After taking pictures in every imaginable angle, we headed down to Mariposa Grove to get our first glimpse of the giant Sequoia trees, the distant relatives to the Redwoods.  The sequoias rarely grow over 300 feet, but in general are larger than the redwoods in girth and overall largeness.  We decided to take a guided tram tour through the grove, which provided us with explanations of the trees, both specific ones in the park, and general facts about the sequoias. 

In the park, we saw a bunch of really cool trees, all due to a few factors which make them special: their size; their resistance to fires, their age.  A lot of the sequoias have lasted through hundreds of forest fires, but instead of dying or even burning, they are often hollowed out at the base, or have other strange features.  We saw many natural tunnel trees, including a telescope tree which was hollow in the center and enabled views of the sky, etc.  Also, many sequoias grow "together," when two trees eventually physically combine and grow as one.  The "Faithful Couple" was a particularly beautiful example of this.

After taking in a last look at Mariposa Grove we passed through Fresno on our way to more breathtaking beauty in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Once there we drove directly to see General Grant, the third largest sequoia in the world, based on sheer volume.  This tree, however, boasted the largest diameter at its base out of all world trees: 40.3 feet.  Grant Grove was more peaceful and less touristy than Mariposa, and also featured great explanations of many famous trees [many named after US Generals or States]. 

Driving back to dinner and our campground, we were treated to an amazing view of a sunset over the a valley near Kings and Sequoia.  We ate dinner at the Wuksachi Lodge.  The food was spectacular, and we were told that the head chef was in fact one of a handful of "Master Executive Chefs" in the entire world... Tomorrow, we will see the world's largest living thing, the General Sherman Tree, before heading to Las Vegas, the Sin City!