Avenue of the Giants

Jill's Journal: “The redwoods once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always…from them comes silence and awe.” --John Steinbeck

“The most irreverent of men, in the presence of redwoods, goes under a spell of wonder and respect.” --John Steinbeck

We had the good fortune today of driving the famous, 31-mile stretch of road known as the “Avenue of the Giants.” Originally built as a stagecoach and wagon road in the 1880s, this two-lane scenic drive winds through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Of all the remaining coastal redwoods, one out of every five is here in this 53,000-acre park.

These towering, stately, magnificent giants really can’t be described. Pictures can’t portray their grandeur. I snapped this photo of an oncoming car to show just how immense they are. It’s like being dwarfed by thousands of 30+ story buildings, but these structures are alive. In fact, they're the tallest living things on earth.

Imagine when one of these guys comes crashing down! Here’s the root ball of a fallen redwood in Founders Grove. A crater is left in the earth and this root labyrinth is about three stories high all on its own.

Equally amazing is how many of these trees can be absolutely hollow on the inside and yet still be thriving. The girls love the trees they can walk inside.

Just over 150 years ago, when Europeans and Americans first put down roots in this area, redwood forests appeared to be endless natural resources. Hundreds of thousands of acres were cleared. Today only about four percent of the coastal redwood forest remains. That’s a staggering and sobering number.

See that high water marker, 33 feet above land? The great flood of 1964 changed this area immeasurably. This is where the original town of Weott stood along the Avenue of the Giants, but over 50 buildings and a bustling downtown were washed away. Interestingly, some of the original sidewalks can still be seen.

That 1964 flood affected the redwoods too, although they have great rejuvenative properties with a root system that is able to re-establish itself after trauma. This is the “Immortal Tree,” a tree with as many lives as a cat. Can you see the fish on the tree (well above the ax?). That’s where the water mark was from the 1964 flood. This tree also survived the loggers’ ax (they tried to cut it down and it proved too tough), plus a forest fire in 1908. At one time it was also hit by lightning, a strike which sliced 50 feet off its top. In spite of all those attempts on its life, this tree is still going strong at approximately 1,000 years old.