Redwoods

Three years ago we had a trip planned to go to California to see the giant redwoods but instead we made a trip to Buenos Aires to be there for John and Monica's wedding.  Wouldn't have missed that for anything!  George had a 4 day weekend again so this year we did go south.  The redwoods did not disappoint!

We have some tall trees in Oregon but nothing quite as tall as these giants. 

This area is called the "Avenue of the Giants' and it is easy to see why.  This tree once stood 362 feet tall...walking the whole length of the fallen giant gives you a real feel for its size.  362 feet is more than the length of a football field. Truly awesome!

Seeing the root system of this tree, called the Dyerville Giant, gives a great sense of the actual massiveness of the redwoods. 

It crashed to the ground in 1992 moving the earth so much that it registered on a nearby seismograph and one local, who heard the impact from a half mile away, thought a train had crashed. 

 We spent a lot of time looking up! 

The trunks seem to often be hollow.  

Looks like there have been campfires in these trees. 

Easier to cut a tunnel than move a tree! 

Not all the trees are redwoods.  This one made me think of the Spanish Moss on the trees in the South. 

Although there were  bear and mountain lion warnings, the only wildlife we saw was this cute slimy banana slug. 

And a herd of elk in the appropriately named, Elk Meadow!