We were off this morning to visit our friends, Dennis and Nora. After getting caught up, we took off for the Humboldt Redwoods and the Avenue of the Giants.
“In the early 1900s, loggers came to what is now Humboldt Redwoods State Park to cut down lofty ancient redwoods for grape stakes and shingles. The founders of Save the Redwoods League thought that was akin to “chopping up a grandfather clock for kindling.” From the acquisition of a single grove in 1921, the League has raised millions of dollars to build and expand this park. Today Humboldt Redwoods spans 53,000 acres, an area almost twice the size of San Francisco. About one third, or 17,000 acres, of the park is old-growth redwood forest—the largest expanse of ancient redwoods left on the planet.
This park offers one of the best places to see redwoods by car in the entire North Coast region: the 32-mile-long Avenue of the Giants. Good stops along the way include Founder’s Grove, with its fallen 362-foot Dyerville Giant, and the California Federation of Women’s Clubs Hearthstone, designed by famed architect Julia Morgan.”
“The park has international renown and is classified as both a World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve. The coast redwoods (sequoia sempervirens) exist in a narrow band that runs for 500 miles from Monterey to just over the Oregon border. Needing a warm, moist and foggy environment, coast redwoods are confined to the coast and elevations below 3,000 feet. Redwoods are “living fossils” dating back 100 million years to the Cretaceous Period- the time of the dinosaurs. The oldest redwoods range from several hundred to as much as 2,000 years old. Old growth groves are truly monuments of the past. Prior to the Ice Ages (1.8 million years ago), the redwood forests were much more widespread but became restricted to their present range due to cooler temperatures and regional uplift of the Coast Ranges.”
The road and views were spectacular. Our first stop was the visitor center.
Here we are in front of a tree that was over 1200 years old:
We watched a film about this part of the Redwoods and its history. There was so much interesting things in this visitor center/museum.
A few of the animals had masks – too funny:
An RV made from a Redwood Tree:
Information on the roots of the Coast Redwoods – Amazing:
After the center, we headed to the trail at Founders Grove:
The Founder’s Tree:
The root system:
In this area there were quite a few trees that were down – some in splinters. Must have been an incredible sound when it happened:
The trail was so nice and so so quiet.
The inside of the tree:
What a wonderful trail. What a beautiful place to enjoy with good friends.
In 1964, the Eel River had a 100 year flood and destroyed many towns in this area. The Redwoods were also under quite a few feet of water.
If you look closely at the Immortal Tree and go straight up from the hatchet, you will see a green fish. That is how high the water was here.
If you look at the pole to the right of the truck. The stripe at the top is where the water was in this area.
Nora and Dennis took us thru some of the towns that were affected by the flood. All but one bridge on US-101 was wiped out by the water and debris. So many people lost so much.
If you google 1964 Eel River Flood, there are so many pictures and sad tales. Water is an incredible force!
We had such a great time seeing the sights and getting caught up with each other. We have another adventure planned for tomorrow so stay tuned and enjoy today.
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