There’s a 0.8-mile path that leads down from a parking lot to the General Sherman tree, the world’s largest tree by volume at 52,508 cubic feet. It was on this path that I encountered Martha Valenzuela and Jorge Olvera. They had caught my eye earlier that day near the park’s museum, which because of COVID, was closed at the time. They were both wearing a royal blue shirt, jean shorts, white socks and matching royal blue Nikes, everywhere they went they held hands and stopped frequently to point at a tree of interest or make a remark. They spoke in Spanish, and I so badly wanted to interject and join in, but I didn’t want to interrupt them, so I continued on my path. Then I saw them again on the way to Sherman, and this time I couldn’t help myself.

I hadn’t really spoken in Spanish since leaving for my trip and I so yearned to have a conversation with someone who spoke it too. After passing them I heard they had questions about something I knew the answer to, and I saw a way in. They were wondering why the General Sherman tree was the most famous if it wasn’t anywhere near as tall as some of the other sequoias they had seen. I turned around and in Spanish explained to them that the tree is famous for its volume, which expands every year growing further and further in circumference, not its height. They looked with interested eyes as they began to understand its enormity, and then they began asking me questions. It was wonderful, I spoke to them about Chile and they spoke to me about their adventures going to the river and about how they had gotten lost on the drive up the day before.

Valenzuela, 53, and Olvera, 57, live in Las Vegas and decided to escape the heat with a trip to Sequoia and Kings National Parks. Not only was the park attractive because of its temperature, but it’s a place in nature that neither had visited before, but both had heard of and wanted to experience. 

Valenzuela had been to Yosemite before this, and Olvera had explored the outdoors, but never any National Parks. This particular area caught their attention because of a YouTube video made by the park to advertise its uniqueness. The selling point for Olvera was the cut-out tree that cars drove through to see more of the park. At the time I spoke to them they hadn’t seen it yet, but it was their next destination.  

They would like to explore more parks, but they both work jobs and often can’t take vacation because their time off doesn’t correlate. This week it did, and for them the drive from Vegas wasn’t too hard and the entrance fee to the park didn’t seem steep. Besides that, they believe the experience is really worth it. “It is something incomparable, you don’t imagine this exists,” Olvera said. “It is truly impressive.”

I spoke to them about minority representation in the parks and the issue seemed lost to them. Yes, they recognized they hadn’t seen many people of color, but to them it wasn’t a problem. They were there, and that was enough.

“I believe that you have to go out and see and live independently of others,” Valenzuela said. “If you don't start, above all, to create that culture with your children, then it will never be different. Every day we have to realize that we too, must put a grain of sand to tip the scales and make a better world.”