Walking West is sponsored by the Chicken Ranch Casino Resort in historic Jamestown, California, home to the great outdoors of the Mother Lode.

Chicken Ranch Casino Resort, proudly owned by the Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Miwok Indians of California.

Walkin West is brought to you in part by Visit El Dorado, visit Tuolumne, and visit Calaveras County Visitors Bureaus.

Discover the history of the gold rush, pristine mountain lakes and the waterfalls of Yosemite, all here in California's Gold Country.

Walkin West is brought to you by Ironstone Vineyards, home to a 44 pound gold leaf crystaline specimen, and where we've been producing red and white wines in the historic gold country since 1989.

Ironstone vineyards Murphy's, California.

Walkin West is brought to you by the Big Sur River Inn on the Pacific Coast Highway in Big Sur, California.

The Big Sur River Inn invites you to hike and explore the rugged coastal trails of the West in a respectful, responsible way.

Big Sur River Inn.

I'm Steve Welden and boy, do I love adventure.

Whether it's a good long hike, climbing at a big old rock or checking out that secret swimming hole.

I'm raring to go.

Join me as we hike for the crest of the Rockies to the beautiful Pacific coast.

Right here on Walkin' West.

MUSIC Well, we're near the west entrance to the park, to Sequoia National Park, and we're crossing a historic bridge.

This is called Pumpkin Hollow.

In 1922 they built this bad boy Sequoia National Park.

This is going to be a wonderful day.

Sequoia National Park is located in the high sierras of central California.

It's home to the giant sequoia tree, some of which are several thousand years old, and Sequoia is home to the largest living thing by volume in the world.

The General Sherman tree.

Now, if you're a fan of beauty, nature, and history galore, this national treasure has it all, Sequoia.

MUSIC Hi, I'm Steve Weldon.

Welcome to a Walkin West, and I, like you have a bucket list a mile long.

And guess what?

It's my day to day because I get to check one of my favorites off that list.

I'm talking about Sequoia National Park.

All I can say is, wow!

Sequoia is home with the largest living thing in the world.

That's the General Sherman tree.

It's also home with the highest peak in the lower 48, Mount Whitney and all the streams, all the mountains, all the wildlife.

It's all here at Sequoia and guess what?

I'm lucky today because I get to hike it.

Let's get after it right here on Walkin West.

MUSIC We're now just off Generals Highway at a place here in Sequoia called Hospital Rock.

You say to yourself, how did it get that name?

There were a couple of white settlers back in 1860.

One of them was a bear trapper who accidentally shot himself in the leg.

Well, the Mono tribe, who had been here for about for 1200 or 1300 years at the time.

They helped this man out.

They gave him medical aid, and he happened to be friends with a well known settler in the area by the name of Hale Tharpe.

Well, Hale Tharpe then gave this the name Hospital Rock.

Hospital Rock is a large court side rock on the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River.

It's a spiritual place with pictographs dating back to the mid 1300s.

They exhibit here, titled Community Kitchen shows how the Native American women prepared their acorns.

The bedrock mortar holes, you see were used to grind the acorns into flour for food.

We're down here by the Kaweah River and I'm sort of a tourist, but we've got some folks that are kind of indigenous and local to this area.

And are you guys having fun?

Yeah, well, you look like you're having a great time.

And what's your name?

Oh, my name is Delilah.

Hi, Delilah.

What is yours?

Carmen.

And yours?

I'm Matt.

And yours?

Selena.

And yours?

I'm Adelina.

Oh, Adelina what a beautiful name.

All you guys, and let me ask you something.

Do you come down here and go swimming or do you come down here a lot?

Yes, yes we do.

But we also follow some safety rules.

You follow safety rules?

Like what?

Like you always well, you make sure the the water is not brown or gray.

If it is, you get to higher ground immediately.

That means a flash flood is coming.

Oh, boy.

And we've had a lot of that.

So we got to be very, very careful and this river can be vicious.

Can it?

Yes it can.

A lot of lives have been lost in this river, especially in the spring.

And so you need to wait till the waters are calm and gentle, don't you?

Yes you do.

Okay.

Well, I'm glad you guys are having fun.

