The Mighty Trees

I worry at times that these blog entries become too mundane.  Another round of “we went here, saw this, it was beautiful, here are the pictures.”  I try to find interesting stories, or different angles to describe things to keep it somewhat interesting for those of you who read.  It is a testament to the natural beauty left in this country that we have been blessed to see so much.  In spite of all we have seen and all the places we have been, there have been few days that are indescribable.  For a brief few days in mid-October, we experienced a place that truly is impossible to communicate in words or pictures.

After leaving Oregon by way of Highway 199, we crossed the boarder into California late in the afternoon.  We drove down the Smith River valley towards the town of Hiuchi, which is the gateway to Jedidiah Smith State Park and Redwoods National Park.  If you have never been to Northern California and seen the giant redwoods, I honestly cannot describe their grandeur.  Believed to possibly be the largest, and some of the oldest, living organisms in the world, the redwood forests are a trip back in time.  And I am not talking about a trip back to the turn of the 20th century when the Save the Redwoods League began organizing to protect the remaining stands of these ancient monsters, I am talking about a trip back to the time of monsters.  It is believed by many scientists that redwoods populated much of the area we now recognize as North America during the time dinosaurs roamed the earth.  It is further believed that although a giant meteor and its subsequent cataclysmic fire wiped out the dinosaurs, the fire resistant nature of the redwoods allowed them to survive.

What the redwoods couldn’t survive, and still can’t, is the saw, axe, and logging truck.  Three creations of man that still reduce their numbers to this day.  But, in the cobbled together sections of state and national parks that protect various old growth stands, you can glimpse a small picture of what this great forest looked like 2,000 or 3,000 years ago, when the largest trees still living today were sprouting from seed.  And while what remains is a small piece of history, it is nonetheless breathtaking.

The largest of the redwoods stand more than 300 feet in the air, with trunk diameters reaching more than 20 feet around.  They grow to these astounding sizes with a broad, shallow root structure, that is rarely more than 6 feet deep.  Stand at the base of one of these giants and look up and all you will see is the beginning of the canopy, which often doesn’t start until 200 feet.  Walk into a grove of large trees and you feel like you are surrounded with massive living columns that reach farther into the sky than you can see.  The forest floor in these groves is dark and cool all day, with ferns, redwood sorrel, and fungus growing in the undergrowth.

This is our second visit to the redwoods, and just like our previous one 10 years ago, it will remain etched on our minds forever.  The forests feel haunted.  Not in a scary, uncomfortable way, but with a sense that you can feel the eons that these trees have seen.  You can look at their bark, almost totally covered in moss and ferns; see the giant fire holes that the tree grows right around; marvel at the car sized burls hanging off the trunks; all the while feeling your insignificance in comparison.  The oldest of these trees has lived for about 40 average human lifetimes.

What we didn’t know on our previous visit, and are only know finding out, is how amazingly complex the canopies of these trees are.  I just finished reading a book about the scientists who study the redwood canopies.  The book is called Wild Trees by Richard Preston, and it is astounding.  What scientists have learned is that there are entire ecosystems living in these canopies that never have contact with the ground.  Ferns and huckleberry bushes grow in giant nooks and crannies, squirrels and birds abound.  There are species of salamanders that live high in the trees and never come down.  One species was just discovered this year.  There were even crustaceans found in the trees.  A species that scientists never knew could exist out of the ocean: and they have no idea how it got there.

Despite this amazing, relatively unexplored ecosystem, as you drive up and down the California coast, you are nearly colliding with logging trucks at every turn.  In writing this blog, I have tried my best to avoid politics and preaching, following the rules of good dinner conversation, but the fact that these forests are still coming down is a complete and utter freaking tragedy.  If we keep logging out these forests, leaving just a few museum curiosity anachronisms to gawk at, the ecosystem will fade and die.  It takes many hundreds of years for these trees to mature and the biggest ones are at the apex of their lives.  They won’t be around too much longer (at least in redwood time).

So, go see the redwoods when you have a chance, it is worth the miniscule price of admission.  While you are at, send a few bucks to the Save the Redwoods League.  They have been fighting a Quixotic battle since 1917 . . . they could use some reinforcements.