Humboldt Redwoods proudly serves up the largest contiguous swath of old growth Coastal Redwoods in the world. And because it boasts both a protective mountain range to the west that blocks the coastal marine layer and massive alluvial plains along the Eel River and its tributary Bull Creek--perfect conditions for redwoods--it grows 'em big. 100 of the tallest 134 trees in the world are in this park, including 7 of the top 10. How about that, huh? This is a blog where you learn stuff.
We started out in the Founders Grove, a grove of huge trees named after the founders of the Save-the-Redwood League. The StRL were a group of bourgeois alarmists who had had enough of the lumber baronage chopping down every tall tree in the state. Founded in 1918, the League spent its time and money (it raised over $300,000,000 in today's dollars!) convincing other landed elite not connected to Big Timber to buy up redwood land. They were wildly successful for an environmental charity in early-20th century terms, and most of the old growth areas today owe their continued existence to their efforts. Anyway, back to the Grove.
It was boss. The centerpiece of the grove is the Founders Tree, named for the founders of the League. At 364 feet, it's is 59 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty + pedestal, and quite girthy. Here's a snapper of the giant:
Another curio of the Grove is the so-called Dyerville Giant, a 2,000 year old titan which stood 370 feet when it toppled in 1991 (here's a dated but interesting story about its fall). I had been wondering about the rate that these bad boys decay, given that a.) many of the fallen trees seem to have been there rotting away for quite a long while, and b.) the forest floor isn't particularly littered with them. The only answer could be that they fall over very rarely, which makes one appreciate that time in these forests moves much, much slower than it does for us (and MUCH slower than it does for the poor mayfly, whose lifespan lasts all of one day). In places like the Founders Grove, an entire decade might pass with nothing happening of significance, save for the trees silently growing about 6 feet. When one does go over, it's big news, like Brigadoon appearing. The unlucky tree will then rot there for 50 years until it turns into loam, and, in time, other redwoods.
The Dyerville Giant helped put all of this in perspective. It has been 23 years now since it fell, and yet it still very much looked like a tree lying on its side. Here are some pictures to give you some idea of what I'm talking about:
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| Erica at the base |
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| James, holding things down in the foreground, and Erica way, way, down the at the midpoint of the trunk, basically invisible to all except those who can somehow zoom in on their computer screens |
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| Erica took this picture from the midpoint of the trunk, at the same spot at which she is standing in the above picture. That's me way down there at the top of the tree. See, it's BIG! |
After gaping at these trees for awhile, we drove to the inventively-named "Big Trees" section of the park. Erica strapped James into our (borrowed) Ergo side-carry style and we had a very nice 2.4 mile walk in the woods. James love it. Erica got peed on, but enjoyed it nevertheless in a matronly sort of way.
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| Happy Hikers |
With James' nap time growing near, we packed things up and hit the road. We had big plans to go see Mendocino tonight, but it was slow-going on Highway 1, with its twists and turns, so we landed in Ft. Bragg, checked in to our hotel, and headed out for dinner. James made it most of the way through our meal at the absolutelyamazingandtotallyawesome North Coast Brewing taproom, where I partook of the beer sampler and calamari steak (this is the second time we've encountered "calamari steak" on this trip. I've never seen it before in my life. It's a thing?). Then the boy kind of lost it, so we took him back to the hotel and put him down for the night.
Tomorrow is a long day in the car, and it will be interesting to see how James handles it. He has been very, very good so far, easily exceeding his parents expectations, but we've got over 4 hours of car seat time planned, and it's going to be an adventure. We're hopeful to meet up with John and Katie Hunt in Pt. Reyes Station for some cheese tasting tomorrow afternoon. Let's hope we make it there without incident/meltdown.
Thorn: hmmm...long car rides? They are beautiful, though...
Roses: Dyreville Giant and the Bull Creek Flats hike
Bud: the secretive town of Bolinas
Car miles: 135
Total miles: 2950.5
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