3/23 The Redwoods

3/23/10 Tuesday The Redwoods
Photos:  http://silverserenity.shutterfly.com/1773

Past Garberville the signs to the Avenue of the Giants signs start to show up. The Avenue of the Giants and Hwy 101 for the next 30+ miles you take you through the largest redwood park in the CA state park system. There are over 50,000 acres of magnificent forest of which some 17,000 acres are old-growth redwoods. The coastal redwoods, the tallest trees on earth, reach heights of over 300 feet and live as long as 2,000 years. (Photo 4513 sign)

How could we not take the Ave. of the Giants? Almost immediately the redwoods closed in on us. The sun light was filtered out by the density and heights of these truly wondrous trees. The redwoods were divided into named “groves”. We stopped at the first pull off to venture into and walk among these trees.

Viewing from the road was one thing but to stand beside or inside the base of one of these trees was even more awe inspiring. They give a sense of wonder…just to know how much longer they have been here than we have. And how much longer they will live than we will. You truly feel small and miniature in their presence. On the forest floor it is cool and damp and serene. A mystical wonderland surrounds you. Trillium was in bloom everywhere. There are no words to express how you feel when dwarfed by these giants of nature.

Our next stop was at the Pioneer Grove. One of the first amazements was the remains of an old tree now with just the moss covered base as a memorial to its life. The center of the tree has been long gone and space was left for climbing into. I laid down on the remains and it would have taken two of me to reach across one side. The hollow inside was almost 5 feet deep. Just as with the first Grove this one proved no less spectacular.

One giant had fallen. I took a moment for a photo of me sitting on the ground beside her. (Photo 4546.) At this point I didn’t know how close I was to either the top or the bottom. A short time later we found the root end. This specimen had pulled up from the ground many years ago. The roots were mostly gone now and there was a slice into the center cavity of the tree. Photos 4553 and 4554 show Thomas and me inside the fallen tree. Our adventure continues through more of the Groves and along the rest of the Ave of Giants with much the same wonder. Maybe we will stay longer in Redwood National Park which is north of here.

Eureka was the next stop along the trip. With gas prices around $3.23 we opted to continue on a little farther hoping for the price to drop. The station farther up the road was $3.25. We made Arcata before getting only $40 to hold us over.

Tonight will be another night on the beach. Clam Beach is a city park. There is a day use only park and just up from it a camping park for $10 per night. There are several people staying here but it isn’t nearly full.

We talked to several of the other campers. A couple shared their campfire with us. We had another glorious sunset over the ocean. California is a great place for their beaches and sunsets.