Kings Canyon National Park and Grant Grove in California have long been special places for the Dearing Family.  (Elsewhere on this site you can read about Speed Camping and Aunt Ruthie.) 

Carrie Lynn and I had our first date in Grant Grove.  Sister Sheila held the annual Grissom/Dearing family gathering at Grant Grove.  Mom Dearing wanted to visit Grant Grove whenever she was in California.  And while Carrie Lynn and I lived in Los Angeles, we went to Grant Grove many times each year. 

The Park has such a strong presence in our Family that when our Mom and sister Diana died, we scattered their ashes at the base of the General Grant Sequoia tree.

Now that Carrie Lynn and I are living in Michigan, we wanted to create a connection to Grant Grove.  So two seasons ago, we planted six Giant Sequoia seedlings on our 15 acre Farmette.  This post was prompted by my just learning that there are other Giant Sequoia trees in Manistee Michigan at Lake Bluff Farms.  From their website: “In 1948, six sequoia trees, 8 inches high, were brought from California by Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Gray and were planted here at their Lake Bluff estate. Three of these trees have survived and are thriving. Our biggest, the Michigan Champion, is 116 feet tall. It is the largest Giant Sequoia east of the Rockies.”

Four of our six seedlings have survived and are now big enough to be called saplings.  One of the six seedlings was eaten, presumably by deer, and one died from heatstroke and dehydration.  Both of the doomed trees were planted in the open field in an area we call the Prairie where they got full sun.  The survivors are planted amongst other trees closer to the house.  These are now protected by 2′ by 4′ wire cages, so we are optimistic about their future.  We think Mom and Diana would be pleased.