A FOREST OF GIANTS

We spent the night at Fresno, the salad bowl of California. The next morning we drove south to Kings Canyon N.P. and Sequoia N.P.

The forests were full of these giant Sequoia Trees.(see how small Bill looks)

These trees are thousands of years old. I kept expecting to see dinosaurs, it was like going back in time.

Some of the trees are named after famous Generals. This one is called 'Grant' and it is the second largest one in the world.

The forest walks were fun. At this part you could walk through the trunk of a fallen tree. It was just like walking through a tunnel. It was about 30 metres/90 ft long. Lois is entering and Bill has just walked out.

THE BIG ONE. This is General Sherman, the largest living thing in the world. The size is measured by the volume of wood. I accidentally left my brochures at Sonya's house. Unfortunately the Wikipedia information below is ten years old. These photos don't really give you the feeling of the huge size it is.

Height above base[1]	274.9 ft	83.8 m
Circumference at ground[1]	102.6 ft	31.3 m
Maximum diameter at base[1]	36.5 ft	11.1 m
Diameter 4.5 ft (1.4 m) above height point on ground[8]	25.1 ft	7.7 m
Diameter 60 ft (18 m) above base[1]	17.5 ft	5.3 m
Diameter 180 ft (55 m) above base[1]	14.0 ft	4.3 m
Diameter of largest branch[1]	6.8 ft	2.1 m
Height of first large branch above the base[1]	130.0 ft	39.6 m
Average crown spread[1]	106.5 ft	32.5 m
Estimated bole volume[8]	52,508 cu ft	1,487 m3
Estimated mass (wet)[9]	2,105 short tons	1,910

Estimated age is 2,500 years.

Then we drove out of the Parks to stay the night in Visalia. It was a long winding drive down the mountains to the valley floor with magnificent mountain views. Sadly this would be the last night  I would be with my cousins, Chuck, Bonnie and Lynne. They have been super generous to us and showed us a beautiful part of California.