SEQUOIA: Christmas in the Forest of Giants

Mother Nature has a Christmas present for us all. She’s decorated the age-old groves of sequoias with snow as soft as angels’ hair, making this one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on earth.

In woods as quiet as a church sanctuary, visitors in stocking caps stare in awe at trees that have been alive since before the birth of Christ. The green boughs and red bark of majestic sequoias glow with holiday colors in winter’s white tableau.

Here on the slopes of the Sierra, far above the season’s mad rush, Christmas truly has a magic of its own.

At Giant Forest Village, children build rotund snowmen in front of rustic cabins, while parents admire their kids’ creations through frosted windowpanes. It’s a scene Norman Rockwell would envy.

Over at the dining hall, a roaring log fire and steaming cups of hot chocolate warm a family that had joined a park ranger for a nature tour on snowshoes. The youngsters are still excited about the deer they saw walking across a meadow.

A few miles away, tire chains rumble over snow-packed roads to a pretty, pine-rimmed valley, where rope tows take beginners up gentle slopes for merry trips down on their brand-new skis. Intermediate skiers ride the poma lift to reach easy runs from a hilltop that has just a 674-foot vertical drop.

Downhill hot-doggers and fashion plates in apres -ski clothes would be out of place in Sequoia’s Wolverton ski bowl. It’s a snow-flocked center for family fun, especially since becoming the park’s headquarters for cross-country skiing this season. The ski shop rents cross-country boots and equipment, and experts offer Nordic lessons.

Today some visitors are enjoying the perfect Christmas gift--a quiet glide over the snow through the forest of giants.

For others, the pleasure of a winter holiday in Sequoia National Park is awakening to the sound of snowplows instead of an alarm clock. Not to mention the absence of televisions and telephones.

It’s also sunlight glistening off a snow-laden evergreen, the quiet drip of icicles, the sharp smell of mountain air untainted by smog, and star-filled skies that could be a match for those in Bethlehem two millenniums ago.

Certainly the Sequoiadendron giganteum are a main attraction, whether powdered with snowflakes, shrouded in fog or silhouetted against an indigo sky. It’s almost impossible to imagine that some of these redwoods have been living for at least 2,300 years--stalwart survivors of the Ice Age, forest fires and covetous loggers.

Sequoias have been in danger ever since white men first came across them in 1852. So remarkable are the trees--some as tall as a 26-story building and requiring 20 people with outstretched arms to encircle the trunk--that they almost defy belief. When a section of one enormous sequoia was shipped to Philadelphia for the 1876 Centennial exhibition, skeptical observers called it a California hoax.

Describing them as noble kings of all the world’s conifers, John Muir was among the many early conservationists who urged their protection. Congress responded in 1890 by establishing Sequoia and General Grant (now Kings Canyon) national parks.

Some of the sequoias have been given titles, such as the famous General Sherman, named by its discoverer in honor of his commander in the Civil War. Also well known is the General Grant, which grows in neighboring Kings Canyon National Park and is designated the nation’s official Christmas tree.

On the main route from Los Angeles to Sequoia National Park through its southern entrance, the mountainous road twists to an altitude of 6,500 feet before dividing into one-way lanes that pass beneath the Four Guardsmen trees. Soon after, drivers encounter the Sentinel, flanked by the highway and a plowed parking area for Giant Forest Village.

That lone sequoia is a landmark for the old village market, the first stop for city folks who quickly discover that a white Christmas is no fun unless you’re winterized.

With daytime temperatures just above the freezing mark, there’s a brisk business in snow boots, wool caps and gloves, and even long underwear. The market’s other best sellers are tire chains, ice scrapers and antifreeze.

Visitors often warm up next door at the village tavern, sipping hot, mulled wine before a blaze of logs crackling in the Fireside Room. A shoveled path leads from there to the cafeteria, where rosy-cheeked faces gather before another cheery fireplace.

Giant Forest Village is the center of activity in Sequoia, especially during winter, when roads and facilities are closed in many other destinations in the park.

Also open year-round is Grant Grove Village in Kings Canyon National Park. It’s 32 miles northwest via Generals Highway, which may be blocked after a blizzard until snowplows clear the way.

Except for visitor centers and campsites operated by the National Park Service (NPS), most everything in both parks is run by a concessionaire, Guest Services. That experienced hospitality company takes care of all lodging and food service as well as the gas stations, gift shops and ski facilities.

