The General Sherman is a giant sequoia tree that towers 274.9 feet above the forest floor in California’s Sequoia National Park. While it isn’t the tallest, widest, or oldest tree on the planet, the General Sherman is famous for being the largest known living single-stem tree on earth — its weight is estimated at about 4.2 million pounds. More impressive for me, however, is its age. According to dendrologists (people who study trees for a living), the colossal toothpick is upwards of 2,700 years old.
On a quest to visit Sequoia National Park and stand under the broad canopy of The General Sherman, I loaded my family into a beautiful 2016 Audi A7 — painted Ibis White and featured Nougat Brown leather and layered walnut wood trim with aluminum accents — for a road trip. The German automaker’s four-door hatchback (Audi calls it a sedan) was launched as a 2012 model, making it about as old as a new needle on the giant sequoia, but Audi nevertheless treated the A7 to a freshened look and additional amenities for its fifth model year.