Before arriving in the forest of giants there was a long road with a few trees and bushes. Seemed like we would just pass the gates and BOOM massive trees all around! But the reality is Sequoia's prefer a very specific altitude to grow, right around 6-8 thousand feet high in elevation. This is because the temperatures are cooler and the precipitation is the highest at this point. Once we travelled all the way up the mountain for about an hour we were finally met with the most beautiful and awe inspiring trees. Trees that INSPIRE! We just parked the car and stood below the massive behemoths of trees and looked up as high as we could. Just another one of many humbling experiences we've had on our trip cross country. So next we were looking to see the massive head sized pinecones these babies dropped, and to our surprise, the pinecones are only the size of an avocado pit! Who would have known the largest trees in the world come from such a very small pod. Also, we saw that almost all the trees had some sort of fire damage. We noticed that they looked as if they were rotting at the base but come to find out it was scarring from many forest fires over the thousands of years the trees live. This is a beneficial thing for sequoias because it cuts out the natural competition and creates more space for the trees to thrive. In addition to that, the bark of the trees is 2 feet thick! Which helps protect the actual trunk from most the fire damage. No one knows if any of these trees actually die from old age, finding some up to 4,500 years old and counting! The one thing that can bring a tree down is its own weight when it becomes too top heavy, too massive to stand!!! All in all it was an amazing day and we were able to hike up to a super high point atop of Moro rock to see the whole park in its majesty. What a great way to end our adventure at Sequoia National Park.
