Leaving the Northern California Redwoods

This last week we stayed at the Ancient Redwoods RV Park, and we both agree it was our favorite RV Park this summer.  The park has 49 level-paved, big rig friendly spaces with room for slide-outs, 50-amp hook ups, laundry, gift shop, convenience store and The Immortal Tree, a 1,000 year old redwood that has survived fire, flood and the logger’s axe.  We purchased a beautiful redwood burl vase (with a glass insert to hold water for flowers) from the gift shop.   Is it not gorgeous?

The park is located one mile north of Redcrest, California, on the Avenue of the Giants, sitting among the tallest and oldest living trees in the world.  We could easily stay here another week; the weather has been perfect—daytime in the low 70’s and sunny.  The nights never got below 56 degrees, and it is so quiet at night.  Just an occasional hoot of an owl.

The park’s small size lends itself to be a very social place.  We met some extremely nice people here including Floyd (the camp host/caretaker) and Dave, Ginny and Alice, the dog (recent full-timers).  Thanks for the best blackberry cobbler, Dave and Ginny!  (Note:  They picked the blackberries right here in the park!)

Ferndale, California was our day’s outing.  The entire Main Street has been designated a National Register Historic District and includes interesting art galleries, gift shops and restaurants all housed in quaint Victorian-era buildings.  The ornate homes were built in the 1800s by successful dairy farmers and are called “butterfat palaces”.  The movie “The Majestic” with Jim Carrey was filmed here.  A must-see movie.   Did you check out the palm tree in the picture?  Fun day.


Pictures below were taken in our park and our site (notice one of the pictures is our gnome playing a “Joe and the Volcano” re-enactment):

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Gathering Our Pinecones

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Of the 100 largest trees in the world, 70 are located in the Rockefeller Redwood Forest.  This was our trail location today.  We hiked about two hours through the largest untouched old growth coast redwoods.  

Lots of large animal droppings on the trail.  We decided it was elk.  That is our story and we are sticking to it.

This was by far the warmest day we have experienced this summer--around 80 degrees.  Ended the hike with a healthy dew.

Sum-Sum-Summertime Produce

One of the many positive things of traveling in rural locations is the fresh produce you find in little road-side stands.  Since it was time to stock up on a few groceries, we stopped first at The Corn Crib produce stand (http://www.the-corn-crib.webs.com/)  We were not disappointed—they had bright red ripe tomatoes—the kind that are warm and juicy bursting with flavor.   They were just picked this morning.  And we did not stop there—we also picked up snap peas, green beans,  and peaches.  I am loving my vegetables again.

We took a drive down the Avenue of the Giants in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park.  The big redwoods are practically right on the road; in fact, a few trees had some healthy gashes.  I am guessing a few vehicle mirrors were lost at some point.   This road runs along side Highway 101 and is meant to be a scenic alternate route.  Meaning it is to be driven somewhat slowly and savored.  So, why do people speed down the road, pass or follow on your bumper.  Slow down and enjoy the redwoods!

We also stopped at the State Park visitor center for some information on the park trails.  The volunteer at the front desk was very knowledgeable and eager to point out the special sights to see.  Side Note:  I always have to chuckle at the amount of “flair” the park volunteers wear.  You know, the buttons, pins, and badges tacked on to their vests.  I wonder how and why this fashion trend got started?

Ah-Pah Trail

One last short walk in the Redwood National Park on the Ah-Pah Interpretive Trail.   You can not call it a hike since it was only a half mile, a stroll through the redwoods was more like it.   We took our travel gnome there to say one last good-bye to his cousin “Red”.  We’re leaving tomorrow morning for the Humboldt Redwoods State Park about 100 miles south of here. 

Oh,  I have learned so much about redwoods these past few weeks that I was able to pinpoint the year my mother was born on the appropriate tree ring (see picture on right).  That will get a rise out her—I will probably get a phone call tomorrow morning when she reads our blog.  Good thing I am hundreds and hundreds of miles away.

We have really enjoyed and appreciated our coastal northern California visit.  All across the country the weather has been sweltering, and here it has barely reached 65 degrees each day.  We had a beautiful view from our back window of forested hills.  Every evening and on to the morning the fog rolled up the hills, burning off by noon.  Really pleasant.  I will miss it, but we’re ready to move on!

If a Tree Falls in a Forest…?

I always thought the philosophical question, “"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" was the dumbest thing I ever heard.  I know the question is all about reality and perception, blah, blah, blah.    Seriously, a tree makes a sound when it falls—especially a 10-foot in diameter redwood—most likely a very large crashing sound.  Like the one that fell last night.  The Newton B. Drury parkway was closed today while workers worked to clear the large redwood from the road.   This was our planned route for the next hike.  Fortunately, the south end of the road was open up to the Prairie Creek State Park visitor’s center and we were able to hike from there.  In fact, starting from the center made a much better hike than what we originally planned.

Our hike started out by going under the parkway.

 

 

 

 

While the  road was closed, Mike practiced the sobriety test. 

 

 

 

 

Our hike took us to “Big Tree”, 287 feet tall, 23.7 feet in diameter and a circumference of 68 feet.   One of the big, bad boys of redwoods.

 

Since we first arrived at the redwoods, it felt like I was here before…  Finally, I remembered!  The Ewok forest from the Star Wars movie, “Return of the Jedi”.  I did a computer Google search to be sure; and confirmed it was filmed here in the redwoods.  Very cool.

These trees do not rot and they are resistant to bugs—this path cut out (see picture below) through a fallen redwood will last for many years to come.