And you guys, I look, I bet you're one of these people that picks up after other people here at the park, aren't you?

Yes we do.

That's wonderful.

Well, you guys have a wonderful hike and stay safe and have a great day here in Sequoia.

Okay?

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

This mountain stream the Kaweah River, it's beautiful.

It's mid-summer and it's flowing great.

And these sequoias.

Oh, magical.

I'm willing to bet that you've never seen a redneck hug a tree.

Well, you have now.

< Birds and Bugs > Well, we're here Day Two at Sequoia National Park and what a very special place on planet Earth.

And today we're going to hike into the giant sequoias.

And I could not have a better all star guide than a gentleman from the Sequoia Parks Conservancy, Mr.

Daniel Hecker.

Come on over here, Daniel.

How are you doing?

Hey, Steve.

Welcome.

Well, thank you, I feel welcome, and I feel wonderful.

Tell me what you do with the conservancy.

Well, I'm the field institute director for Sequoia Parks Conservancy, which basically means I get to take wonderful people into this wonderful park.

Oh, my gosh, what a tough tour of duty.

It is.

So your job every day is to see what you can do to put a big old smile on a visitor's face.

It is, but often it's really easy.

People show up with a smile and they leave with even a bigger smile.

indistinct chatter We're going to find out a lot of educational things about the sequoia trees and the difference between a sequoia and the redwood.

And we're going to see the biggest one in the world, aren't we?

Yeah, we're going to go see a General Sherman tree.

Largest living thing on earth by volume.

If we're talking about trees.

And there's a lot more of them, too.

This is the largest collection of giant sequoias in the world.

Daniel, I'm really excited about our hike today.

Tell us where we're off to.

Well, Steve, we're going to start here in Crescent Meadow and go up to Tharp's log.

And then we're going to go here through Circle Meadow and join up with the Congress Trail, really spectacular trees, and finish up here at the General Sherman Tree.

Wow.

After that, we're able to take the shuttle all the way back to the beginning, right here at Crescent Meadow.

I'm ready to take that shuttle back.

I don't know if the old calves could take it.

This is going to be a great hike and we're going to see some beautiful trees.

Well, let's get going.

Let's do it.

MUSIC I love these Lupins.

And the smell.

Oh, I think I'd rather wear a Lupin around my neck that I would that Hai Karate cologne.

Hia, karate.

How old are you?

I was a waiter at the Last Supper.

MUSIC I sure love doing this show.

Nature's beauty, you make me smile.

Look at that poor old tree gutted by fire.

Boy, these trees are resilient.

They take a lickin and they keep on tickin.

You see, this is the Black Arch Sequoia.

It's been burned out by fire, but it's still alive.

Really?

Yeah.

Wow.

Oh, that's.

So Steve, this is a baby Sequoia.

Maybe about five years old.

Okay.

And this is a giant sequoia.

Maybe about a couple thousand years old.

Whoa!

MUSIC I love a lot of things about hiking, but the best part of the whole thing is the people I meet along the way.

Because they're all smiling.

They've got that pizzazz.

They've got that spirit.

And I met some lovely ladies along the way.

And you have that spirit.

Where are you all from?

Texas.

Oh, yeah, I had to figure that out.

You had to be from Texas as friendly as you are.

Of course.

Where in Texas?

San Antonio.

Just down the road from me.

Yep.

Near my old stomping grounds of Corpus Christi.

Yep.

That is cool.

So you're here at the park and you're here for the day?

Yes, 24 hours.

Okay.

Unfortunately, only.

And what do you love about this park the most?

The trees, obviously.

The big trees, giant sequoias.

Never seen anything like that before.

Oh my gosh.

And some of them are 2000 years old plus.

Yeah.

Have you seen the General Sherman yet?

Yes, yes, that was our first stop.

This is just wonderful.

It's nirvana.

It really is.

We're loving it.

I hope you guys continue to hike safe.

And I hope you keep that big old grin on your face.

Thank you.

Sir.

Go get them Texans!

It was lovely meeting you And thanks for being on Walkin West.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

MUSIC These trails are so clean and pristine and peaceful too.

Wow.

This is one fine day.

Pure fresh air and not a cloud in the sky.

