Gargatuan.
Epic.
Awe-inspiring.
Drinking the "secret" ooze kool-aid that gave the world the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
All the above apply. My first glimpse at a giant sequoia left me simply speechless. I'm glad that I had the video camera rolling because I just stared at the trees in front of me for a while.
There is a tranquility there that can't be explained. When you're walking the short trail down to see the most famous of all the giant Sequoias - The General Sherman tree - you just know you're witnessing something that links generations together. Standing at the base of a two-thousand-and-something-year-old tree was literally like seeing the sun for the first time. You can't help but stare. The top of the tree is dead, so it tops out at 275 feet. But um, that's still taller than most buildings I've seen in person. You can't even see the top of the tree standing at the bottom - that's how tall it is.
Yeah - wrap your mind around that one.
As we made our way around the forest floor, it literally felt like a dinosaur would walk out of the thicket at any point in time and we would be the ones out of place! The forest feels "very old" - like Legolas says in Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers. It really does feel like you wander into an medieval dimension where Frodo and Sam could be completing their periolous quest just on the other side of the mountain.
This park is out of the way - much like Glacier NP - so it's quiet and you can actually hear the sounds of nature. The occasionally shuttle bus is the only thing that reminds you what century you're in. We are talking true time-travel when you lean against the surprisingly soft, immensely huge base of these trees. I felt so much more connected to nature and even the human race when I looked up at these gentle giants. How many people before me had touched that very same spot on that very same tree 200, 400 even 1,400 years ago?!
The first time I touched one, it was to make sure that we weren't on a movie set where they were just made of foam. You can't help but question the sight before your eyes. Even seeing isn't believing in this park. Thank God they aren't prickly like cacti because I just couldn't keep my hands off them! I literally hugged every tree that I could!
There are several fallen trees that the park has made into walkways and even driveways for cars to go under. We walked through one of these fallen tress, and it was so big probably 12 normal-sized people could have stood under its shelter in a rainstorm. The tree you can drive through is much bigger, obviously. Honestly, I didn't get any pictures because I was so shocked by actually being able to drive through a tree.
This park should top the must see list, hands down.