62 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF: VISIT VISALIA / ADAM TROVAO / QJAKE eral, don’t beeline it back to your car. Continue on the connecting Congress Trail to meet other tree titans. Though both paths are paved, this 2.7-mile loop draws fewer people than the breezy milelong walk to General Sherman. As you wind along burbling streams, then duck through an archway carved through a massive fallen tree, you’ll likely spy a serene hiker or two atop a hulking boulder, sunning themselves while soaking in the forest’s majesty. True to its name, the trail passes the House and the Senate—two stately clusters of sequoias gathered in quiet deliberation. The President Tree also resides along this path and unlike the fenced-off General, tree huggers can walk right up and wrap their arms around its tremendous trunk. BEYOND THE TREES But nature’s wonders transcend beyond the trees. As you map your course at the park, Moro Rock is a must. Yes, there will be some huffing and puffing involved as you climb the 350-plus steps up {due west} this granite dome, but the payoff is truly breathtaking views of the Great Western Divide and the San Joaquin Valley far below. For more cool rocks, head in the opposite direction and into the ground at Crystal Cave. From late May to early September, tour guides usher guests through the cave’s iron spiderweb gate and down into the bowels of the earth. An ancient gravitas settles in as you follow the stream that carved this cave in the first place and pass intriguing rippling calcite deposits called fairy pools. Sojourners will also marvel at Marble Hall, an auditorium-sized cavern draped in stalactites. As night falls, turn your gaze skyward with a Stargazing Adventure at nearby Lake Kaweah. There’s nothing quite like glimpsing into the heavens to remind you that we’re tiny specks in a boundless universe. As your guide traces the sky with a powerful laser—an
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