This is a giant sequoia, but it's not half as giant as some of them that we're going to see here in a minute, Daniel.

Yeah, it's really hard to tell how big these are even when you're up close.

How thick is this bark?

The bark can get really thick a foot and a half to two feet thick.

And it's to help protect it from fire.

It helps protect it from the heat of the fire.

It also when it burns, it smolders kind of like a candle.

So the heat doesn't build up and it allows the fire to pass through safely and the Sequoia is still there.

Oh, wow.

MUSIC Heaven on earth, whoa!

MUSIC You know, you have to be here to fully appreciate the enormous-ness of these giant sequoias.

Oh my gosh!

MUSIC Do you know what?

This is one time I'm glad I'm not Shaquille O'Neal.

Well, we're taking a little break along this beautiful long meadow trail, and I was wondering about the growth of these sequoias.

I mean, my gosh, this thing behind us is probably, what, 1000 or 2000 years old?

Yeah, they, get really old.

And they also continue to grow throughout their entire life span.

So.

Okay.

Do they grow real quick when they're young?

They do.

Actually.

Sequoias are known for growing really quick.

They need a lot of water.

That's why we'll find a lot of them around here in the meadow.

But they grow really quick when they're young.

They continue to grow as they get into middle age.

And then when they get into their old age, they stop growing up so much, but they continue growing out.

MUSIC I just met this lovely family on the trail and I depicted a different accent.

Where are you from?

And we are from Barcelona.

Barcelona?

Yeah.

Oh, I've been to well, not Barcelona, but I've been to Madrid and I've been south of Barcelona to Alicante and the Mediterranean.

Beautiful.

Yeah, it is so beautiful.

What is your name?

I'm Bernat.

Oh.

And your name?

Arnau.

Como se llama?

Arnau.

Arnau.

Oh, eres muy muy amable amigo y que guapo!

Yeah.

And your name?

Eli.

Nice to meet you.

Yeah.

And so you're going to be hiking all through the park.

Yeah.

We've been, we just arrived here and we've been walking through these amazing but exciting and we are so impressed about this park and all this wonderful nature.

And the plant life, and the sequoias.

And once when one dies, something grows out of it.

Isn't it cool?

It's incredible.

It is incredible.

Are you having fun?

Tiene mucho divertido?

Si.

Ahh, that a boy!

What a wonderful family.

He's hiding into the sequoias.

Hiding into the sequoia.

Just playing all over it.

Yeah.

Oh.

That's fun.

Well, you guys hike safely.

And thank you so much for coming by and being on Walkin West.

Thank you.

Have a wonderful day.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Muchas Gracias.

I sure loved meeting our international friends.

I've met folks from all over the world on America's trails.

Just another reason to keep on hiking.

We're in front of Tharp's log.

Hale Tharpe built this cabin out of a downed giant sequoia log.

The log was hollowed out by a fire.

He built a table and a bench.

He added a fireplace and a door, even a window.

Look in the very back.

That's a bed back there, boy, he made it home.

He sure did.

Daniel, I understand that this is a grove with some real significance here to the park.

Yeah, Steve, we're in Founders Grove right now, and this grove is dedicated to the memory of all those citizens that helped form Sequoia National Park.

George Stuart was one of those founders, wasn't he?

George Stuart was, newspaperman down in Visalia, and he wrote a lot of editorials and wrote a lot of letters and got the public aware of how important it is to protect this land.

And you know, I read a famous quote from him.

He said that there is a lot better use of a sequoia tree than to make it into a fence post or a shingle.

Pretty good words.

MUSIC We're out here on the Congress Trail and I wonder, Daniel, how did this trail get its name?

Well, this trail is one of the most popular in Sequoia National Park, and it's to acknowledge that all national parks were formed by an act of Congress.

What is this group of trees here on the Congress trail?

Well, this is a very large group of sequoias, and there's so many of them, they decided to name this the House Group.

Okay.

Is there a Senate Group?

There is actually a Senate Group right up the trail.

And there's also a President's tree.

MUSIC This President's tree is huge.

It's tall, it's wide.

It's just words can't describe it.

This is amazing.

MUSIC We really enjoyed the House Group of trees.

And now we're at the Senate Group.

