Sequoia and Kings Canyon are adjoined National Parks whose claim to fame includes the largest trees in the world (by volume). I didn’t really have them at the top of my bucket list, especially after seeing the redwoods, which are the tallest trees. But walking among these giants was a truly spiritual experience and I’m so glad that I did it.

The 2 largest of the trees, nestled in the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, are the General Sherman and General Grant trees. There are easy hikes to each of them, but the roads to get there from our campground were long. The General Sherman tree is in Sequoia NP, more than 20 miles from the park entrance gate. That road was so full of hairpin turns that it made both of us a bit queezy and nauseous. Seeing General Sherman was amazing though – it is the world’s largest tree and 275 feet tall.

A few days later, after we sufficiently recovered from our queeziness from the drive to General Sherman, we took another 2 hour drive to enter Kings Canyon from the western entrance. There we were able to drive a less winding route to Grant Village and see the General Grant tree. Interestingly, this section of the park was the 3rd national park and had been named Grant national park. It was later included in Kings Canyon.

The road to the inner section of Kings Canyon, where the actual canyon is, was closed when we were there. Apparently the road was completely washed out from heavy rainfall and it will take major construction and several years for it to reopen.

The General Grant tree was estimated to be around 2200 years old. It was a profoundly spiritual experience to be in its presence and think about that passage of time. It should have left me feeling that I was in the presence of an immortal living thing, but instead it made me wonder how climate change will impact it and whether it will still be alive by the time I die.

In the 1800’s several of these giant trees were cut down before it was realized their lumber was too brittle for furniture making or other uses. One was also chopped down, hollowed out and taken to the east coast to put on display but people didn’t believe they were real even after seeing it.

I can only hope these giants will somehow survive us and our abuse of the planet. I feel privileged to have seen them in my lifetime.