Day Thirteen - Giant Forest and General Sherman

After over ten miles of hiking yesterday, we were all eager for a mellower day, so we took the free shuttle to the Giant Forest museum and was greeting by this guy, Sentinel Tree:

After briefly exploring the museum and spending an unexpectedly long amount of time trying to fit Sentinel tree in one picture (and ultimately failing...), we hiked the relatively smooth and flat Congress Trail, encountered some behemoths...

...performed a magic trick...

[insert video here]

...then encountered the largest tree (by volume) in the world...

To be clear: General Sherman is not in fact the taller tree - that being Hyperion, a Redwood cousin. That's not to say that giant Sequoias lack height, and but they are built like Olympic weight-lifters: built all the way up. You cannot see from this photo, but in the bottom-left of the canopy area, there is a branch with a six-foot diameter that perpendicularly runs from the trunk for a several feet, then launches straight into the air about one-hundred feet. It is the size of a regular, mature tree typically found in someone's front yard. This tree is over 2,000 years old, and it is not the oldest living tree, which is over 3,000 years old. General Sherman - and many others under which we stood and gazed - has outlived ancient civilizations; endured droughts, blizzards, fire, and the rest of nature's fury; present for many of the most significant technological, scientific, and educational advancements in recorded history. This realization was utterly overwhelming and deeply moving.

Our afternap hike was an unexpected treat. Little Red delivered us to Lodgepole Village - the primary civilization hub in Sequoia National Park - where we picked up the Tokopah Falls trail. Running along the Kaweah River, this trail was full of flowers and pollinators and led to tranquil meadow - where I was positive we would see our first bear, but was wrong.

After attending the trickling fall - typically strongest in the Spring...

...and admiring the jagged surrounding us...

...we turned back to do some swimming at the 'pool' closer to the Village. We found a nice, quiet spot, watched the fish leap out of the water for a snack, and enjoyed the transition to evening.