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Milestone for Friends of the Forest
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It might feel unbelievable but YOU DID IT! 200-miles, YOU are at your finish line! You have traveled a full-200 miles this month - can you believe it? There are no words to describe how proud of you we are, truly! What an amazing accomplishment! Let’s celebrate together! Post a picture of your 200-mile mark and you celebrating your finish line! Don’t forget to tag us and use the hashtag #runningwild so we can all celebrate with you!
Our last stop in Giant Forest is Tunnel Log.
One winter day a giant sequoia that stood for a couple thousand years fell across the road out to Crescent Meadow.. Park Rangers were left with a choice: cut and fully remove the trunk from the road, or burrow a hole big enough for a car to fit through. No matter how they sliced it, it was going to be a big job. In the end, Rangers decided that a giant tree with a car-sized tunnel would attract more visitors.
Now visitors could feel the magnitude of the years as they passed through this 2,000 year old tree.
“Our expectations of national parks have changed immensely during the past half century. When our national parks were young, cutting tunnels through sequoia trees was a way to popularize the parks and gain support for their protection. In those early days, national parks usually were managed to protect individual features rather than to protect the integrity of the complete environment. Today, we realize that our national parks represent some of the last primeval landscapes in America, and our goal in the parks is to allow nature to run its course with as little interference from humans as possible. Tunnel trees had their time and place in the early history of our national parks. But today sequoias which are standing healthy and whole are worth far more” (nps.gov/seki).
We hope that you feel the MAGNITUDE of all that you have accomplished this last month. Remember, to take a minute and soak it all in – think about the last 200 miles. Where have they taken you? Did anything surprise you? What did you learn about yourself?
It has been our absolute privilege and honor to follow you on this journey. We couldn’t be more proud and inspired by your grit and determination.
Congratulations on an amazing accomplishment!
Your biggest fans,
The SPC Race Team
