Some Big Damn Trees

Los Angeles. My friend Lucy (who was there that time to witness the transdimensional stench of the Salt Lake) threw me in the car along with two of her other friends on the way to Sequoia National Park. It should be noted that this park is three hours away from L.A., and Lucy drove the whole thing, so she is a friend indeed.
Along the way, we stopped at a store, where I bought two Kit Kats, a Dasani, and a large chicken totem.

After three hours of road, a lot of orange orchards, and 88,888 on Lucy's odometer, we arrived. None of us thought to bring any cash because all the trees we'd ever seen before were free, and so there was a momentary panic at the gate. But by happy coincidence, it happened to be Veteran's Day, and I happen to be a veteran, and so we got in for free.

We passed a large and picturesque canyon right off the side of the main road in. It's bigger than it looks here. Those green things are trees, not bushes.

We also hurtled by a giant rock that someone had stacked on two slightly smaller rocks.

We drove another hour drive straight up a mountain before we actually got to any of the actual sequoias. I guess it should be mentioned that these trees are large.

I mean big. The biggest trees you ever saw. A lot of them had laughed off forest fires.

One of them had fallen over, and it was big enough for people to have cut a doorway through it.

The road became a trail, and we parked and walked. Saw a deer. Signs touted THE LARGEST TREE ON EARTH, and we followed. Through slightly-above-freezing rain we trudged, until we finally found ourselves at the base of the big one.

This is not it. I ran out of film (amazing, since it's a digital camera). Lucy has a picture of it though. Looks like this one, only bigger.