SOME TREES... have been around a notable amount of time, while other trees can count up the centuries. And the occasional tree, if it has become something of a stand-out or superstar with human visitors, can find a different feather in its cap, beyond the feathers of longevity and health and handsomeness and majesty. Think of the General Grant, one of the largest sequoias around, and how, for the better part of a century, it has become a gathering spot for those looking for a peaceful reflection of the season. Of course, humans gather at the stately sequoia, which is found in Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, in Grant Grove (in Kings Canyon). And stately the General Grand remains, all year long, but on the second Sunday in December, it assumes the mantle of...
THE NATION'S CHRISTMAS TREE, a designation it has movingly held since the 1920s. And it is on that second Sunday, which in 2018 is Dec. 9, that the sky-high specimen of sequoia-powerful beauty will serve as the focal point of a heartfelt ceremony. How to see this afternoon time to-do, which remains one of the hallowed happenings in this national park, and, truly, any other? There's a shuttle from Sanger, but a reservation is a must. For more on the story behind the General Grant's felicitious role as the tree that stands as a seasonal national symbol, visit the NPS site for the story of how it all quaintly came together, over nine decades ago.
