We had a wonderful day at the Sequoia National Forest. David and I have been married for over 7 years now and surprisingly I have never been to the Sequoias before (for those of you who don't know, Visalia, where David grew up, is known as "the gateway to the Sequoias.") We absolutely loved it and had such a fun time! Jonah was VERY excited to find that there was snow everywhere (5 feet to be exact). He's only been in snow I think 2 times, so this was a special treat for him.
That is Jonah in the red jacket and if you look close, I'm at the far end of the picture - there was a ruler on the ground to show you how tall a sequoia tree can get. Before we went exploring, we checked out the museum, which was cool. It had lots of fun facts on the trees, as well as lots of history on the forest. 
These trees are SOOOOO huge! I've seen them in pictures, but to actually be at the foot of them is awesome.
David and Jonah stood at the base of a sequoia - the black triangle is from the fire that went through a while ago. It's amazing to know that fires can actually help the sequoias survive. The fire clears the "competitor" trees, which opens it up for the sequoias to have more sunlight and nutrients, therefore they flourish. Another cool fact about sequoias is that their bark releases a natural fire retardant and it also has some special chemical that prevents fungus from growing, which is a leading killer among trees. These trees seem to be virtually invisible.
On the trail to see General Sherman (the largest tree in the world), there's a tunnel carved through a fallen tree (the one you can drive through was closed due to snow) - it was a big hit with Jonah.
There he is! General Sherman, the largest living tree (or thing for that matter) in the world. It is 2300-2700 years old - isn't that amazing?
A trunk of a fallen tree.
General Sherman, David, Jonah, & Jaxon.
It was amazing seeing these trees and all they've gone through and to see that they are thousands of years old - just imagine what they have seen in their lifetimes! We will definitely go back again soon! Next time we look forward to going when the snow has melted so we can explore more trails and see the Crystal Caves and climb Morro Rock!
