Mariposa Grove has various hiking trails winding through the hills, the further and higher you go the quiter and more immpressive it becomes.

We steal ourselves for a four hour hike looping through backcountry valleys to the summit at 6800 feet and down again. Humbled by these enormous trees we feel like Lilliputians in the land of giants sharing the trails with more deer and squirrel than fellow humans.

To give you a feel for the size of these Sequoia, 'California Tree' has a tunnel cut through its trunk, a tunnel high and wide enough to allow a horse drawn stage coach to drive through it and despite this tree butchery, the giant lives on growing another foot in diameter every decade.

The view from the summit is impressive, although Kathy's vertigo does not let her get too close to the edge it does mean she doubles her pace on the way down. Back at the car and we are tired, the ascent was 3 hours constantly up hill, the descent easier but still one and a half hours, for the second day running we have covered over 8 miles. It is though worth every step.