California Redwoods

We had an amazing time in Crescent City, California visiting several different areas of the giant Redwoods and some great coastal views.

We just stopped at a pull off on Hwy 101 and hiked into the woods for some of the most amazing sites I've ever seen. I did not know until this trip that Redwoods are the largest living thing on the planet.

As we were driving down the highway on our way to hike the woods we saw a small herd of elk hanging out in someone's front yard! They then ran into the adjacent pasture.

Morning fog!

The house in the this picture overlooked the scenes in the next 5 pictures.

We stopped at the touristy Trees of Mystery. You can see much of the same thing just hiking the paths through the Redwoods for free but we enjoyed this stop because they did give you a lot of information about the Redwoods that we did not know. That plus the gondola ride up above the treetops made the $14 per person entry fee worth the price.

When a large Redwood is cut or falls down new trees often grow up around the perimeter of the old tree. Because they grow in a circle they are called cathedral trees. 

The next several pictures were taken from the gondola that takes you above the tree line.

The next few pictures were taken from the observation platforms at the top of the gondola where you can see not only the trees but the coast as well.

The towering inferno was fascinating to me. It seems that the bark of the Redwood tree is fairly impervious to fire. This tree was between 200 and 300 feet tall when it was struck by lightening during a storm. It burned from the inside out for over two hours and then smoldered for 2 to 3 weeks. The bark was all that was left standing.

The inside of the towering inferno.

This is a candelabra Tree which means a tree fell and then other trees grew out of the fallen tree. The horizontal and vertical trees have a very symbiotic relationship and feed each other.

Interesting chainsaw carvings.

Beautiful spider webs.

This is the end of the Trees of Mystery Pictures. The remaining pictures are from hikes and drives that we took among the Redwoods.

Here we stopped at the Klamuth Overlook and decided to hike a half mile down to a lower viewing point. It was a very steep descent and thus a very steep climb back up. We did see some sea lions from the lower viewing platform but we forgot to take our binoculars so they were tiny.

Of course, you can't go to the Redwoods without getting the obligatory picture driving through the tree. Not an easy task in a one ton truck!

This was really cool. There was a fallen tree that was between 60 and 70 feet long that was pretty hollow inside. You could literally walk (well you had to crawl through part of it) from one end to the other. The first picture was taken without a flash and the second two with a flash. You can see me standing at the far end.

The Redwoods are supposed to be the tallest trees in the world and sequoias are supposed to be the most massive. This tree, called the Big Tree is supposedly the most massive of the Redwoods. We saw many that looked just about as big.

That's the end of our trip to see the Redwoods. It was an incredible time. We loved hiking the less heavily traveled trails. It was so quiet and peaceful and cool enough to enjoy the hiking. It is hard to believe that you are looking at trees that were alive at and before the time of Christ. That just amazes me. 

Well, we are back in Oregon on our way to Washington State where we will visit Olympic, Mt. Ranier, and North Cascase NPs and go see our niece, Rachael who lives in Wenatchee. We will be traveling for a couple of days before we reach Olympic NP. Until then stay cool and be safe. To my teacher friends, enjoy your last few days of freedom!