Tell me about this.

This is an even larger and more impressive grove of sequoias that we have right here.

They are amazing.

No doubt about that.

So we got the House.

We got the Senate.

We've got the President's trees that we've come up on.

How about we have a Democrat tree and we have a Libertarian an Independent and a Republican.

How would that work?

It's your park.

You can name them whatever you want.

I like that answer.

That's about as political as we're going to get on Walkin West.

Now, I got a question for you.

What is the difference?

Because I've always wondered this between a redwood and a sequoia?

Well, that's a good question.

A lot of people have that.

Redwoods and sequoias are really like cousins.

The redwoods grow along the coast of California.

And the giant sequoias, they grow in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Okay.

And the other big difference is that the coastal redwoods grow taller.

All right.

And the giant sequoias grow bigger.

MUSIC I thought many times today I had died and gone to heaven, but now I'm sure I have.

We're here.

It's a General Sherman tree.

You got to tell me about this.

And Steve, it's been a pleasure hiking with you today, but we saved the very best for last.

This is the General Sherman tree, the largest living tree on Earth by volume.

How old is this tree?

We don't actually know.

Our best guess is about 2300 years old.

And about how tall?

It's over 260ft tall.

Oh my gosh.

And how big around?

At its base, there's over 100ft in circumference there.

I've got to tell you, between everything that I have learned today, not only about trees, but about forestry and about conservation, you have been amazing as well.

And quickly, I want to know about the Sequoia Parks Conservancy and how can people help you guys and your mission and what you do.

Well, thanks to the Sequoia Parks Conservancy is just here to help the parks.

We're supporting them so people can support us in various ways by going to our website at Sequoia parks.org.

All right, my friend, it's been a pleasure.

Thanks for a wonderful day.

Oh, thank you so much.

Daniel Hecker right here with Steve Weldon on Walkin West.

MUSIC Getting the day started right.

With a trip up to Morro Rock.

And we are going to have a view that we will never, ever forget.

MUSIC We're here at Morro Rock at an elevation of about 6,700ft.

Now, Morro Rock is a granite rock formation here in the park.

And we are going to get one sensational view of the Great Western Divide.

This trail is about 350 steps long.

The steps to this trail were built in 1917 out of wood, and then they were done again the right way in 1930, out of rock and concrete, Ready to climb.

MUSIC Boy howdy.

Building this set of steps took some real doing.

This is great.

Whoa, what a view!

MUSIC Between the granite walls and the snow-capped mountains this park has it all.

I'm glad my antique knees are hanging in there Wow.

and I'm not even out of breath.

Would you look at that, what a view!

I think I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight.

Almost to the top of the world.

Holy Guacamole, this park has it all.

MUSIC Oh, wow!

We're looking at the Great Western divide.

Now, this divide separates the watersheds of the Kaua'i, Kern and Kings rivers.

Many of these peaks are way over 13,000ft high.

Whoa!

Oh, man.

This is nice.

Look at that sheer face.

My son Zach would love climbing that rascal.

350 steps of sheer fun.

Oh, people are loving this.

MUSIC Wow, what a great little hike.

And the way down was a lot easier than way up.

But the payoff was spectacular.

A great day at Morro Rock.

MUSIC Life is good today.

All these sequoias, these beautiful trees.

And we're on to not just see the trees, but we're going to a waterfall that's 1200 feet high.

And I'm talking about Tokopah Falls.

MUSIC We're at the Tokopah Falls trailhead.

Now this is on the marble fork of the beautiful Kaweah River.

And we're going to hike about, oh, about a three and a half mile round trip hike up to an elevation of nearly 7,400ft.

And we're going to see some waterfalls that cascade down, oh, about 1200 feet.

This is a major league waterfall, and it's a beautiful day to hike.

MUSIC This trail has it all.

MUSIC All the different conifers, the ferns.

The mountain streams.

MUSIC That water is a little cold to swim in but I'll tell you what, it sure is refreshing on a hot summer day.

MUSIC You know, maybe I should have brought my fishing pole.

I kind of like to wet a hook every now and then.

We're almost there.

And I think this is going to be special.

We have arrived.

Tokopah Falls!

