Viola Falls
Larry and I hiked 6 miles to Viola Falls, we started from the campground. The hike was great, we hiked up and down the mountainside through a forest of pines. We climbed over a few fallen trees and saw beautiful vistas. The trail took us by Swale Work Center to Viola Falls and back through Sunset Campground to Azalea Campground, where we were. We hiked up 600 feet in elevation.
Swale Work Center
Larry walking over a bridge by Viola Falls
A view from the hiking trail
In the afternoon we went to the Visitor Center to get a internet connection. It was Earth Day and there were a few booths set up giving information out about recycling and conserving. One booth was sponsored by the National Park Service, which was about the different pines trees in the park, they are Sequoias, Sugar, Jefferies and Ponderosas. We have been seeing these huge pine cones and we assumed that it was from the Sequoia but it was from the Sugar. The Sequoia has a very small pine cone and the seed is the size on a piece of oatmeal. The Jefferies and Ponderosas pine cones look a like but if you squeeze the pine cone if it pokes you it’s a Ponderosa. We learned this by stopping by the booth. So when I got back to the site I was on a mission to find the different pine cones I only found two kinds.
Two Sugar Pine Cones before the squirrels got to them
A Sugar Pine Cone after the squirrels got to it
A Ponderosa Pine Cone
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I would love to hear friendly comments on anything at all. Ruth