Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

 Drove up to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park on Monday to take another look around. I'm still barely getting my bearings, and haven't really begun to see what all is here. You can get lost all day in one small spot.









This monster had a circumference of 56 feet, one inch. A family could live on the inside.


Found these acorns deep inside a fire cave in a large redwood. Reminded me of the acorns I saw in the caves in New Mexico. Left by a human or rodent?
I don't even know what is going here. An enormous cluster of redwoods.
View of cluster from the opposite side.
View from inside of a redwood tree, looking out.

Giant, recently fallen Douglas Fir.
Someone took the time to count the rings. One estimate puts the tree's age at 670 years old. Another estimates 1,049 years!
Great news, we are finally getting some rain up here. It's been an unbelievably dry winter so far. We are going to need a lot more in the coming months...

Friday, January 24, 2014

John B Dewitt Redwoods State Reserve/Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

50 feet, 7 in cbh (John B Dewitt RSR)
 Here's a few photos from this week's redwood adventures. I decided to check out the John B Dewitt redwood grove just outside of Redway after work on Tuesday. I got there just as the sun was setting and was surprised to see two very large redwoods growing there. The grove is very small. It's hard to believe that even in such a small grove, enormous trees still exist. It blows my mind to think that these forests and trees covered much of the northern California coast not too long ago and that the surrounding area has been completely logged.
47 feet, 5 in cbh (John B Dewitt RSR)
 I drove up to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park on Wednesday to check out the area a little more. Driving in a vehicle from town into the heart of the forest makes the contrast almost overwhelming. It is another world. I didn't really have a plan, just decided to wander around a bit.


46 feet, 11 in cbh
An interesting looking redwood that appears to be growing on a giant burl
Cathedral redwoods: I'm in there somewhere
Massive sitka spruce: cbh 26 feet, 11 in.

Another goliath of the forest. Cbh 60 feet, 10 in!
Corkscrew Redwood Tree

Looking forward to many more days exploring this place...

Monday, January 20, 2014

HRSP January, 2014

cbh: 47 feet 9 in
cbh: 40 feet, 11 in

Small old growth redwood grove located outside of Benbow
Rockefeller Tree, 16th tallest at 366 feet, 5 in.
Here's a few photos from this past week in HRSP. I was able to stop by a couple of times before work and visited and explored a bit on Saturday as well. The top two trees are the ones I photographed a couple of posts ago. On Saturday, I wanted to visit the Rockefeller Tree. I had been wondering about this tree the last couple of years, and couldn't figure out why I couldn't find it since I'm pretty sure I've visited every large tree that exists in this particular area. I thought maybe I had a picture of it, but just couldn't find the match. As it turns out, I had walked right past it several times and didn't even know it! That's what can happen in this awesome forest of ours. Again, no rain to be seen anywhere this week...

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Prairie Creek

Roosevelt Elk

Western Hemlock
Sitka Spruce



Drove up to Prairie Creek on Monday. An absolutely ridiculous forest. One of the best in the country I would presume. Barely scratched the surface of this amazing area. I just wanted to walk around and take it in a bit, couldn't help pulling out the measuring tape a couple of times. Big, big trees, and very lush environment.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Humboldt Redwoods State Park

 I stopped by Humboldt Redwoods State Park for a quick 45 minute visit before heading to work yesterday morning. I just wanted to get used to walking around the forest again. Immediately, I regretted that I forgot to bring my boots, as there was a lot of moisture on the ground, despite the fact that it has rained little so far this year. Located a couple of giants in this particular spot. Will have to measure a circumference of the above tree, I'd guess it's in the 45 foot range. A real beast of a tree.
 Immediately I was struck how the redwood forest would not seem to be an ideal place to live if I had to camp outside on a regular basis. In Montgomery Woods, I read a plaque that mentioned the Pomo did not spend much time in the redwoods, instead found most of what they needed in the oak woodland valley areas. There just weren't enough resources to justify living in the forests. It's also much warmer and drier in those areas, a place I would probably rather be if I were living outside constantly as well.
 It's interesting to think that although native groups like the Pomo did not find it necessary to utilize the redwoods as much, our current culture probably would not exist the way it does today without cutting down almost every large redwood that was still alive in the 19th and 20th century.
Yesterday was another nice reintroduction into this amazing forest of ours.