The South: Population and People

The South was known for its very low population density due to its larger farming regions. Up until the 1900’s The South’s farm lands also known as plantation were ran by mostly African American slaves who had been brought over from Africa to do large amounts of hard physical labor. Similar to the south the Sequoia’s has very low population density. Sequoia although not known for farming is spread out over many acres with less than 100 people who live there permanently, mostly to maintain the parks trails and make sure nothing is being destroyed. In these high mountain areas there were never slaves because there were never much farming at all. Similar to the South’s removal of Native American’s in the 1830’s, the Spaniards worked their way into the Sierra Nevada’s killing off many Indian tribe members. Along with slaver in The South came much racism and segregation of blacks and other mixed races from the dominant white race. This was never a large issue in the Sequoia area, in fact as of today the park sees about 1 million visitors from around the world. Any sense of discrimination, if it does exist does not show. On my annual family trips to the mountain I have met many different people from China, Japan, Russia, Texas, New York, Europe, all of which different races and, all of which come together to view the beautiful Sequoia National Park.

Population: www.visitsequoia.com/sequoia-national-park.aspx

Appalachia

The Appalachian Mountains are known to have a poor economy due to the lack of access because of the region they are located. These mountains put a halt on the expansion into the Western parts of the United States because they were hard to bypass, and not easy to have large amounts of agriculture. Similar to the Appalachians the Sierra Nevada mountain region created a barrier for emigrants heading west or east. It forced emigrants to either expand north towards Oregon or south in Utah and Arizona. In the 1800’s many Forty-niners tried to make it through these rough mountains. Some of them made it while many of them also did not. The Sequoia’s have never grown to be even a percentage of population within California and are still preserved for their beautiful natural landmarks.

            It wasn’t until more recently within the mid 1900’s that the Appalachians began providing train access for travelers and visitors. Similar to this region Sequoia did not start having public transportation until this time too. Now they have daily shuttles that bring you up the mountain from Visalia, the town right before you head up to Sequoia that run hourly. They also have train rides and taxi services that provide easy access to and from the park coming from both entrances. Both of these mountain areas are still seen as great wonders of the world with many acres of untouched nature.  

Immigrants: http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/places/states/california/ca_sierra.htm

Transportation: www.sequoiatours.com/amtrak.htm

Bypassed Mountains

If you were to look at California as a whole and how much of it is built along the Pacific Ocean, along with the amount of Megalopolis cities you would realize the Sequoia is easily bypassed. The park has two entrances: one coming from the Northwest through Kings Canyon and the other through Three Rivers from the Southwest. The park is lush with nature but greatly isolated from civilization. Although the soil in these mountain areas is deep and rich it is hard for any sort of farming to survive these cold climates, other than the large redwood and pine trees that live in the area. This is one reason the park was protected from having a mass number of people destroy it. The Act To save America’s Forests was created to protect many parks from deforestation which has helped to keep the Sequoia redwoods from going extinct. Mining is also very rare in the park because it is a national park which means that the state government protects it, however there are a few gold mining sites that can be found. Fishing is not a huge hobby for park goers considering the only fish to be got in these mountains is an array of trout, but many of them are river trout which do not get big enough to even eat. Due to the lack of resources to produce farming agriculture this beautiful mountain area has remained isolated and often bypassed by many civilians.

A picture of the beautiful Sequoia Twin Lakes.

Transportation: http://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/directions.htm

Act To Save America’s Forests: http://saveamericasforests.org/resources/Destruction.htm

Gold: http://goldmaps.com/calif/california_gold_mines_4.htm

Fishing: http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/travel-ta-sequoia-kings-canyon-national-park-fishing-california-sidwcmdev_067202.html

Manufacturing and Industry

Sequoia is not known as any type of manufacturing core however the Sierra Nevada mountain range in which they are located in were formed in granitic rock. This granite was formed through a process of subduction where molten rock cooled under the surface and boiling water from the ocean came up through its surface and melted it. Sections of the park due to this process have metamorphic rocks such as quartz, schist, and marble. Marble rocks can be found in many of over 200 caves located within the park.

           
The park is able to maintain open because of the money it collects from visitors due to its travel and entertainment industry. One of the largest forms of entertainment within the park is the stunningly beautiful Crystal Caves. This cave which has been open to the public eye since 1941 not only brings in much of the parks revenue, but it does so by allowing visitors to see some of these beautiful metamorphic rocks that are so georgics. It has guided walk through tours which allows visitors to see marble formations, large coliseum like rooms filled with quartz, and many other interesting sites. For those a little more daring, they have spelunking tours which allow you to crawl through more areas of the cave to get a more daring experience.

