Redwoods!

On Thursday, September 29 we hooked up the rig to our trusty steed and headed south down 101 to Ancient Redwoods RV Park for two nights. The park is near Redcrest, Ca. We had a good trip and managed to not hit any of the Redwoods that are on the edge of the road. The park is located  on a 30 mile stretch of road, running parallel with 101, named "Avenue of the Giants", and boy, is it correctly named! We had a pretty fair sampling of the Redwoods in Jedediah Smith State Park, that we visited from Brookings, and had a good idea of what to expect. The Redwoods are the oldest and tallest living things on earth with some dating back over 2,000 years. Think of it, some were here at the same time as Jesus, which is incredible in my mind. I've often heard the expression that some things have to be experienced, that they cannot be recorded, photographed, or conveyed in any medium that we have to present a true likeness. Such is the experience in walking through a forest of these majestic creatures. It's almost spiritual like with the stillness and quietness of the forest and virtually no movement or noise of any kind. We commented multiple times about not seeing any animals or birds, although I'm sure they were there. I told Terry that if I owned property with these trees on it, I couldn't bring myself to having them cut as they are so majestic and beautiful.

The first eight photos were made at Jedediah Smith SP near Crescent City, Ca. All after that were at Avenue of the Giants near Redcrest, Ca.

Finding accommodations continues to be a major problem for us, even after school has started back. We're having to start looking for parks one to two stops ahead which has been challenging. I suppose the economy somewhat recovering, along with cheaper fuel and record number of RV's being sold has put a lot more folks on the roads. 

Our next stop will be near San Francisco at the Olema RV Park for eight days. Stay tuned!

Terry said you take the lower half, I've got the top!

Check out Terry and Kathy's Jeep in front of a Redwood.

Pretty reflection shot on river at Jedediah Smith SP

Crickett in front of a big Redwood

It's very common in a Redwood forest for the trees  to be right on the edge of roads, even on a major highway like 101. You can see many trees that have been hit by a truck or RV.

Someone created these Cairns on the creek bank in the park. Can you spot all four?

It seems Redwoods grow in Groves. This is the largest grove in Jedediah Smith SP.

And this one is the largest in the grove.

Kathy and Crickett taking pictures.

Our location at Ancient Redwoods

Entrance to Ancient Redwoods RV Park. Very nice park with very helpful and friendly staff.

Our Site with full hookups. Verizon & ATT had no service here but they had good wi-fi.

Restored antique truck with hollow redwood log on back. They use it for special events and advertising.

One of the nicest gift shops we've been into anywhere! The majority of the merchandise is locally made and from redwood.

Need a bear?

How about some redwood flowers?

You can even buy your Redwood or Sequoia tree!  They told us the redwoods won't grow anywhere but in their region. The sequoia will supposedly grow anywhere the winters are not too severe.

There is this sign beside a tree at the RV Park office.

The reason it's called the Immortal Tree is it survived being cut by loggers, survived the massive flood of 1964 and has even survived being hit by lightning.

Believe it or not, this tiny pine cone is from a Redwood. The seeds within the cone are about the size of a grain of rice.

Avenue of the Giants Highway. Notice how close the trees are to the edge of the road.

The trees seem to withstand fire and we saw quite a lot that had the middle burned out but were still alive and thriving. The trees are very resilient.

Founders Grove Tree at Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It's the largest tree in the park.

This is an old growth tree that  has survived multiple fires and continues to thrive. 

Huge base and roots of this toppled giant. The trees have shallow roots and what usually causes their demise is a combination of heavy rainfall that loosens the soil and is then blown over by strong winds. 

This tree was known as "The Dyerville Giant" and was recognized as a champion Coast Redwood until it fell in 1991. The tree was at least 362 feet tall, 17 feet in diameter, 52 feet in circumference and estimated to weigh at least a million pounds.

They project it will take the tree about 400 years to fully decay. Redwoods are blight and insect resistant, but are very strong and lightweight.

Trees growing out of this stump.

We saw a lot of mature Redwoods with unusual growths near their bottoms, This one resembled a fish to me.

Crosscut section of a fallen tree. The outer ring of the tree is a light color with the center being red.

The forest of these trees is a special place that is peaceful and serene.

Unusual bark pattern on this growth.

And this is a sapling Redwood and will hopefully be a giant someday. The trees are not considered "old" until they are over five hundre years old.

We went into the Visitor's Center and of course, the majority of the displays were about the history of the area as it pertained to the trees. However, this casting caught my eye and is said to be an impression of Bigfoot himself. You can clearly see the outline of the foot along with the toes and heel. Maybe he does exist? The footprint is about a foot and a half long.

There are three drive through redwood trees in the region. We thought we'd check this one out. It was $6 to enter.

Terry was watching to make sure I didn't hit anything. After careful looking we surmised it wouldn't fit and had to back out. Terry said it might have fit if the mirrors weren't there.

We fit fine here!

What do you see here? Looks like an old witch to me.