October 25th, 2022 Redwood and the Sea.. And Sea Lions too.

Our adventures today took us to Howell Hill Road in the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

“Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park is the northernmost state park in California's Redwoods National Park, which also includes other state parks like Henry Cowell, Prairie Creek, Del Norte Coast, and the Humboldt Redwoods. Unlike other national parks, Redwoods National Park is a system of unconnected state parks that fall under federal and state jurisdiction. Together, these parks protect almost half of California's remaining old-growth redwood trees, whose average age is 500 to 700 years old. It's an area so important that it has been named a World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve.

The park was named for Jedediah Strong Smith, who in the 1820's became the first white man to explore the interior of northern California. The park was established in 1929 with a small parcel donated to Save the Redwoods League by the family of lumberman Frank Stout.

Howland Hill Road predates the park, having been built in 1887 as part of the Crescent City to Grants Pass Road. The State of California was planning to reroute Highway 101 through both Jedediah Smith and Prairie Creek in the 1960s until the well-connected Ford Foundation, which had put up the money to purchase Gold Bluffs Beach, applied political pressure to leave the road as it is.”

The drive was magical.  The trees and the forest were breathtaking and my pictures do not do it justice.

Notice the cars next to the trees:

We decided to take the trail to the Grove of the Titans.

“Known for generations by Indigenous people of the area, including the people of the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation whose traditional lands encompass Jed Smith, the primeval Grove of Titans remained hidden for thousands of years. Researchers from Humboldt State University came upon its giant trees in 1998 and gave the grove its name.

The Grove of Titans includes the coast redwood.  It contains 5 trees larger than 20,000 ft³ and 3 trees larger than 30,000 ft^3”

The start of the trail:

This is a rainforest and Redwood Parks are considered one of the wettest areas in the world.  Moss hanging everywhere:

Trees and plants growing out of downed trees:

So many ferns:

Check out the sizes of those trees:

This is know as a burl.  It is usually caused by a tree injury or fungus or virus:

WOW!

When we first walked thru this tunnel, we thought it was a wall on the left side.  It is a fallen tree:

We entered the old growth forest, which means it has never been touched/lumbered. So there are a number of plants and animals that are not in the other parts of the forest.  This area was once off limits but people were getting thru anyway.  So an elevated walkway was put in to walk thru the Titans. Some of these trees are near 2000 years old – Amazing. Notice that tree behind Andy:

Notice the steam coming off the log:

It is so quiet to walk thru this forest.  We felt so so small.

At times, I felt like I was in Jurassic Park and a dinosaur is coming thru the trees.   Or I would see the Ewoks from Star Wars.  (They did film part of Star Wars in the Redwoods.)

Beautiful!

Our journey continued with a ride around Crescent City and the harbor area.

The beach:

We went thru the Harbor and found these little ones:

He was yelling at something:

They slept thru all the racket:

The three tenors:

They were so much fun to watch.

The lighthouse nearby:

The lighthouse is only accessible at low tide so we are going to check into a tour.

We finished the day by having a great dinner at the local Elks Lodge.

Stay tuned for our next adventure and enjoy today.