Points of Interest is an ongoing series of web discoveries by Guild members and friends.
Derek Bird found this blog about “The President”. It’s really quite amazing.
3200 Years Of History In One Picture
At Sequoia National Park…
Thankfully, no loggers took it down, nor forest fires or earthquakes!
Just a quiet life in a California forest for all these years ….
Not every tree has a nickname, but ‘The President’ has earned it.
This giant sequoia stands at 247 feet tall & is estimated to be over 3,200 years old. Imagine, this tree was already 700 years old during the height of ancient Greece ‘s civilization and 1200 years old when Jesus lived and Rome was well into its rule of most of the western world and points beyond.
The trunk of The President measures at 27 feet across, with 2 BILLION needles from base to top.
Because of its unbelievable size, this tree has never been photographed in its entirety, until now. National Geographic photographers have worked along with scientists to try and create the first photo that shows the President in all its glory.
They had to Climb the tree with pulleys and levers, and took thousands of photos. Of those, they selected 126 and stitched them together, to get this incredible portrait of the President. And here it is:
The man standing near the trunk of the tree is a good indicator of the tree’s size.
Incredible, isn’t it?