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Redwood National Park |
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We were able to see the partial eclipse while in Eureka, California. We drove out to the beach for optimum viewing and Dan used his binoculars in reverse to project an image of the eclipse onto a paper bag. I wasn't so clever and simply used four pairs of UV filter sunglasses of varying shapes and sizes, which worked very well but looked quite silly. We went to the Redwood National Park in Northern California and took the long hike down into the Tall Trees Grove. This was an adventure in itself. Once my simple mind mastered the combination lock to the gate at the trailhead, we drove more than six miles down a dusty, winding track that got progressively narrower as we neared the trail. We then walked slightly more than a mile down into the woods to see the world's tallest tree. To be honest, though, we couldn't tell which of the monsters we were looking at was the tallest because we couldn't see the tops of any of them. |
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World's Tallest Redwood. More info HERE |
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It's hard to imagine a tree more than 300 feet tall...they make our tall pines in Maine look like scrub brush. The walk into the woods was easy enough, with a steep downhill grade, but the walk back up to the car was a killer. Even Dan was complaining that his legs hurt, but to be fair, he WAS carrying our backpack filled with
water bottles. The car was also hopelessly covered with dust from the
access road; glove compartment, trunk, suitcases – all full of grit. We also drove along several scenic drives through the Redwood Forest, one known as the Avenue of the Giants. Imagine hundreds of centuries-old trees lining a quiet winding roadway. Along the way, we saw 18 bull elk grazing in a meadow not more than 20 feet from where we stood, and the rest of the herd (cows and calves) sunning themselves along a river’s edge. |
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Bull Elk at Elk Meadows, Redwood Forest, California |
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| For a nominal fee of $3 we were even able to drive our car through a living tree! Well of course! | ||||
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Driving through a Giant Redwood... Unlike the English who build their roads around objects like trees, Americans take the more direct route. |
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Avenue of the Giants, 33 mile drive.
These giant redwoods are pretty resilient. Forest fires clear the undergrowth which helps baby Redwoods to grow, but the giants aren't harmed by the flames. |
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