Sometimes I like to hang my pack off a nearby tree. But, I didn't have enough rope for this Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) in Redwood Canyon of Kings Canyon National Park! We spent the night here in June 2003, just a few feet from Fallen Goliath (off the right side of the image).

The tallest trees in the canyon (not largest, which the Sequoias are) are actually the sugar pines (up to 250 feet). Interestingly, the sugar pines also have the largest pinecone of any conifer (about two feet in length). So, when a pinecone falls to the ground it makes lots of noise for a long time. Until nightfall. Then the forest becomes completely silent. Very eerie. While we slept under this tree that night Curtis, my son, told me the only noise he heard all night was what he figured must be a bear. He got a little nervous, so he shook me to awaken me, and that's when the bear stopped snoring! ;-)