We are truly in awe of the redwoods.  Unless you have spent some time here, it is hard to describe the emotion you feel being among them.  There is a remarkable article and insightful pictures in the October 2009 issue of the National Geographic on Redwoods.  In fact, the article is titled, “Redwoods”.  Here is the link:  http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/10/redwoods/bourne-text

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the saving of the redwoods.  Read the article and reach your own conclusions.  But, in my mind, this is a treasure that should never be lost.

The Trails Never End…

We headed to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove for our daily hike through the redwoods.  Across the footbridge from the parking area was an easy one-mile loop through the grove.  We went around twice--first, because it was so beautiful; and secondly, to get some needed exercise.  The fog was heavy, the moisture dripped from the leaves and branches like rain.  Occasionally, a shaft of sunlight would pierce the mist.  Magic. 

The rhododendrons are the size of trees.  The blooming period is over for rhodies, but from the number of large buds, I am guessing the blossoms are spectacular from May to June.  And talk about ferns—holy cow! They were huge, close to five feet high.

I did not blog yesterday, because it was a bit of a disappointment.  We were so excited try the gondola ride at the “Trees of Mystery” (private park located in Klamath, California).  The brochure explained that the gondola took you up and through the redwood canopy to the top of the ridge.  The private park also claimed to have trails through “towering matriarchs”.  No doubt, they did have extremely large redwoods (but, we saw redwoods for the last week for free that were just as big).  If the gondola ride went through redwoods, they were very small and we missed them.  This part of the park was obviously logged in the not too distant past.  The ride itself was kind of fun, I guess.

Tour-Thru Tree

Maybe a quarter of a mile from our RV park is the Klamath, California tour-thru tree.  Notice they call it the tour-thru tree because nothing but a very small car can drive through.  We went for a bike ride this afternoon and made a detour to this tourist attraction.  It only costs a buck to ride your bicycle through. 

Note:  This is one of three drive through (or tour through) trees in Northern California. 

The tree is approximately 735 years old, and at some time, the tree was scarred by fire.  Because of the size and fire damage the tree was spared from logging in the late 1960’s.  It pains me to think these old trees were logged in mass amounts.   It is hard enough looking at the man-made hole in the tree.

Redwood Racing Stripe

We drove north 20 miles to Crescent City and another 10 miles east to the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.  Our goal was the 17-mile unpaved route through more towering old-growth redwoods.   This road winds around the large redwoods, probably in an attempt to preserve as many trees as possible.  It does make navigating  in a large 1-ton truck a little tricky, but the pay-back for viewing groves of redwoods was well worth the trip.  Today’s joke was we may come back with a redwood racing stripe down the side of the truck.

We stopped at the Stout Grove trail and took a short hike.  Seriously, these trees are monsters.   The trail winds through the trees standing and fallen.   Since this state park is back from the coast a bit, the temperature was much warmer and no fog.  Nice for hiking. 

For such a remote location and rough road, it was surprising to see the large number of people hiking and driving through.   This was a single lane road with occasional turn-outs.  With so many on the road, it made for some interesting driving.

Got Redwood?

This afternoon was sunny, but it is not the norm for the Redwood forest.  The Coast Redwoods require an enormous amount of moisture to survive.  According to the literature we received from the visitor center, a single old-growth coast redwood tree consumes up to 500 gallons of water each day!  It rains a lot in the winter; but in the summer, the trees depend on fog.
    
We are both blown away by the magnificence of the Redwoods.  The tallest trees in the world.  You almost need to lay on the ground to see the tree tops.  The bark is reddish brown and the rough bark reminds me of a licorice twist.  Not the color, I’m talking about the texture.

We took the Coastal Drive in the morning.  It is a narrow road with steep hills and curves--mostly gravel.  The views can be stunning, but our timing was off.  We hit the thickest fog when we took this drive.  No point taking pictures…

 The Coastal Drive turned into the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway.  There are a number of trails off the parkway,  and we stopped to hike from the Prairie Creek Visitor Center (Prairie Creek Redwood State Park).   Rough hewn bridges crossed a number of fast flowing creeks, the trail zig-zagged up through the giant redwoods and then led you back down through a fern grotto.  

What a treat.  We are so grateful to the people who had the passion and foresight to save these magnificent trees.

Current RV Park:  Camper Corral RV Park - Klamath, California

Groceries and Whiskey

I did a double-take at Safeway in Crescent City, California today when I saw a bottles of whiskey, rum and tequila in aisle 12.  I forgot Washington and Oregon are on the short list for state-controlled distilled spirits in the United States and the remaining states simply retail from your local grocer.  After living in Washington State and buying at state run liquor stores for so many years, it seems odd to pick up a gallon of Bacardi Rum along with your produce.  One stop shopping—what a concept.   I like it.  And, it has been a while since we shopped at a large grocery with lots of choices in all food categories.  We actually had fun buying our weekly stash of eats today…

The visitor center for the Redwood National and State Park is located in Crescent City where we stopped to gather maps and  get our National Park Passport stamp.  They also carried a variety of adjustable canvas ball caps with a tasteful Redwood Park design, and I’ve been looking for one to wear on windy days.  Nothing more irritating than having hair in your eyes.   No doubt, you’ll be seeing that green cap in future pictures.

A quick drive-by of the lighthouse at Crescent City, and we headed back home to our RV Park in Klamath, California about 20 miles south of Crescent City.  We’re set to BBQ chicken, cook up fresh corn on the cob and drink a little vino.
 
I’ll have to describe our new RV Park soon—Camper Corral RV Park.  We love it!  Roomy. Quiet. Friendly.  Laid-Back.