The Largest Living Tree (on Earth)

Sequoia National Park

I've always wanted to see a Sequoia Tree. They are inconveniently located at an elevation of 7,000 feet on the east side of the Cascade Mountains in California in the middle of nowhere.

The General Sherman tree (above) has a trunk volume of 53,000 cubic feet, a diameter of 37 feet, a height of 275 feet and an age of about 2,700 years. There is a mushroom that covers 2,200 acres in Oregon so General Sherman is not the largest living thing on Earth by volume...it's just a big tree.

By volume General Sherman is the largest tree on earth. The redwoods are taller and a Bristle cone in the Great Basin is far older.

These old trees have a tendency to topple over for no particular reason other than a shallow root system.

The  CCC Boys had a sense of humor. They carved out this tree tunnel after the giant toppled in the 1930s. Mrs Phred is driving the Honda.

The Sequoia trees are short and fat compared to the redwoods. The Crannel Creek Giant (a coastal Redwood) was about 25% bigger by volume than General Sherman, but it was cut down in the 1940s to make patio furniture. Here is Mrs. Phred in front of a small Sequoia tree.....I guess we need to go see the mushroom on the next trip....