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The Coast News, July 13, 2012

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JULY <strong>13</strong>, <strong>2012</strong><br />

We are 300 feet below the<br />

earth’s surface in Sequoia<br />

National Park’s Crystal Cave,<br />

aptly named for its magnificent,<br />

shining stalactites and<br />

stalagmites that surround us.<br />

Suddenly, the few lights<br />

mounted on the walls go out<br />

and we stand in blackness.<br />

Our group of eight does a collective,<br />

controlled gasp.<br />

“I don’t think they know<br />

we’re down here,” says our<br />

guide, Mitch Springer, who<br />

knows everything there is to<br />

know about the area’s flora,<br />

fauna, history and geology.<br />

“This was an unscheduled<br />

tour.”<br />

Say what?<br />

A few long seconds pass<br />

before Springer turns on his<br />

flashlight. He wants us to<br />

experience what a cave is like<br />

before humans discover and<br />

invade it.<br />

I get it; utter, utter blackness.<br />

A bit scary, but thrilling,<br />

too.<br />

Sequoia National Park is<br />

mostly known for the giant<br />

redwoods that grow in groves<br />

scattered throughout the<br />

park, but it also has 200 caves.<br />

Only Crystal Cave is open to<br />

the public. Admissions support<br />

the Sequoia Natural<br />

History Association, which<br />

raises money for the park’s<br />

various visitor programs. <strong>The</strong><br />

cave is open mid-May to<br />

October, and weather permitting,<br />

there will be a special<br />

Halloween tour.<br />

<strong>The</strong> half-mile hike down<br />

and back to the cave is not for<br />

the faint-hearted or the shortof-breath,<br />

but it’s worth it.<br />

Springer points out the<br />

many plant species on the verdant<br />

trail and promises that<br />

we’ll have time at tour’s end to<br />

enjoy the fairy-tale waterfall<br />

nearby. Once in the cave, we<br />

move through the various<br />

“rooms” and marvel at otherworldly<br />

mineral formations<br />

still evolving from the waterand-mineral<br />

interaction. It’s<br />

hard to follow the “no-touching”<br />

mandate; we’ll have to be<br />

satisfied with taking many<br />

photos.<br />

At the 90-minute mark,<br />

we begin to feel the chill (the<br />

cave is a constant 50 degrees)<br />

and head toward daylight.<br />

Sequoia National Park is<br />

not only notable for what it<br />

offers, but for what it doesn’t.<br />

Gone are the hotel, gas<br />

station, sewage treatment<br />

plant, markets and the more<br />

than 24 acres of concrete that<br />

once sat smack-dab in the<br />

middle of the gargantuan,<br />

ancient trees. Everything was<br />

removed in a late 1990s<br />

restoration project.<br />

Paul Bischoff, owner of<br />

Sequoia Tours in nearby Three<br />

Rivers, explains the transformation.<br />

“In the past, building in<br />

the middle of (a national<br />

park’s) attractions was the<br />

norm, but we discovered that<br />

doing this harms the<br />

resources. Looking at this area<br />

now, you’d never know that<br />

there were 300 buildings<br />

here.”<br />

Bischoff has lived in or<br />

near the park most of his 40some<br />

years and provides an<br />

informative and entertaining<br />

insider’s view.<br />

(Recommendation: Take a<br />

half-day tour, then return to<br />

those areas of most interest.)<br />

Today in the reclaimed<br />

area there is only the Giant<br />

Forest Museum, which fea-<br />

tures exhibits on Sequoia ecology.<br />

For lodging, drive a few<br />

minutes north for the cozy,<br />

comfortable and low-key<br />

Wuksachi Lodge. It offers 102<br />

rooms in three buildings in a<br />

forest setting that deer and<br />

bears love, too. You can see<br />

both (when not looking for<br />

them, of course) just outside<br />

THE COAST NEWS<br />

<strong>The</strong>re’s more to Sequoia National Park than the redwoods<br />

E’LOUISE<br />

ONDASH<br />

Hit the Road<br />

A cross section of the trunk of a giant sequoia allows park visitors to see the growth rings of the tree. <strong>The</strong><br />

rings reveal the years of generous rainfall and drought. This is one of the stops on the half-day tour with<br />

Sequoia Tours. Photos by Jerry Ondash<br />

Stalactites that look like curtain fabric hang from the ceiling of Crystal<br />

Cave, about 300 feet below ground, where the temperature is a chilly<br />

and constant 50 degrees.<br />

your door or on one of the<br />

nearby trails. Sometimes<br />

guests in <strong>The</strong> Peaks dining<br />

room spot forest wildlife<br />

through the huge windows<br />

that look onto a vista of sugar<br />

pines, white fir and mountain<br />

peaks.<br />

Besides a panoramic<br />

view, <strong>The</strong> Peaks offers three<br />

meals a day in the rustic, highceilinged<br />

dining room. <strong>The</strong><br />

lodge which recently welcomed<br />

Chef Jeff Graham (formerly<br />

of Yosemite’s<br />

Ahwahnee Hotel) who is introducing<br />

changes to the restaurant’s<br />

fare.<br />

“<strong>The</strong>re is a companywide<br />

focus on local, organic,<br />

seasonal and nutritious food,”<br />

Dogwood trees proliferate in<br />

Sequoia National Park, their delicate<br />

blooms in strong contrast to<br />

the sturdy, giant Sequoias.<br />

he explains. “Healthy food for<br />

healthy people. We also follow<br />

the applications of the<br />

Monterey Bay Seafood Watch,<br />

which stresses using sustainable<br />

fish (farmed or fished in<br />

ways that don’t harm the environment).”<br />

<strong>The</strong> new menu also<br />

includes gluten-free and other<br />

entrees that accommodate<br />

B11<br />

special dietary needs.<br />

“Just let our staff know<br />

what you need,” Graham says.<br />

I enjoyed a superb<br />

gluten-free pasta with a flavorful<br />

light-and-creamy artichoke<br />

dressing, that featured<br />

two kinds of mushrooms and<br />

tender chicken.<br />

While the park was relatively<br />

uncrowded in early<br />

June, visitor numbers soar<br />

starting mid-month and continue<br />

through Labor Day.<br />

Come after that time and<br />

enjoy beautifully crisp, sunny<br />

and uncrowded autumn days<br />

and spectacularly clear<br />

nights. For information:<br />

Sequoia National Park —<br />

nps.gov/seki/index.htm;<br />

Wuksachi Lodge —<br />

VisitSequoia.com; sightseeing<br />

tours — sequoiatours.com;<br />

Sequoia Natural History<br />

Association — sequoiahistory.org.<br />

(Future columns will<br />

further explore the park.)<br />

E’Louise Ondash is a freelance writer living<br />

in North County. Tell her about your<br />

travels at eondash@coastnewsgroup.com.

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