The Chandelier Tree

I carefully line up to drive through a Giant Sequoia

Ever since I first heard about it and saw photographs of it, I have wanted to drive through a giant Redwood. Why? I don't know: childish imaginings, juvenile adventure, just plain dumbness - call it what you will, driving through a tree was high on my list of things to do in America.

The big problem was to find the tree! There was no mention of it on the websites of the National Forestry or the National Parks, so it took a bit of searching to find it at a place called Leggett, a few miles short of the start of the Avenue of the Giants.

Anyway, we got there, paid our $5.00 admission, and then drove down a winding roadway with the sun in our eyes (and, what was worse, the dashcam's lens) to the tree. There was, of course, a car ahead of us - there always is. We had to wait while the passenger got out to have her photograph taken in front of the car, then she climbed back in and the driver decided to get out and have his photograph taken. Fortunately there were no passengers.

The hole was cut through the tree back in the era when the horse and buggy was slowly giving way to the Model T, so it was a bit of a tight squeeze to fit a modern car through without scraping something. My darling wife can be heard expressing the liveliest of doubts about my driving ability, but we came through unscathed. Well worth the $5.00.