The trees. The TREES!

We continued our drive through the park, coming to a grove of giant sequoias, so we stopped.

I kept trying to get a picture that would show some kind of perspective on how huge these beauties are, but I don't think I ever really captured it.  I'm not sure it's possible.  They are so big and old and spectacular.

Then we came to the fallen tree that you can drive through.  They try not to disturb the live trees, but since this one was on the ground anyway, why not try to show the size of the trunk?

That's our rental van, with Brad and the boys waving at me while I stood on the side of the road.  You can't really see anyone but Brad, but I swear the kids are in there and waving!  

Our next stop was a meadow.  The parking lot was nearly full, but we found a spot and stashed our snacks in a bear locker.  After hearing the rangers talk, we weren't willing to risk our rental for a bag of trail mix and some cookies.  All the campgrounds and parking lots have bear lockers for you to store any food you have with you inside.  The damage that a bear can do to a car trying to get a quick bite to eat is amazing.

This is what I've always pictured a meadow to be.  I don't think I've ever really seen one that matched the picture in my head.

The four of us were walking along the path and there was a solo hiker following us.  No big deal, until he kept stopping when and where we stopped.  He had a backpack and all the gear.  Probably just keeping pace with us for some reason that had nothing to do with anything bad, but it made the warning bells go off in my head.  I told Brad we needed to backtrack because I wanted to take a picture of the uprooted tree (above) and when we did the guy just stayed there on the trail.  I had heard voices in the distance, so I knew if we went back toward the parking lot, we were headed toward people.  There was a herd of at least 12 people, looked like 2 or 3 families traveling together, that we met on the trail back.  Once they were in front of us, we turned and headed back in to finish the trail.  As much as I would have preferred the peace and quiet of being far in front of the group, I figured it was better to be just-in-case safe.  It was probably nothing, but when my spidey sense tingles, I feel better when I respond to it.

Next up was the Giant Forest Museum.  The parking lot is across the street, or there is a shuttle stop right next to the building.  The shuttle system looked to be a very efficient way to see the highlights of the park.

We crossed the street and found the Sentinel tree.

Then we spent some time learning all about the park in the museum.  I thought the wheel of chance, that showed the odds of a giant sequoia germinating and surviving, was a good visual.  The boys stood there spinning it for several minutes and never got a "winning" hit for a sequoia to grow.

We walked the path to the Sherman tree.

I have to say that while the ancient sequoias are impressive in size, not to mention the fact that they have survived thousands of years, they aren't particularly pretty.  The mature sequoias have an almost regal look to them.  Majestic is the word that kept coming to mind.  The ancient ones were gnarled, with less green on them.  It makes sense.  Nature is a bitch.