If you're in the area ....

[Anton Gaidos III <anton_gaidos_iii@firepower.com>]

During my recent trip to Sequioa/Kings Canyon national parks I happened
upon a very nice stretch of quattro country. Too bad for me I had the
wife's GLI instead of my quattro. The road is only five miles long but
it's all dirt/gravel with many dips and rises. You can find the road
along hwy 180 (The Generals highway) just north of Grants Grove heading
towards Kings Canyon. I should point out that this area is in the
central to southern Sierra Nevada mountains.
 If you are into catching air and love four wheel drifts through long
sweepers with undulating surfaces you'll love this road. I cannot
remember having so much fun driving in a long time! There are a few
points of interest here too. You will pass an old Sequioa snag that
still has axe marks in it from John Muir. The tree was long dead before
he came along but he wanted to determine its age by chopping a section
out to count its rings (more then four). Along this road you will also
find Stump Meadow. The name says it all. It was once a great grove of
Sequoias but is now nothing more then a grave yard (sequoias take
hundereds of years to decompose so the remains last for eons). At the
end of the road is the Boole tree. As it happens it is the only one of
these early loggers left behind here and it has a circumference of over
120 feet! It is at least 2000 years old and is over 300 feet tall. You
have not lived until you have seen these trees. I find it humbling to
stand before these trees knowing that they don't even reach maturity
until they are 600 years old.
 Nonetheless this entire area around these two national parks offer
miles and miles of driving pleasure on and off road. My wife's Jetta is
an incredible car. The balance was prefect and the front drive offered
great traction. It was very forgiving through the corners and offered
good response when setting up from one corner to the next. The kids and
I had a blast but Carol was a little concerned about rally racing her
car. I assured her that I never took the car beyond its factory
limitations nor jeopardized the vehicle's integrity and it made the trip
back home in excellent condition - yes we did catch a lot of air too.
YEE HA! 
 Next time we'll bring the quattro...oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!
Anton