Today we are
travelling over roads that we had travelled over before but so many years ago
that all I remember is being impressed by the size of the big California
redwood trees. It was definitely years
before I would have the camera in my hand at all times to help keep the
memories alive!
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| California Redwood trees |
Without
plans of what we were going to see other than a lot of California redwood
trees, we got on the road to see what lies ahead. It wasn’t long and we came upon the sign
“Avenue of the Giants”, running parallel with Hwy 101 and it sounded like the
right route to take.
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| Avenue of the Giants |
The Avenue
of the Giants is a 50km (31mi) stretch of road that meanders through the
Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The quiet
road, shaded by the towering redwoods, takes us on a beautiful scenic drive
that can take as long as you’d like, if you’re enjoying all the trails within
the park, as well. Summer season would
not be this quiet as there are zillions of tourists come to enjoy this at that
time.
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| California redwood trees |
This road
was originally built for wagons and stagecoaches in 1880. Following that, so many trees were logged off
to fill the demand of housing during the Gold Rush days of California that
there was concern for a total loss of the redwoods. In 1920 the trail became the Redwood Highway
and a movement had begun to save the California redwood trees.
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| Lone cyclist on Avenue of the Giants |
There was a
time when this redwood tree grew around the world but they are now only native
to the 450 mile stretch from central California to southern Oregon, thanks to
those who participated in that movement which began during the early days of
the twentieth century to save them.
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| Monstrous California redwoods |
There are
several locations called Auto Tour Stops that have interpretive panels with
points of interest noted and trails to be able to see more by walking into the
grove. Many are named after special
people who have worked to save the California redwoods from becoming something
of the past.
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| Very large trees in California |
The room to
park at some of the Auto Tour Stops was not always enough for both of our big
RV units so we made only one stop where there was room. It isn’t easy to realize the actual size of
some of these trees but they can grow as high as 320’ and 24’ across and live as long as 2000
years.
There is a total of 51,222 acres of redwood groves so needless to say we did not see them all but what we saw was great and with all the photos I took, I sure won’t forget this visit.
There is a total of 51,222 acres of redwood groves so needless to say we did not see them all but what we saw was great and with all the photos I took, I sure won’t forget this visit.