The drive to to Sequoia National Park was long — four or five hours from where we had stayed the night before — but oh so worth it. In less than an hour, we went from roughly sea level to an elevation of more than 7,500 feet. The road to Wuksachi Lodge is narrow and hugs the mountains. On their way up drivers are in the outside lane, giving them both a fantastic view and white knuckles. Fortunately there are multiple scenic “pull offs” so that you don’t have to take pictures while driving.
Once we arrived at the park, Susan and Morgan went one way while Mason and I went the other. While some of the trees in the forest are taller than others, all of them are tall.
The largest tree in the park is General Sherman. By volume, General Sherman is, by volume, the largest living thing on the planet. The tree is 2,300 to 2,500 years old; it’s also 275 feet tall, 102 feet around at the base and 25 feet around at the trunk. It’s a massive, massive tree. If you ever want to feel small, standing in the Sequoia National Park can help you with that.
On the way to the General Sherman tree you pass a couple of interesting things, like this fallen tree that you can walk through. Later in the day we drove through the auto log, a fallen tree that you can drive through.
We didn’t spend a heck of a lot of time in the Sequoia Park, but it was awesome to see and I know it was on Susan’s bucket list so that made it even more special. It was definitely something to stand in front of those trees.