The General Sherman Tree is the most giant Giant Sequoia in the world. The largest tree by volume, it is 275 feet tall and 36.5 feet across at the base. The tree is believed to be 2,200 years old and weigh 1,385 tons. But those are numbers — numbers that a brain familiarized with normal trees cannot process. The only way to appreciate the unfathomable, seemingly unearthly size of the Giant Sequoias is the see one for yourself. For any Query or Information contact placeforvacations.com Named after Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, the star of the Giant Forest can be reached a few different ways. For the handicapped, there is parking adjacent to the tree just off the Generals Highway. For others, there are several trails to chose from, including the General Sherman Trail. This paved trail is half a mile each way and descends some 200 feet (which is less than the height of the Sherman Tree). The trail is wide with a few staircases. There are benches and informative panels throughout. Did you know the Sherman Tree has a volume of 52,500 cubic feet?
Halfway down, the trail crosses a brick “footprint” matching the base of the General Sherman. The footprint, like the tree has a circumference of 103 feet and offers a distinct visual of the enormity of Sherman.If for some reason you can’t make it up to see General Sherman this year, worry not. It will be even bigger next year. The General Sherman is still growing, adding about 0.4 inches in diameter each year. According to the park brochure, this is enough to equal the mass of a typical sixty foot tree.
How old is this tree?
For a long time it was thought that this tree had reached an age of 2000 to 3000 years. Others even spoke about ages of 6000 to 11000 years. Research from 2002 has shown that he is probably ‘only’ about 2000 years old. In the past sequoias have been cut down that appeared to be 3220 years old (by counting the tree rings) and it is assumed that there might be giant sequoias up to 4000 years old out there, because the biggest are not always the oldest ones.The image on the left is an attempt to show the entire tree in one image. Notice the people standing at the base of the tree (click on the image for a larger view). General Sherman is the biggest giant redwood, but he is not the one with the largest girth, nor is he the tallest. Also note that the tallest tree on earth is almost half of General Sherman’s height taller.He is often called the largest living thing on earth. Well, there might be some discussion about that. Most of the tree consists of dead wood. Also the exact definition of a ‘living thing’ is not very clear. A strawberry plant for example can reproduce itself by shoots, that root themselves. Is a such a field of strawberry plants than one plant or are it multiple ones? In that sense entire woods of trees (like the quaking aspen, Populus tremuloides, for example) or fungi that reproduce for miles and miles beneath the ground can be seen as one living thing. Anyway, whatever the case may be, it’s a fact that no single standing tree was found that has a larger trunk volume than General Sherman.During a winter storm in 2006 the tree lost a large branch. When it fell, it smashed a part of the enclosing fence and cratered the walkway pavement surrounding the sequoia. The loss of the branch is seen as a natural defense mechanism against adverse weather conditions. Also the branch loss does not change the tree’s status as the largest tree, as that honor was bestowed based on measurements of trunk volume, excluding branches.
Today of General Sherman
In January 2006 the largest branch on the tree (seen most commonly, in older photos, as an “L” or golf-club shape, protruding from about a quarter of the way down the trunk) broke off. There were no witnesses to the incident, and the branch—with a bigger circumference than the trunks of most trees, a diameter of over 2 metres (7 ft) and a length of over 30 metres (98 ft)—smashed part of its enclosing fence and cratered the pavement of the walkway surrounding the sequoia. The breakage, however, is not believed to be indicative of any abnormalities in the tree’s health, and may even be a natural defense mechanism against adverse weather conditions. The branch loss did not change the General Sherman’s status as the largest tree, as its size has been calculated using measurements of trunk volume, excluding branches. It will not be an exaggeration to say that General Sherman is a Adventure Place For Vacations.