It was a cold but sunny morning as we left Fort Bragg and continued along the northern California coast. Our first stop was at a small beach called Seaside Beach. It is at the mouth of the Ten Mile River. From the parking lot and beach one can walk to Ten Mile Beach. Seaside Beach is fairly small with a very nice view of sea stacks. One of its unique features is that dogs are allowed on the beach which is not true for most of the beaches along here.
Continuing on we came to another viewpoint that allowed us to look back along the coastline to Fort Bragg. Unfortunately we were looking south and somewhat into the bright light. However, along this part of the coastline were a number of sea stacks and rocks jutting up into the water so there were a number of interesting things to see and photograph in both directions.
Our next stopping point was unnamed, but it had a unique landscape along the water’s edge. Below the cliff were long sections of rocks from a lave flow. Most places just had sea stacks or individual rocks sticking up so these long flat formations were somewhat unique along the coast here. There was one large inlet here as well.
I also spotted some unusual trees here. The branches were bare of leaves or needles, but they bore cones. I’m not sure if the trees were dead or if they were a kind that dropped their needles. It was certainly not typical.
Another very common plant we saw was a grass with a very tall feathery stalk. We saw large fields of these up and down the coast. You can see the plumes in the photo below. These photos were taken just past the small town of Westport. The views here again were very nice with lots of rocks and sea stacks breaking out of the water.
Continuing just a few miles farther, and we came to our last ocean view spot along Highway 1. The parking space here was quite large, but only one other car stopped in so we pretty much had the view to ourselves. We could see ahead that there were tall cliffs along the edge of the ocean that would stop us from going close to the water. However, it was nice to get a few last shots of this magnificent coastline before heading inland.
At this point Highway 1 turns inland east for 22 miles where it eventually connects to Highway 101. This highway would continue north to our destination for the day, Crescent City.
Along the way we came to the Avenue of the Giants. This is an alternate route along Highway 101 that goes through Humbolt State Park among the giant redwoods. One can grab a brochure from a box at the beginning of the route that indicates specific spots worth visiting along the way. We took the route and enjoyed exploring the redwood forest here. It makes one feel small to be driving under these gigantic trees that line the road.
The first stop was F. K. Lane Grove #1, an old grove of redwoods that we walked through. We could see how tall and majestic these amazing tees were. There were a few that had fallen, and their length was incredible. One of the ways to understand the size of these trees in a photo is to try to place them in perspective. Humans help. Throughout the rest of this blog, my daughter Andrea appears six times. Some are obvious. Some are not. Can you find the six photos?
Farther along the route we came to the information center where we stopped to check out the gift shop and a small museum. Across the road from the information center, we walked the Gould Nature Loop. This trail took us through the redwoods and down to the Eel River which we had crossed quite a few times as we traveled up Highway 101. In this section of trees we saw a number of burls, which look like blights on the trees. In reality they are a way for the tree to save itself. We also saw a number of the trees with charred exterior bark. Apparently redwoods can survive a fire unlike other trees. It was quite an interesting and informative walk.
The next stop was the Founders Grove. Many of the groves are named after people who were part of a group trying to save the redwoods from being logged off in the early part of the 1900s. This group includes Rockefeller who donated two million dollars to purchase property. There is a separate grove named after him. The donated money was mainly used to purchase land on which redwoods were growing as a means to preserve them.
The Founders Tree is a tribute to these early supporters of saving the redwoods. This refers to one huge specific tree. There is a trail that starts at the Founders Tree that goes for a half mile. There are numbered posts along the trail that point out sites of interest. Visitors can pick up a pamphlet that will give information about the points. It’s a good way to learn about the traits of the redwoods, especially if one has children along.
The Avenue of the Giants parallels much of the Eel River. This river has quite a history in the area. There was a viewpoint of the river which gave information about some severe floods that happened which wiped away a lot of homes. People were building too close to the river, and were not prepared for the high flood waters that came. It looks pretty innocent today, but the river bed is certainly wide.
Our final stop was the Drury-Chaney Grove. This grove had a 2.5 mile loop trail so we decided it was a good trail to hike. The trail was level and didn’t have any roots to trip one up so it was a nice walk.
As you walk through any of the redwood groves, you will see many of the same things. At the same time, you will notice all the little things that make each grove somewhat different. The one thing I observed in this grove was the number of fallen trees. We had seen fallen trees previously, but there seemed to be a lot in this grove. Some of the fallen trees had obviously fallen many years ago. They had ferns, moss and other plants growing out of them. In a few cases they just looked like the ground as their deterioration was getting so complete.
However, other trees had fallen more recently and did not have new life growing on them yet. Some of these looked like they had fallen rather dramatically, splintering as they hit other trees and the ground as they fell.
The other thing I noted was the roots of the trees. These were often massive creating big holes where they fell over. The circumference of the roots could be huge. They might stand twice as tall as me. However, they didn’t seem to be that deep compared to their size. I would have expected roots going much deeper when you have a tree that is over a hundred feet tall.
At the beginning of the walk the ground was covered with what looked like big three leaf clovers. I later learned it was redwood sorrel. Deeper into the woods we encountered ferns which also created a green covering under the trees.
At one point my daughter decided she wanted to get on top of a fallen tree to be able to demonstrate its size. She managed to crawl up, and I took her picture. However, coming down was another story. She couldn’t see where her footing was and really struggled to get down to the ground. With some maneuvering and help from me, she finally got down. 38 year old kids. What can you do with them?
The Avenue of the Giants is a great introduction to the redwoods. We would be enjoying more redwood experiences in the days ahead. I hope you will join us.
So, did you find those six photos of Andrea? The last two are probably the hardest to see. Let me know in the comment box. Also be sure to sign up to receive your Batteredsuitcase.net edition by email. It’s the perfect middle of the week break. See you in the forest next week.