WHERE WE WORK

Known mostly for the majesty of the largest living single organism in the world (a giant sequoia tree more than 2,000 years old named General Sherman) Sequoia National Park is also home to some of the most amazing wilderness in the Sierra Nevada. The Mineral King area is a national cultural landscape. The road to the Mineral King area, which opens May 1, is 25-miles long and consists of 689 curves leading into the backcountry. The Atwell Mill contains artifacts of the Kaweah Commonwealth dating back to the 1890s. During the late 1800s, many of the majestic giants were lost to logging, until the U.S. Army was assigned to guard the national parks in existence at the time. The first troops to guard Sequoia were Buffalo Soldiers. One of the artifacts that remain from this era is a large steam engine once used for cutting timber from the forest. If you plan to visit this spectacular park this spring, be forewarned. After a long winter, hungry marmots emerge from their slumber, and they have been known to chew on automobile wires. Chicken-wire fence is a great way to safeguard any vehicle. Visit the park website at www.nps.gov/seki or call the park’s headquarters at 559.565.3341.