...From the Redwood Forests... - part 2

Day One of our trip to the redwood forest is here. On the second day we drove north to spend time in the redwood parks that are north of Eureka. They are all managed together as part of the Redwood National and State Parks.             From Wikipedia: "... the four parks, together, protect 45% of all remaining coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) old-growth forests, totaling at least 38,982 acres. These trees are the tallest and one of the most massive tree species on Earth."

                    In 1850 there were 2 million acres of redwood forest along the northern California coast. After years of unrestricted logging the Save-the-Redwood League, created in 1918, was successful in establishing three State Parks in the 1920's.                        Redwood National Park was created in 1968 after 90% of the original redwood trees were gone. Now the State and Federal agencies cooperatively manage the forests and watersheds as a single unit.                    I'll mention here that all these photos were taken with my iPhone because the previous night I dropped my camera (on the carpet in the motel) and the lens popped off. I couldn't get it back on and knew that I wouldn't be able to get it fixed until after I came back from Texas (where I was headed as soon as we returned from this trip).

                      We took a side trip to the spot where the Klamath River flows into the ocean and walked down the steep trail to this overlook. That's Dan looking across the ocean for Meryl (my DIL who is in Australia right now).                 We drove farther north to the Stout Grove in the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.                  Every time we stopped we continued to be impressed with the grandeur of these trees and the forest.

             This tree had fallen and then was cut to clear the path.                   Look at that brilliant color.

                 We were surprised that we didn't see more mushrooms and fungus, but this one did catch my eye. Late in the afternoon we headed toward the coast at Crescent City.             Our map book showed two lighthouses so we started with Point St. George. We found that lighthouse (manned from 1891 to 1975 and abandoned in 1995) but it was 6 miles offshore. The Battery Point Lighthouse is accessible at low tide so we were able to walk to it, but we were too late for a tour.

                 We walked along the breakwater (seen in the lighthouse photo) and then out on a pier. This is a view looking back toward Crescent City.

               This is the view looking back toward the breakwater and the setting sun.

We headed home the next morning because I was leaving early the following day for Texas. This was a short trip (time-wise), but well worth it.

...From the Redwood Forests...

...This land was made for you and me... Thank goodness for the people who, decades ago, had the foresight to conserve and preserve some of the most spectacular (and vulnerable to human destruction) ecosystem you can imagine.

We had two days to spend in the old growth redwood forest along the northern California coast.                 Mini Road Trip!               From the Central Valley you need to drive through the hills to the west. We turned onto Highway 20 at Williams. You can see a slight tinge of green if you look hard but this time of year they should be emerald green. That green is the grass that began to grow after our early January rain. We have had negligible rainfall since and there has been no more growth. This is the time of year that ranchers in the non-irrigated hills count on abundant forage for livestock. Very scary to think of another year of drought to this degree.

                   This is a view getting closer to the hills. The almond trees are beautiful this time of year but I am disturbed at how many acres of land all over California have been put into almonds now. That's a story for another time however. It seems I didn't take more photos until we got to our first stop.

              From the Humboldt Redwoods State Park website: "In the early 1900s, loggers came to what is now Humboldt Redwoods State Park to cut down lofty ancient redwoods for grape stakes and shingles. The founders of Save the Redwoods League thought that was akin to 'chopping up a grandfather clock for kindling.' From the acquisition of a single grove in 1921, the League has raised millions of dollars to build and expand this park. Today Humboldt Redwoods spans 53,000 acres, an area almost twice the size of San Francisco. About one third, or 17,000 acres, of the park is old-growth redwood forest—the largest expanse of ancient redwoods left on the planet."                                                What is special about an old-growth forest?                  The size of the trees.

                                                 The mix of tree sizes. Unlike a reforested clear cut, there are trees of all ages and sizes and this makes for an open forest instead of a monoculture of trees and brush that you can hardly walk through.

               The ecology. When old trees fall they open up space for light to reach the forest floor and opportunity for new growth of other species.

                                                      The grandeur.

              We drove through The Avenue of the Giants, stopping along the way to get out and walk on the trails.                  We ended the day at the beach.