Here is the link to Crystal Cave if you would like more information: http://www.visitsequoia.com/crystal-cave.aspx

Sierra Nevada formation information: http://www.nps.gov/seki/naturescience/geology_overview.htm

Megalopolis

A megalopolis is a series of many metropolitan close to each other. It describes the sort of over urbanization that happens in large city areas. Relating Sequoia National Park to megalopolis is very hard because it is far from it. With a year-around population of about 104 and only 211 housing units in a park that spans over 620 square miles this mountain area is not even close to a Megalopolis.

Sequoia is located in the beautiful state of California which, in its self has many large Megalopolis areas: Las Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, San Diego, etc. Many of these cities if not all of them are well known (unlike Sequoia) because they are so large. Most of them are known for their population densities, along with their large amounts of industry, manufacturing, and construction. These areas are controlled by large amounts of government workers: fireman, policeman, senators, governors, etc, and the living class ranges from extreme amounts of poverty to high class millionaires. There is hard to find a relation between Sequoia and these large Urban areas because the highest amount of population in this national park are the red wood trees that make up its natural wonders.


Statistics provided by: http://www.zipareacode.net/sequoia-national-park-ca.htm

Human Activity

Native American’s lived in these Southern Sierra mountains long before the tourists of today have set foot on them. For 1000’s of years Indians from the Yokuts preoccupied the foothills while the Western Mono tribes and Monache tribes roamed the upper mountains. These Indians controlled these lands until the late 1700’s when Europeans began to invade their territory. A Spanish missionary by the name of Font came along exploring the area recognizing it for its beautiful snowy mountains which is what gave the mountain range its name, “Sierra Nevada’s.” As the Spaniards continued to explore the lower areas around the mountains known as the San Joaquin Valley they spread diseases the Yokut tribes causing many of their deaths. These Europeans brought with them the idea of expansion with that came mining, logging, trapping, sheepherding, etc which these Indian hunters and gathers were not use to. As the early 1800’s hit these Spaniards were wanting more water and area so they worked their way up into the mountains. In the clash of interest between the natives and the invaders they created Sequoia National Park in order to keep the land under protection from industrialization. As for the Indians who were there first, their tribes exist of about 1000 peoples which is less than half of the original size. Today the park is opened for campers, backpackers, and nature lovers of all kinds to come and enjoy the beautiful redwoods.
Information source: http://www.nps.gov/seki/historyculture/index.htm

Friend and myself and Moro Rock, one of the top sites to see within the park. It is considered the best 360 view in the park at which you can see teh Great Western Divide on one side and on the other Visalia the last city at the very base of the mountain as well as the entire road that brings you into the park. I put these pictures because Moro Rock was where the Mono Indians would come to look out for predators and enemies at the bottom of the hill. It gave them the ability to know what was going on before hand.

Physical Environment

The park is located in the physiographic region of known as Pacific Mountains and Valleys which ranges from Alaska down through Canada, Washington, and Oregon to the Southern point of California. The Sierra Nevada mountain range that the park is located on top of a fault block. Due to this much of the park had different sized valleys and mountains. At the lower elevation of the park are the foothills where temperatures range from about 35F-58F depending on the time of year. The weather would be considered subtropical with moist winders and dry summers. These lower areas receive about 26 inches a year. It is composed of chaparral and oak woodlands. At the higher elevations where the forest gets more dense the temperatures on average range from 24F-44F. The precipitation in these higher areas is much larger, with about 40-45 inches of rain yearly. During the winter season much of the upper area is covered in snow, but in the summer it is usually perfect temperature and the ideal time to come camping with family and friends, with warmer days and cooler nights.

My friends and I sitting by our camp fire enjoying a perfect cool summer night.

Information gathered from personal knowledge and http://www.nps.gov/seki/

Regions and Themes

Sequoia National Park is located in the mountain ranges located in the Central Eastern part of California. This beautiful National Park is also known as "The Land of Giants" because of its beautiful red wood trees that bring thousands of visitors per year to see its diverse environment. It is in the Southern portion of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Sitting at 1300 feet at base and 15000 feet at summit it gets plenty of rain and snow during the winter and lots of sunshine in the summer. The wildlife is diverse and so are the visitors who come to see this awing park!

Picture courtesy of: http://www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm