is filled with tannic acid which increases its resistance to threats from fungus, insects and fire. It’s thick, spongy bark is estimated to be about 2 feet (0.6 m) thick. It has likely been hit by lightning more than a few times, and withstood droughts as well as both wind and snow storms. In its life, likely spanning thousands of years, the Grizzly Giant weathered many hardships that might have been the end of lesser trees.
This is a feature that many mature giant sequoias share. Best to go see it yourself.Īs the Grizzly Giant aged, a snag formed at the top – those dead stems at the top of the tree. The Grizzly Giant is so massive, it can be hard to get the whole tree in one photo. Snag a Front Row Seat for a Sequoia’s Hardiness Expect generations ahead of us to be even more in awe. These trees have done a lot of growing already, and unlike us humans, sequoias continue to grow larger with age. However, in context of the massive main trunk, it hardly attracts any notice.ĭoes that make you feel like a tiny pine cone in comparison? Consider that these massive trees all start their life as a small seed about the size of a flake of oatmeal. If it were an independent tree growing out of the ground, just this branch would be much larger than many other non-sequoia trees. The largest branch growing about 95 feet overhead is more than 6 feet (2 m) in diameter. That’s as heavy as a tower of 145 elephants standing on top of each other.Įven the branches of this mighty tree are noteworthy in their own right. The Grizzly Giant, when measured in 1990, was 34,005 cubic feet (962.9 m 3) in volume and roughly 2 million pounds in weight. They are the largest trees in the world by volume. In the world of trees, Giant Sequoias ( Sequoiadendron giganteum) live up to their name. Ready to visit? Check out these must-know facts about this wonder before you get to meet in person! The Grizzly Giant Ranked the 26 th Largest Tree In the World! That’s long enough for this gentle giant to have a story or two to tell. However, based on its diameter in comparison with other trees, researchers estimate that it could be around 2000 to 3000 years old. We can’t know for certain how old this tree is until we are able to count the annual rings in the wood – something we can’t do now without harming the tree. You’ll need to take a panorama to capture that in one image! Standing at a solid 209 feet (63.7 m) it is the second largest tree in the Yosemite, and one of the most photographed. The Grizzly Giant is the most renowned giant sequoia in Yosemite National Park. The Grizzly Giant in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia is a must-see during your Yosemite visit.
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