Land Of The Giant Trees - Sequoia National Park

"Are you here to see the Giant Forest?"

The park ranger's greeting added to our already anxious arrival. The 5-hour drive from Los Angeles to Sequoia National Park offered beautiful landscape and orange groves that went on for miles. Curiosity, a Google search and a short lesson with our girls on the manufacturing of produce was enough to stop and pick a few oranges on the side of the road without feeling too guilty. The dusty, white layer of pesticides that covered the fruit deemed them inedible but totally worth the memory.

A sunny 51 degrees at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains with little snow in sight, we were caught by surprise when the ranger asked if we had our snow chains in the trunk. Safety precautions said we needed to have them in case our car slipped on the way up to see the giant forest. She guided us to a small shop/restaurant a few miles back to rent them. Tires examined, bathroom breaks out of the way and layers of snow gear on, we were finally ready to see these larger-than-life trees everyone was talking about.

Edge of The World

We're no stranger to driving on narrow, winding mountain roads in our Mini-White-Semi so driving them in our rental car was easy-peasy. The road continued up... and up... and up until we hit 7,000 feet of elevation. The road's strong grade felt like we were driving towards the edge of the world. It was that same anticipated feeling of being in the front row of a roller coaster and wondering how far down it might take us when we finally hit its curved peak. To our left was a solid foundation of heavy rock and to our right was a bottomless pit where only a birds-eye view of tree canopy remain. A snow-capped mountain nestled between two peaks helped ease the fear of our 65 dollar precautionary chains going unused. A quick sweep to the left and we were once again towered by trees.

Giant Forest

We slowly drove, eyes peeled, waiting to see what we've only seen in pictures. With Ohio-sized trees in view, not enough ice or snow to use our chains and stir crazy kids in the backseat, we felt duped. While we wondered how we'd ease the disappointment to the girls when we have to tell them why we're turning around, there it was. Sitting on the side of the road, a giant tree taking up more real estate than 3 Ohio-sized trees combined. It's massive trunk mocking our impatience. All were quiet in the car when, jaws dropped, out of the mouth of babes we heard Eva in the back, "Can somebody please close my mouth?!" She was right. We were all shocked. One after another, giant Sequoia trees toppled over us and the surreal scenery kept us in awe until we arrived at our destination- Big Trees Trailhead.

We headed onto the icy trail, surprised by each tree that was bigger than the last. The trunks quadrupled the size of us- even with outstretched arms! We couldn't help to imagine the first pioneer questioning his sanity when finding these monstrous, characterized trees.

The Birthing Tree

General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in the world, is the star of this park standing 275 ft tall and 36 ft wide but it was one particular tree the stood out the most to us. We dubbed it "The Birthing Tree" due to it's birth-giving appearance. The tree sat tall and strong while swallowing a large boulder underneath it.

The Big Trees Trail was a short, 1.3 mile trek through the largest known trees in the world and while the 40 minute loop may not have been the most adventurous hike we've taken, the awestruck reactions we experienced made Sequoia National Park in California a trip to remember forever.

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