The lodge area at Giant Forest Village in Sequoia could be a print by Currier & Ives. Cabins from the 1930s are surrounded by trees, including sequoias that toppled over and now display weathered root systems as tall as the rooftops. Narrow paths have been cut through the fallen trunks so that guests can get to their cozy cabins.

Smoke curls from the only hideaway with a fireplace, marked H (for honeymoon). It’s the most popular lodging in the park. At $73 a night, it’s also among the most expensive.

Other favorites are Nos. 9 and 10, two-room family cabins that sleep six. During holidays and Friday and Saturday nights, they cost $65; other nights in the low season (through April), families slumber there for $49.

Also available in winter in the lodge area are rustic deluxe cabins with two double beds. Holiday rates are $60,Friday or Saturday $46 and other days $33.

The lodge dining room is closed for the season, so guests in the cabins must drive or walk half a mile down the road for meals in the cafeteria.

To be closer to the cafeteria as well as to the Fireside Room and the village market, some visitors prefer staying just across the road in the Kaweah area. Instead of cabins, the accommodations are motel-style, with a choice of deluxe units (two queen beds) or special rooms (two double beds).

The deluxe room rates during holidays are $73; usual low-season rates are $49 on Friday or Saturday, $35 on other days. Special rooms go for $66 on holidays, $48 on Friday or Saturday, $36 on other days.

Nothing Luxurious

Just as there are no luxurious lodgings in Sequoia National Park, it’s also not a spot for gourmet dining. With trays and silverware in hand, visitors read the daily specials on a blackboard, then file down the line of steam tables to choose from half a dozen entrees and an array of side dishes and desserts.

The cafeteria’s hardy fare may not please weight watchers, but the food is definitely fuel for a day of snow play.

A favorite trail for cross-country skiers and snowshoers follows an unplowed road from Giant Forest Village to several sequoias in Crescent Meadow. Most memorable are the Auto Log that cars can drive on, and the Tunnel Log that cars drive through after the snow melts in late spring.

A major stop for motorists throughout the year is two miles up Generals Highway. From the plowed parking area, snow boots crunch over a short path to the General Sherman tree that soars 274 feet like a ladder to heaven.

The Congress Trail loops from that famous tree past many other spectacular sequoias in the heart of Giant Forest. Metal triangles mark the way for those on skis and snowshoes.

Passing a side road to the Wolverton ski area, Generals Highway continues north to the main NPS visitor center at Lodgepole. Nearby is the only gas station open in winter in Sequoia park. Snowplows have cleared a parking area for overnighters sleeping in RVs and courageous campers who put up their tents on the frozen ground.

Lodging Hard to Find

When Giant Forest Village has no room in the inn, lodging may be available at Grant Grove Village in neighboring Kings Canyon National Park. Nine vintage two-bed cabins cost $45 during holidays and on Friday and Saturday, $30 on other days.

Much more basic are the cabins with a wood-burning stove for heat, kerosene lamps for light and bath facilities in a separate building. They rent for $30 on holidays, $25 at other times.

Half a mile south are additional accommodations at Wilsonia, a private community within the park. Family-run Wilsonia Lodge has cottages and motel rooms ($55 to $60) and two-room family units ($80 to $95), as well as a cafe and grocery store.

Many visitors at Giant Forest plan a day-trip to Grant Grove just to drive through a snow-glittering landscape that would make even Santa Claus feel at home.

From the road it’s an easy walk to the General Grant tree, but you reach more sequoias and picture-perfect scenery on snowshoes or cross-country skis. The ski touring shop in Grant Grove Village has reasonable rentals. There’s a coffee shop, gas station and NPS visitor center in the village, too.

For readers who think that a holiday in this winter fairyland is only a dream, remember that dreams can come true.

Merry Christmas!

Entry to the park area is $5 per vehicle, good for seven days in both Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. Snowmobiles are prohibited, and no pets are permitted on trails. Signs are posted when tire chains are required. For recorded road and weather information, call (209) 565-3351. Park headquarters at Ash Mountain: (209) 565-3341.

Guest Services lodging reservations in Giant Forest and Grant Grove: (209) 561-3314. Or write to P.O. Box 789, Three Rivers, Calif. 93271.

Ski information at Wolverton (Giant Forest): (209) 565-3435. Ski information at Grant Grove: (209) 335-2314.

Wilsonia Lodge: (209) 335-2310.