June 9, 2007

June 9, 2007

After waking we start our day at the nearby Humboldt Redwoods Visitor Center. There we learn a little about the Redwood tree and get some recommendations for the best spots to visit. We drive up the Avenue of the Giants so we can hike the Founders Grove loop trail. The northern section of this large park has some of the few old growth redwood forests left in the country. At one time in the age of the dinosaur, when the earth was warmer and wetter, the redwood tree dominated the forests of the northern hemisphere. Now the redwoods only occur naturally on the pacific coast in northern California. We take a very leisurely stroll around the short loop. It is peaceful but not quiet. Motorcyclists are having their annual Redwood Run here this weekend and they all ride noisy Harleys.

The redwoods here are huge. They are the tallest trees on the earth. They are so tall they span three climate zones and have to have different leaves at the top versus at the bottom. We can tell they are tall because they shade the forest floor so well it is dark. It is also noticeably more humid here. Green ferns cover the ground. It looks so otherworldly it starred in the scooter chase sequence of the third Star Wars movie, “Return of the Jedi”.

In the old growth area many of the redwoods are giants of enormous width. The Coast Redwoods look like a dingy version of their cousin, the Giant Sequoia. They share the same resistance to fire and insects. They are so decay resistant that the fallen trees take centuries to decompose. I can vouch for that as I saw a large mature tree growing atop one downed giant.

After lunch, we drive farther up the Avenue of the Giants to a side road that takes us into the Rockefeller Forest. We hike around this grove and see the current record holder for the tallest tree in the world.

After a nice day with the redwoods, we drive Hwy 101 north past Trinidad, CA and stay at a private park outside Patrick’s Point State Park. We have a spot high on the property overlooking what should be the ocean. Unfortunately it is cloudy and starting to drizzle making visibility poor. Undeterred we have a little party of wine and cheese and do a little nature watching from the comfort of our picture window. In a bush outside Aimee scores another bird on her list, a pair of Cedar Waxwings. They look like rust colored cardinals, and they are stripping this bush of its berries.

A little later after I start reading the new photography book I bought, Aimee yells out, “Slug”. I am feeling offended. I know I was supposed to be BBQ’ing tonight but it is raining so I should get a reprieve. She clarifies by saying “not you, that slug” and points to the picnic bench. On it is a huge yellow slug, the biggest I have ever seen. It is at least four inches long and as big around as my thumb. Aimee says she saw a postcard describing it as a Banana Slug native to the redwood forest here. From what we can observe, it climbed atop the picnic bench to lunch on a piece of bird do-do. This is the kind of stuff we would miss if we stayed in hotels on our travel adventure.