Redwoods (by Sunshine)

Towering redwoods

Eleven and a half years ago Jim and I got engaged in the redwoods. It will always be a special place to us. Even though we’d seen them before, the trees were still as enchanting this visit, perhaps even more so because of the special memories they hold. Visiting the redwoods is a very different experience from visiting the sequoias. At the sequoias, there are a limited number of groves and it is often known how many trees are in each. The sequoias are massive, wide, and have huge limbs spreading into the canopy. They are found in mixed forests with sugar pines and other large trees. Birds and squirrels scurry around hiding seeds and playing. In the redwoods forests, you find redwoods and more redwoods and more redwoods. There are far too many to count and unless the area has been logged there are no other types of trees mixed in. It is silent in a redwood forest. There are few birds or animals moving around. The sun is blocked from the forest floor with exception of a few rays that reach in like beams of a spotlight. The ground is covered with sorrel (looks like giant clover) and sword and lady ferns. Some of the ferns are taller than Walden. The trees are taller and straighter than any you’ve ever seen. The crowns are so high you can’t see the top. If the wind blows you know that even a small branch falling from so high would be scary to stand below. To me, a redwood forest feels like the primeval place I’d imagine dinosaurs living. It is majestic, beautiful, and definitely a place I will return to.

We camped three nights in Humboldt Redwood State Park

How many Burros tall is a redwood tree?

an area we had not visited before. There were an unfortunate number of mosquitoes in the campground and it was chilly so several meals were eaten in the Burro despite our lovely campsite. The first night we hiked from our camping area to the Eel River. The river bed is massively wide and covered in gravel but the river itself only fills about a quarter of it currently. From the height of the bridges and the debris stuck into tree branches along the shore, it is apparent that sometimes it is a raging river. Walden loved watching the smooth stones splash into the water when he threw them from the shore. It was a great place for Daddy to teach Walden how to skip stones, but skipping small rocks didn’t have the satisfying splash Walden was going for.

The second day we checked out the visitor center which was about as old school as we’ve ever seen. The exhibits were so old, in fact, it felt like we stepped into a museum showcasing what a “classic” 1970s visitor center was like. One very cool part of the visitor center was seeing a vehicle made from a redwood tree in the early 1900s. The tree had been hollowed out and fitted with a sink, folding toilet, storage, and bed. It was essentially a motorhome in a tree.

The "Travel-Log"

Imagine your great grandmother’s furniture, with deep wood grain and fine metal fixtures. Everything inside was of that quality and beauty. It was so spacious it was like the Burro on steroids. I would have gladly traded up for it except it was so heavy the only way it could be supported on wheels was using a train chassis. I’m guessing the gas mileage would limit our travels significantly. We spent the afternoon driving the Avenue of the Giants, a 32-mile winding narrow road through old growth redwoods. There were many places to stop and take short walks through groves of trees named for various donors and champions who had the foresight to preserve this area. Unlike sequoia wood which is brittle and of little value as lumber, redwoods were very useful and most of them were logged. Only a small percentage of redwood forests that originally covered northern California still exist.

Stream play with Daddy

The third day we took a long hike (7.5 miles) along Bull Creek. It was a great opportunity to move between redwood forests, small openings of grasses, and mixed forests in areas that had been logged and are regrowing. We had the trail to ourselves most of the day which is always a bonus. When we reached the end of the trail it was warm enough to play in the creek. Walden was thrilled to let the water wash over him as he sat in the creek nearly naked. 

The wood really is RED

On our final day, we left Humboldt and drove north to Redwoods National Park. The National Park is a unique conglomeration of federal land and three state parks jointly managed. This area of redwoods is right along the coast so the view of redwood is interspersed with views of beaches and waves crashing against jagged black rock. Humboldt is a bit inland which means the trees are not covered in fog from the coast as often. Because they receive more sunlight they can grow taller than the trees on the coast.

A magical hike

We were going to have a picnic on the beach but the cold wind forced us into a shelter and we decided to hike in the forest instead. Every grove we visited in both parks was unique in how hilly the terrain was, what the understory looked like, whether there was a stream or water present and therefore how the forest felt when walking through it. The trail to Trillium Falls (3.75 miles) was one of my favorites of the trip. The forest was lush with giant ferns and the rocks and fallen logs were covered in moss. The falls itself was small but added an element of magic to the experience because of its sound and beauty. The redwoods was one of the first places on the trip that I wish I could have spent more time but honestly don’t know how much time would have been enough. These trees touch my soul in a special way and I can imagine myself living among them.

Trillium Falls