Sequoia National Park

[Chadwick]

As some of you know I'm working out of Bakersfield temporarily. A couple of weeks ago I decided to get out of Bakersfield and go site seeing at Sequoia National Park. It was about a two hour drive from Bakersfield and well worth the drive. This place houses the largest trees on earth as well as the oldest. It is unknown exactly how old some of these trees are but they suspect some are well over 3500 years old. The oldest and largest tree on earth is known as the General Sherman tree. This thing is an absolute monster! I can't remember how big in diameter it is but words cannot describe how big this thing is. It is unknown how long these trees live for. What they do know is that lightning strikes and natural disasters such as fires rarely kill them. The bark alone on these suckers average about three inches thick. There only weakness is that the roots don't dig deep in the ground so heavy winds have been known to take these bad boys down. The seeds are tiny, very tiny. It's amazing how something so small can later become so big.

If you have not already checked this place out I highly recommend doing so. It was absolutely beautiful out there and I will go once more before I come back home. It's $20.00 to get through the gate and if it's winter you will be required to have snow chains on your tires at a certain mile marker on the way up the mountain. If you don't already own snow chains no worries because I was able to rent them from a local store about a mile from the gate entrance.

It was snowing pretty hard up there and being from Vegas it was pleasant to see some snow and it made for some really good pictures. Unfortunately my camera doesn't give a good perspective of how big these trees are. I was able to snap a shot of one that was sitting in front of the visitors center that gives a good view and someone took a couple of shots of me in front of the General Sherman tree. These are the only pics I have that give some kind of a good perspective of the massive size of these suckers. I hope you enjoy them!

This is a good perspective of how big these guys are. Look at the size of the tree compared to the visitors center!

The path to get to the General Sherman tree required you to walk through an old tipped over Sequoia!

Here is the tallest and biggest tree on earth today.

me standing in front of the General Sherman tree!

[Richard Cheese]

i am kicking myself in the a$$ for living here my entire life, and never getting to the Sequoia Forest

nice pics Chad...that Gen Sherman is FARKIN HUGE

[RangerZ]

A bunch of used to take a Spring Break camping trip up there every year. Awesome place.

Thanks for the pics.

[jorgeloco]

that's awesome I always wanted to go there but for one reason or another we always end up not going

[andydew]

looks awesome; gonna have to make the trip someday!

[Kevlar]

Some minor corrections to your awesome post. The claim to being the oldest tree actually belongs to the Bristlecone Pine found in the Eastern Sierras of California. And the worlds tallest tree belongs to the Coastal redwoods in, you guessed it, Northern California. The General Sherman tree is however famous for being the worlds largest living thing. Its girth, not its height, makes it so.

Other notable things to visit up here are Moro Rock and the Crystal cave.

Enjoy.

Edited December 24, 2009 by Kevlar

[Foxysandchick]

Wow, that place is beautiful!! Thanks for sharing those awesome pics .

[dunefreak]

Badass, Chad! Looks amazing up there. I gotta go now.

[White Rhino]

very cool pics especially in the snow!

we went up there this summer.. amazing!!!

[Free Agent]

Good pix

[1BADYFZ]

I have camped up there many times, great hiking and sight seeing for sure. THe wildlife is untouched out there and makes you feel like your on another planet..

Great Pics!!

[Kitcat]

Awesome pics!!!

[jr1208]

nice pics,looks very relaxing....