Day 15: Sequoia National Park

Today we drove to our campground and checked in early so we could leave the camper before going into Sequoia National Park. We were so glad we dropped off the camper before going into the park because this entrance was the most curvy, winding, narrow road yet. We wound through all the way up to 7,000 feet elevation. There were soooo many people in the park today due to the holiday weekend that it was almost impossible to do anything, especially since there is no reservation system for this park.  Luckily we'd already seen many Sequoias throughout the last two parks, but we were determined to see General Sherman, the largest tree on Earth. When we got there the parking lot was completely full and people were circling it, so the kids and I jumped out to see if we could see the tree. It turned out to be a 0.8 mile hike down into a grove and then 0.8 miles straight up out of the grove, at 7,000 ft. elevation. Well, we were determined and we did it. We just about ran down, took some pictures and looked at the tree, and then ran back up, phew, all while Jason circled the parking lot. He hadn't found a spot yet when we got back up, and had only gone around once actually in the 20 minutes it took us to go down and back, so I jumped in the driver's seat and told him to go see the tree with the kids. So down they went again but with Jason to see General Sherman. I only circled the lot once, much faster now since many people had left, and I found a parking spot before my second time around. I got out and started down the path to find them. Since there was no cell service, I couldn't tell them to wait at the bottom for me. I met them at the halfway point and we decided to go back down again together so we could see the other trees and paths down in the grove. It was kind of funny and we had fun with it, but the kids were exhausted afterwards. It was nice to be able to get up close to a couple of the trees and see General Sherman, though there was a very long line to get a photo at the front of the tree so we skipped that. On our way back, we saw another deer. We've seen at least one a day lately. It was a good day, but long because of the long, slow drive into and out of the park. It was packed, but we were determined to at least see General Sherman, and we did! We loved the national park sign because of its originality. It was made out of Sequoia wood long ago and has been updated slightly since.