San Francisco and Sequoias
on Tina's Journal (China), 09/Oct/2011 18:22, 34 days ago
I arrived in San Francisco on the 8th October to start a two week trip visiting and trekking through some of the National Parks in South West USA.Today, after an early breakfast, I and 11 others set off with our guide 'Mex' beginning our adventure across 4 States. In the morning we took a ride through San Francisco in our small van which we would kind of grow accustomed to despite us all feeling a little cramped in together. It was a misty morning as we slowly rode through the town and stopped at the famous Golden Gate Bridge. I had hoped for clear blue skies in order to get the red contrast of this impressive structure. However this wasn't to be and instead I got to see the bridge for the very first time slightly immersed in cloud. It didn't however affect my delight and I was much impressed with this modern wonder of the world.Golden Gate Bridge, San FranciscoI walked halfway across the bridge and was able to view Alcatraz Island. We didn't have time to visit the famous now unoccupied prison yet from a distance one could get a sense of its uninvitedness! I had recently read a book which mentioned the number of suicides, well over a 1000 off the bridge and I couldn't help thinking of this whilst on the bridge. There is a notice by a telephone halfway across saying 'There is hope make the call'. I wonder how many have been saved by making the call? Thankfully I wasn't feeling suicidal and was so happy just be on this trip :-)Alcatraz IslandIn the afternoon we drove up to Yosemite National Park. During part of the drive I was amazed at how similar the mountain climb up was to the mountains here in Sardinia. The alpine trees reminded me of the many lush pine trees we have here. Once we arrived at Yosemite the terrain began to change and we headed straight to see the Sequoia Trees which are by volume the largest living things on earth. The trees we saw were about 1500 years old...impressive!A huge sequoiaPart of a Sequoia!I had always wanted to see one of these trees so I was thrilled when I found out that day we would be passing by to take a look.