Coastal Redwoods, Day 2!

 

We decided to spend the whole day here.

"Surrounded by Humboldt Redwoods State Park, this world-famous scenic drive is by far the most outstanding display of giant trees in the California redwood belt. 
This 31-mile portion of historic Highway 101, which runs parallel to the modern Highway 101 and is accessible by most vehicles, is surrounded by Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which has the largest remaining stand of virgin redwoods in the world." 

F. K. Lane Grove

In 2001 we took Heidi and Charles on a trip with us at Thankgiving to these redwoods.  We walked this trail in the F.K. Lane Grove and we tried to see who find the biggest leaf!

Here is what I found in this same grove:

I'm at one end of a fallen tree...

...and Dan is at the other end.

So many interesting things to see

Gould Grove Nature Trail

This was a pleasant walk with more beautiful and amazing things to see

Now that's burly!

For lunch we went to Scotia/Rio Dell.  Scotia is a former "company town."  Started in the 1880's by the Pacific Lumber Company who owned all of the houses, called row houses, where the employees lived.  It was a company town for over a century. (This might be familiar to those who have watched When Calls The Heart.)  We took a picture of some of the identical homes with the lumber mill in the background.

and here are some of the lumber and logs still being processed at the mill.

It was also fun to see this building now a museum that belonged to the BSA.  Dan and his priests rode their bikes one year from the Oregon border to San Francisco and they spent the night here.  It also reminded him that they attended Church here on Sunday and when the members found out about their trip, they invited them to different homes for Sunday dinner that day!

Drury-Chaney Grove

This particular hike is a little longer and takes you way back in off the road where there is such a silence and primeval feel, that it is overwhelming.  

Then we drove up the road to the Rockefeller Forest and stopped at this creek.  Back in the day Rockefeller donated 2 million dollars to protecting the redwoods.

And then back at Benbow I may have played Nonograms in front of a fire!

It was such a beautiful and peaceful trip!

Nature Decorates for Christmas!

 

Although we saw a lot of signs of Fall, it seemed like nature was starting to decorate for Christmas!

Large hillsides of Christmas trees.

Greenery along the paths.

Red berries in bloom everywhere.

And even the dried needles looked like Christmas trees!

Coastal Redwoods, Day 1!

Our first stop was at Bolling Grove.  As you can see there was a lot of water and dampness from a previous storm.  But everything was beautiful!

We loved watching this fast flowing stream.

And noticed this tree that fell across the stream, up the bank and then on into the forest.

Then we walked through the Founder's Grove.

There are lots of trees that are burned out at the bottom but they are still very much alive.

And in old growth forests there are a lot downed trees.  Some have been here for 100's of years.

The forests of the coastal redwoods are thick with redwood trees and undergrowth.  

We leared that this is called bushy albino redwood growth about 120 feet up the tree.

The roots are so massive!

Part of the Dyerville Giant. It fell in March of 1991. It was estimated to be 1600 years old!  

 It was 362 feet tall!  That is 200 feet taller than Niagara Falls!  Wow!!

Dan looking up at the burl on the Giant.

It is so peaceful walking though these forests.  We saw very few people.  

Eventually we made our way over to the coast to walk along the beach and to have lunch in the city of Trinidad.

We learned that the Newton B. Drury Parkway further north was closed because of debris from a recent storm so we decided to turn back and walk the Lady Bird Johnson Grove.

An unusual burl!

Dan is reading the above plaque

The ferns are so beautiful!

The forests are so interesting!

It was a great day in the Redwoods!