From a whaleshead to a whale sized tree

The next morning rose foggy, but our tummies started off happy with a great pancake breakfast on the camp stove. By 9:30 am we were back on the road. Since it was so foggy, we gained some distance down the coast until we could see something off the shore. We drove through Coos Bay without stopping, except for at a few turnouts where we took some foggy pictures.The coast continued to have neat rocky outcroppings sticking out of the water along the coast.We continued along until we stopped for lunch at a little roadside park called "Arch View". We made some sandwiches and sat at the picnic table, after which we walked along the trail to see the views. Here's the arch after which the park is named:Past the arch there was a line of rocks cutting across the ocean.To the right of the arch, the coast curled into a bay.And some more view of the ocean and coast:Further on the coast, we stopped at a beach called Whaleshead Beach, where we wandered out on the sandbar to enjoy the ocean smells and the splash of the waves.Garrett took some beautiful pictures of the beach.We had to jump over a stream to get to the sand bar, so we were a little nervous that the incoming tide would trap us. After a short while, we jumped back over. I had a harder time getting across the stream - it was really pushing the limits of my jumping distance - but Garrett fared better:
We crossed the state border into California, driving down into Crescent City. Once there, we stopped in at the Ranger's Station to find a good place to camp and get some information on good sites to visit in the Redwood National and State Parks. The advice of the ranger led us to choose the Jedediah Smith campground in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. We arrived quite early in the day and were able to choose a really nice spot. The campsite featured our own set of redwood trees:Garrett hugged the above one, which was at the back of our campsite. We threw some stuff down to keep our site claimed and paid our fees, then headed out to a nearby Stout Memorial Grove to take in the trees. To get to the grove, we cruised along a scenic backroad called Howland Hill road. It was really neat to drive through the windy road, with large trees on either side of us:I made a movie of part of our drive:Here's the X-trail, looking awesome in the forest. I think its where it's supposed to live.Once in the grove, we enjoyed the rare afternoon sunshine to take it all in. The trees, unsurprisingly, were HUGE! It's difficult to show their scale in pictures, but we tried our best:I made a movie trying to show the scale of the trees:We learned a lot about redwoods during our visit in the parks. I'll share some interesting facts with you. The scientific species name for coast redwoods is Sempervirens. It means "everlasting".Redwood trees make tiny one-inch cones that produce thousands of seeds, although they rarely survive to maturity. Their more successful method of reproduction is through massive clusters of bud material in bumpy knobs called root collar burls. The burls can remain inactive for generations until a tree is stressed (due to low rainfall or intense fire), and then the buds will sprout.This is why redwoods are found clustered close to each other.Redwoods can grow up to 360 feet tall, where its foliage can reach the sunlight above the tree canopy. In its first 20 years, it can grow 2 to 3 feet per year, provided drought or fire does not slow it down. By its 200th birthday, it can reach the top of the tree canopy.Once it reaches the canopy, the lower humidity and strong winds slow its upward growth to only 2 to 3 inches per year. At this point, it starts growing outwards. After 400 years, the trunk can average five to seven feet in diameter.Those trees that reach 700 years or more old can have up to 10 to 15 foot trunks!Star Wars: Return of the Jedi was filmed in the redwoods forests. We think this is the log where Princess Leia first meets an Ewok.The root systems of the redwoods are disproportionately small compared to their height. The roots are much wider than they are deep, so that high winds can easily topple even the sturdiest trees. Their roots can be anywhere from just six inches deep to six feet.These falling trees are called "widowmakers", as they plummet to the forest floor.However, these fallen monsters give life to others, as trees and plants grow from the downed trees. A fallen tree creates a momentary wealth of light into the valley floor, which will last only until another tree fills the gap.Redwoods thrive in the fog that we'd been suffering through the past few days. They live at elevations below 2,000 feet, where heavy rains and moderate temperatures help their fast growth.The oldest trees are about 2,000 years of age, and don't seem to show any signs of fading. They resist fire, insects and rot because their thick bark lacks the volatile resin found in other trees. Also, its sap is mainly water, which slows combustion if a fire is raging around the tree.
After our tour of the forest (and after climbing on trees that we weren't supposed to climb on, for some of these pictures), we headed back to our campsite, where we made dinner and played cards before bed. We had pretty poor wood for our fire that night, so we couldn't get very much flames to light our campsite. It was pretty dark, since the redwoods kept out any moonlight and there were no camp lights around. We hit the hay pretty early, ready for an early start the next morning.