It takes a while before you encounter your first giant sequoia. I remember growing impatient. The landscape was magnificent. Around every turn, views of snow-topped peaks teased their height. Chaparral shrub vegetation gave color and dimension below a vast green expanse of conifer forests. With each turn I expected a maroon-hued giant. Then, as if reading my thoughts, I came over a rise and there on my left were two giants, side by side. I pulled off the road and caught my breath.