It’s the ultimate in historical irony: felling millennia-old giant sequoia trees in the 19th century as ‘trophy trees’, just to prove to the world that they had existed in the first place. Here’s what happened.
I can’t even remember the first time I learned about the existence of giant sequoia trees. I must have been quite young, because my fascination with them held an almost mythical quality, as if these trees were more a product of imagination than reality, like the Loch Ness Monster, or Bigfoot. I distinctly remember seeing a picture of a car driving through a tunnel carved through one of these trees, but still, it was hard to believe that a forest of these trees could exist. Which was why I promised myself that someday I would venture to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks in California if for no other reason than to see these trees for myself.
Half a century later, that someday happened…
There is something about deserts that fascinates people. Whether it is the vast, alien landscapes or the sheer challenge of surviving in an extreme environment, these extreme places seem to spark the imagination and attract the curious. Joshua Tree, California, is one of these destinations, a small desert town that has attracted movie stars and musicians, hippies and artists, adventurers and conservationists. And despite its small size, visitors who come here soon discover that the options for what to do in Joshua Tree are as unique and varied as the twisted trees after which the town is named.
