Redwoods

We made it to the California Redwoods today.

"The Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) are located in the United States, along the coast of northern California. The parks consist of a combined area of 131,983 acres (534.12 km2) located entirely within Del Norte and Humboldt Counties and they protect 45% of all remaining Coastal Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) old-growth forests, totaling at least 38,982 acres (157.75 km2). These trees are the tallest and one of the most massive tree species on Earth. In addition to the redwood forests, the parks preserve other indigenous flora, fauna, grassland prairie, cultural resources, portions of rivers and other streams, and 37 miles (60 km) of pristine coastline.

In 1850, old-growth redwood forest covered more than 2,000,000 acres (8,100 km2) of the California coast. The northern portion of that area, originally inhabited by Native Americans, attracted many lumbermen and others turned gold miners when a minor gold rush brought them to the region. Failing in efforts to strike it rich in gold, these men turned toward harvesting the giant trees[2] for booming development in San Francisco and other places on the West Coast."

They are truly majestic. They are dissimilar than the Sequoias which have the big knuckles holding them to the mountain side. The rangers count every Sequouia that falls, saying "it lost its balance."

I walked around many Redwoods that were 40 foot or more in diameter in the Stout Grove. What a beautiful day to walk the Redwoods!

Tomorrow is church, then Crater Lake, then our friend Orin and over to Eugene.

Ed and LuAnn