California Coastal Redwoods, Majestic, Spiritual, Magical

August 18, 2021,

Forests can be magical places that stir the imagination.

If you have ever walked in a deep forest on a misty day, the feeling is incredibly serene.

Walking through a forest where the sun’s rays gently hug the trees, many have found that to be a spiritually enlightening feeling.

Bury Me in Redwood Country is a 2009 documentary film about the Redwood forest landscape.

It is a meditative look at the tallest and largest trees on the planet, offering a reverential perspective that approaches the ecstatic. The film includes interviews with Redwoods experts, foresters, conservationists, native basket weavers, rangers and naturalists.

The project encapsulated a year of shooting in diverse locations in Redwood National and State Parks, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Montgomery Woods State Reserve, Sequoia National Park, and others.

Magnificent endeavor. It’s worth a look.

Here in Northern California, we are truly blessed to be near some of the most majestic forests in the world.

Redwood National and State Parks are a string of protected forests, beaches and grasslands along Northern California’s scenic coast.

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park has trails through dense old-growth woods. Roosevelt elk frequent nearby Elk Prairie. Giant redwood clusters include Redwood National Park’s Lady Bird Johnson Grove.

We really love this forest. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is home to Fern Canyon, with its high, plant-covered walls.

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is a state park, located in Humboldt County.

The 14,000 acre park is a coastal sanctuary for old-growth Coast Redwood trees.

The park is jointly managed by the California Department of Parks and Recreation and the National Park Service as a part of the Redwood National and State Parks.

These parks (which includes Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, and Redwood National Park) have been collectively designated as a World Heritage Site and form part of the California Coast Ranges International Biosphere Reserve.

The wonderful news about that is that they are carefully protected. We need them so much.

Another park we love and have walked through more than once is Muir Woods. It is very close to San Francisco.

Congressman William Kent donated the land to protect redwoods, some of which are over 150 years old, from the logging industry boom.

Muir Woods National Monument is part of California’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area, north of San Francisco. It’s known for its towering old-growth redwood trees. Walking through this historic sanctuary can truly refresh the soul.

When tourists from all over the world visit Northern California, it is tempting to spend virtually all of their time in vibrant San Francisco, which is wonderful, but you would really make it a special experience if you took the time to visit Muir Woods which is not far away.

The National Park Service welcomes you for a visit, “Walk among old growth coast redwoods, cooling their roots in the fresh water of Redwood Creek and lifting their crowns to reach the sun and fog. Federally protected as a National Monument since 1908, this primeval forest is both refuge and laboratory, revealing our relationship with the living landscape. What will you discover in Muir Woods?

At Muir Woods, we have two different species of salmon; the Coho or Silver salmon and the Steelhead salmon (formerly steelhead trout). The adults may be seen in the winter as they return home to Redwood Creek to spawn and give life to the next generation. The adult Coho Salmon can typically be seen in the creek December - January. The Steelhead follows soon after and can be seen late January - early March. Although the Coho begin and end their lives in Redwood Creek, the Steelhead battle their way up the creek, spawn and race back out to sea in hopes to return home the following year to Redwood Creek.”

Truly fascinating. If you are fortunate to get a glimpse, they are mesmerizing to watch.

The team adds, “Over 50 species of birds have been identified in Muir Woods over a year's time. Their abundance and periods of song vary with time of day, season, and weather conditions. The greatest variety of avian activity occurs during the spring mornings. A deep, wooded redwood canyon is a specialized habitat.”

The forest supports spotted owls, common raven, and pileated woodpeckers.

Are you a bird watcher? Here you have found paradise.

For most Northern Californians, our love for the Redwoods is very personal. We have a visiting female writer who would like to share her personal story with you.

Please enjoy.

Journeying Through the California Redwoods

By Kathy Manney

During the 1950's my grandparents visited the California Redwoods and took a photo of their car as Grandpa drove through one of several area drive through trees. More than fifty years later you can still drive through a towering redwood tree and snap a photograph.

I began my tour of the California Redwoods just north of San Francisco at Muir Woods National Monument, named for naturalist John Muir. Muir Woods offers visitors an opportunity to take walking trails among the immense trees. The park trails here are also wheelchair and stroller accessible.

It was at Muir Woods one of the park rangers told me that the trees are highly fire resistant, the seeds actually need fires to break them open and begin germination. I was surprised at how fragile and paper like the redwood cones are compared to more familiar woody pinecones of smaller trees.

Driving north from Muir Woods to the Oregon border and beyond, I continued to find pockets of protected redwoods. The Giant Redwood or Sequoia tree are among the world's largest trees and this is area has some of the Pacific Northwest's most scenic countryside.

Though most of the redwood trees are about 200-400 feet tall, some grow taller and I found the tops of many could not be seen from the road below as I drove through The Avenue of the Giants. The tree's size is aided by the renowned pacific climate of fog and rain.

The Avenue of the Giants is about 150 miles north of San Francisco, it is also known as the Redwood Highway and runs parallel to the nearby coastal highway 101. I drove through massive redwood columns, while motes of light wove in and out through the thick tree branches.

To put the age of most of these trees in prospective, I was told, many were already standing when Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492. Progress has destroyed 95% of America's redwood trees. After the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, thousands of the trees were cut and the lumber used to rebuild San Francisco and adjacent logging is still taking place.

To gain perspective to our own short lives I recommend a journey to the California Redwoods, you can't help but marvel at these extraordinary giants and along the way visit one of the trees where you can go inside like the World Famous Tree House or drive your car through one and snap a photo.

The Leggett Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree, near Leggett, California is typical and where I stopped, so many years after my grandparents. As I drove onto the grounds a sign caught my attention that read, "North to Canada 870 miles - South to Mexico 740 miles." The World Famous Tree House and The Leggett Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree are part of quaint America.

Kathy Manney is the nationally recognized author of autobiographical, lifestyle and travel articles. She is the travel columnist for "The Vegas Voice," a monthly regional senior lifestyle newspaper.

Kathy's community involvement includes past advisory board member the Las Vegas, Nevada Summerlin Library and Performing Arts Center. Her hobbies comprise reading, photography and computer graphics. Ms Manney enjoys traveling to new and interesting places and in the process of becoming an adventure Diva, finds some of her articles, Kathy's most interesting pursuit, a self-defining adventure trip to Antarctica. She and her husband have traveled the Rhine River visiting Switzerland, France and Germany. They have traveled from Alaska to New England and points in between such as a wind farm near Palm Springs. They have also visited the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada, Kathy's "must see before I die" travel adventures continue, each filled with enthusiasm.

Kathy is open to freelance work in the fields of non-fiction writing and editing.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Kathy_Manney/917253

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5854543

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bury_Me_in_Redwood_Country

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_Creek_Redwoods_State_Park

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