MUSIC Well, I'm taking a little break here at the falls, these beautiful Tokopah Falls and all these people are enjoying this national park for what it is.

How are you guys doing?

We're doing great.

How are you and what are you doing?

What am I doing?

Well, first off, I'm Steve, and you're who?

I'm Tonda.

Hi Tonda.

What's your name?

Annie.

Hi Annie You're a cute one yes, you are.

Anyway, what we're doing is we have a PBS program, and it's called Walkin West.

It's a hiking show.

Very cool.

And our mission is to get people off the couch, off the computer, away from cell phones and politics, to explore all the beauty of the West in a respectful, responsible way.

Yeah.

Oh, I like that.

Well, I like you for liking that.

That's great.

And to see you guys out here having fun, it just really makes my heart sing.

It certainly makes ours sing, too.

Where are you guys from?

We're from Omaha, Nebraska.

Omaha, Nebraska.

America's heartland.

That's right.

Right in the middle of our country.

Are you having fun, Annie?

Yeah.

You are.

What's your best, most favorite thing about this hike?

I'd say my favorite thing is probably the waterfall.

Well, thank you guys for being on Walkin West.

And I hope you have a wonderful safe hike for the rest of the day.

Thank you.

We hope your hike is good too.

Oh it is, thank you, thank you.

We saw it all today from the world's largest living thing, the General Sherman Tree, the groves of giant sequoias.

MUSIC The lupines in bloom.

MUSIC The most relaxed buck deer on the planet.

Waterfalls, clear streams, you name it.

We saw it.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I said the word wow this week.

Sequoia National Park what a place.

Well, I guess you know by now how much I'm a fan of national parks.

The only thing I'm not a fan of is the day you have to say so long and today's that day.

But I want to thank everybody who made this experience wonderful, and I want to thank my right hand man right here.

Sam brought us.

He's like a second son to me.

You did a great job, Sam.

Well, thank you very much, Steve.

You carried the load and he's got mucho macho.

He's the man.

And I want to ask you, what was your favorite part of the three days of hiking that we did?

You know, I have to say Tharp's Log, and then also, the Log Meadow itself, just that whole atmosphere was just beautiful.

Oh, beautiful.

And Tharp lived inside that log, and he had a bed and he had a dinner table.

He had all that stuff.

I want to move in.

I'm telling you.

See, if talk to Daniel over to Sequoia Parks Conservancy and see what he can come up with.

Daniel Hecker, thank you so much for being an all star guide.

And I want to thank my all star camera guy, I'm talking about Mr.

Mark Brant And I want to thank you for watching.

And most of all, I want to encourage you to get off that couch, get off of that cell phone, and hit the trails responsibly, respectfully, and leave it better than you found it for the next guy.

Thanks for tuning in to Walkin West.

< SINGING > Well, I went hiking in Sequoia in the Sierras of California, and if you're not used to beauty, then by Ned, I'd better warn you, we hiked to the Cresent Meadow and to a tree called General Sherman.

And when I saw how pretty that tree was, I started singing like Ethel Mermin.

Hiking among the sequoias will make you feel sublime.

And I gotta tell you one thing, walking beats riding every time.

Yeah.

Lace up them old tennis shoes.

Walking beats every time.

That's all, Pop!

MUSIC Walking West is sponsored by the Chicken Ranch Casino Resort in historic Jamestown, California, home to the great outdoors of the Mother Lode.

Chicken Ranch Casino Resort, proudly owned by the Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Miwok Indians of California.

Walkin West is brought to you in part by Visit El Dorado, visit Tuolumne, and visit Calaveras County Visitors Bureaus.

Discover the history of the gold rush, pristine mountain lakes and the waterfalls of Yosemite, all here in California's Gold Country.

Walkin West is brought to you by Ironstone Vineyards, home to a 44 pound gold leaf crystaline specimen, and where we've been producing red and white wines in the historic gold country since 1989.

Ironstone vineyards Murphy's, California.

Walkin West is brought to you by the Big Sur River Inn on the Pacific Coast Highway in Big Sur, California.

The Big Sur River Inn invites you to hike and explore the rugged coastal trails of the West in a respectful, responsible way.

Big Sur River Inn.