Giants in the Forest

Ever since I was a kid I have been fascinated with the giant sequoia trees of California. Little did I think then, that I would ever get to see them!
Yes indeed they are giants. The daddy of them all is considered to be the General Sherman. Its girth is 36 feet and it's as high as a 20 storey building. It's not the tallest in the world, because it's not getting higher, but it's the largest in terms of volume as it still increasing in girth.

The amazing thing is that it has plenty of neighbours that could attract crowds, just for their sheer amazing size and beauty. This one for example, was just nearby!

After visiting the General Sherman, we drove further along till we came to Grant Grove, home of the thrid largest tree in the workd, known as General Grant, and also (puzzling for us) America's Christmas Tree.
It's wider than Sherman, 40 ft, and it's 1700 years old, or thereabouts! 82m tall:

Many of the trees have been damaged by lightning over the years and still survive, despite the burned out core. I'll put in a few photos below.
 Another interesting tree was a fallen one,  which at various times, rangers used
as a work station, cafe etc. Here are a few shots of that.

Inside the fallen trunk!

And of course, as I said already, signs here mean what they say!

Well, there you have it - just a small number of photos selected from my ever-clicking camera.