The second day of our road trip dawned overcast, and it
drizzled off and on as we headed out. I didn’t mind, because I enjoy the
novelty of wearing a jacket!
After that, we headed south through the Avenue of the Giants, a 31-mile road running parallel to Highway 101, through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Humboldt is the largest remaining old-growth redwood
forest in the world, and one of California’s largest and oldest state parks.
Avenue of the Giants is called one of the finest forest drives in the
world—you’ll get no argument from me.
An old-growth or ancient forest has the following
characteristics: trees of all ages; may layers of canopy (the uppermost branchy
layer); large, standing dead trees, known as snags; large downed logs; large
fallen logs in streams; and trees aged over 200 years. The redwoods growing in
this area are Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens)—they’re not the
oldest, but they are believed to be the tallest, growing up to 370 feet tall.
Coast redwoods only grow naturally in a 40-mile wide by 450-mile long strip
from southern Oregon to southern Monterey County in California.
The redwood forest is an ideal place to learn about the
interconnectedness of life. During a redwood’s lifespan, 1,700 species of plants
and animals depend on it. After it dies, 600 species live on a snag, and 4,000
live on or in a downed log.
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| Redwood sorrel |
Redwoods are so large that the base of the tree, the stem,
and the crown each lives in a different climactic zone. There are two types of
needles, depending on the conditions where they live on the tree.
We took short walks at the Drury Cheney Grove and the
Founders Grove. Because of the slightly drizzly weather, we saw few people, and
we didn’t hear any birds or other creatures. The woods were hushed and damp and
cool.
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| This fire-damaged tree is still living |
I learned a cool new word: “windthrow”—the blowing over of
trees, and leading cause of redwood death. When the older trees die and blow
down, the younger trees have a chance to grow.
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| This downed tree is known as the Dyerville Giant. Can you see Kerri standing on the right? |
In fact, we were forced to detour from the Avenue of the
Giants because a tree fell and blocked the road!
We wrapped up the day with a cold and windy sunset on the
beach by our hotel in Fort Bragg.
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| Goodnight sun |
Next up: a lighthouse, a light station, and a botanical garden by the sea. Read about the first part of this trip here.
