Holy, Moly, BIG Trees!!

After taking the kids to the beach for a few days, we did an impromtu trip up North to the Sequoia National Forest and the Kings' Canyon National Forest.  All I can say it that I am soooooo glad we did the detour!  Nick and I kept saying that we felt like we were inside some crazy made-up forest for a movie set.  It was so cool.  The Sequoias are amazing and very surreal and so beautiful to look at.  It was really interesting to learn all the cool facts about them....Like, they are the largest trees around....only the Redwoods grow taller, but they are the biggest around at the trunk.  They grow to be over 300ft tall.  They self heal themselves....very few things can hurt them....and that is why they get so big and live so long.  As long as one little root reaches to the branches, the tree will live, even if all the other roots are dead.   Pretty amazing!

The very BIGGEST and OLDEST tree in the WHOLE WORLD......they estimate that it is about 2200 years old....
Let's just say that there was no way my arms could reach around it :)

The is the "Monarch" tree.  It is a fallen down Sequoia that is over 100 yards long.
You can step down from this entrance into the tree, and walk the entire length of it
as if you are in a tunnel.....very cool!  The kids really liked this one.

"Grants Grove"

There are several large sequoia in this grove.

The Nations "Christmas Tree" is the General Grant Tree which I didn't get a pic of because the camera died :( But it is very cool and very large....almost as big as the General Sherman tree

The Tunnel Tree
Ok, so admittedly, when I saw this was on the map, I got a bit giddy.  I definately had to go see this and take the car through...
it was a must for me :)  I turned into a little kid the minute I saw it....it was so cool....just like in the movie, or at least Yogi Bear LOL.
Pretty cool that theycarved it out so cars can go through.....I loved it :)!!!

Standing in front of a Sequoias' tree roots...huge!

Tunnel Rock.  Just inside the entrance
The guy to the right walked right up next to the kids and started posing for his own picture.  I was cracking up....realized he was
European just before I almost started to yell at him to move and wait his turn.....but then his wife finally realized what he was doing
and was able to get him to move to the side......so he is in our picture LOL.

Along the way, there is this hike that you can do...it goes 300 ft straight up the side of a
cliff....Very freaky!  There are handrails, but as you can see from the pic below,
they are right on the edge.  Once you get to the top, you can walk right to the edge and
look out over the whole forest.  Let's just say that our little family DID NOT
make it to the top of this hike....The 3 oldest (Nick, Me and McKyrie) are all
afraid of heights.  Ainslie is a dare-devil who doesn't pay attention to where she
 she walking  and Brecken is a crazy 2 year old who won't
hold anyone's hands......So we opted to turn around about 1/3 of the way up!!
The other side of this rock that the girls are touching goes straight down...really far
down!

SCAREY trail!!!

Standing inside the trunk of a sequoia that had been burnt but is still living :)

This trip has reassured me of the beauty of our Nation.  I feel so blessed to live in such a  free and gorgeous country that allows me to travel and see all of its wonders.  I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for creating such a beautiful Earth on which I feel so small in at times.