Sequoias!

King's Canyon and Sequoia National Park

9.25.16

It's fun to be inside of a tree!

...and it helps to have slept in a bed in an actual hotel.  ;)

(We won't go into the story about it being literally the last hotel room available within an hour of Yosemite that we found late that night after sitting for an hour parked behind an accident getting out of the park.  That's what you get for not toughing it out in the "tent cabin" for the second night.

Yeah, it was worth it.)

We had to travel from Fresno to Bakersfield, and Sequoia National Park is totally on the way, right?

Well... if you're a bunch of crazy people it is.

We're so thankful that we took the little detour!

 First stop... Grant Grove

Jadan's friend Paul.

Look for him in the next pic...

 We climbed right through this tree!

 This lovely thousand-year-old tree is known as the "Fallen Monarch."

Thomas and Israel Gamlin lived here...yep, in the tree...
from 1870 to 1872 while they worked on building their cabin.

The view from the "ceiling" of the Fallen Monarch

The "hallway" inside the tree

 King's Canyon

 Big Stump Trail

 The trail was longer than we thought,

but the stumps were very interesting (though a bit heartbreaking).

 This is Mark Twain's stump.

It seems that folks in the East didn't believe the tales of the gigantic trees in the West.

In 1891, two men took 13 days to cut down this 26-foot-wide, 1700-year-old tree

so that a slice of its trunk could be sent to the Museum of Natural History in New York.

Everyone was happily dancing on the stump...and then a nasty wasp stung Tim.  :(

He's tougher than it seems by his face in this photo...

Hmmm... could he be a bit dramatic?...

...but it does show that the mama isn't nearly as good as he is at family "selfies".

Sorry, Brie!  ;)

Final stop of the day... Giant Forest

See the smiley face shadow?

General Sherman Tree, the largest living tree

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship..."

Rom 1:20