Avenue of the Giants

[Left Coast Chris]

We traveled to the coast yesterday to see my daughters basketball tournamant in Fortuna and had the morning to kill before her last game.   We sliped out to the Avenue of the Giants to see the trees again.   I can never get tired of seeing the giant Redwoods.  Awe inspiring......

Here is a pic of the stump of a topled giant.... my wife wanted to climp inside..



Here is a pic of her along old Hwy 101 just outside of Weott by some really large Redwoods........and to think they hauled these on the highway in the day...



Here is another pic looking up one of the larger 12' diameter or so you commonly see along the road......Don't think it would fit on the wood mizer clone.....



What a great day  8) 8) 8)

[WDH]

Absolutely stunning.  I have never been there, but I will............I certainly will.

[Gary_C]

Just awsome!!!   LIke WDH I will go there some day.

Could you tell us exactly where you were?  Is that north or south of San Francisco?

[Dave Shepard]

It must be mind boggling to be among such trees. Thanks for posting, those trees are incredible!


Dave

[Left Coast Chris]

We were well north of San Francisco.    Suggest Map Questing Weott, Ca.  Its about 45 min to 60 min. south of Eureka and probably somewhere around 2 hours north of San Francisco.   

Here are a couple of more interesting photos:   This is around Rio Dell.    All the pics are within a 20 mile stretch of the Avenue of the Giants.   It is the Founders Tree.  Not especially big at the butt but one of the taller of the remaining giants..



Here is a close up of the sign:



346 feet tall.......... woa....

You guys should plan a trip out........ once you see them there is no question why they rank as one of the 7 wounders of the world.  Of course considering that you have not seen them in person I should be flogged for posting them since it is like giving away sceenes from a movie you are waiting to see x10 in this case.  Sorry about that.   Just can't stop oggling over them every time I go there.

[asy]

One day.....

The Redwoods are HIGH on my list of things to do in the US of A.

Only lower than the Piggy Roast and visiting Roxie (and a few others!)

My list of things to do over there reads somewhat differently to the majority of 'tourists', I'd imagine...

asy :D

[thecfarm]

Nice pictures.Thank you.Can you imagine driving some of those trucks?Remember they did not have trucks like we do now.Brakes and all.

[Left Coast Chris]

Asy.......... maybe we can talk Jeff into having the Piggy roast in the Redwoods ..... now that would be a time!  

[LOGDOG]

Those are flat out awesome. Can you imagine being the first of the european explorers to walk into a valley of those big boys when they had been untouched? That had to be a humbling experience. Wow. 

Good Stuff.

LOGDOG

[sawguy21]

I drove that stretch of highway in a five ton truck, I was on the centre line to keep from clipping the passenger side mirror and hoping to not meet a motor home. It is really something to see and quite humbling, twilight on the ground even on a bright afternoon.
I took a lot of pictures only to discover the shutter did not work properly >:(

[Sprucegum]

Thanks for sharing the awesome pics.

I was there in '91. It was like an epiphany, I got all choked up and had to wipe the dust out of my eyes  ;)

[Daren]

It was like an epiphany, I got all choked up and had to wipe the dust out of my eyes  ;)

I have never been, but I reckon I might be overwhelmed like that myself.
Cool pictures, thanks.

[scgargoyle]

That's a DanG small wife ya got there, Chris....

[Left Coast Chris]

Yea......... at 5'9" she's pretty small...and since she handles the check book she can usually have her way around our house... :

And at 6'6" (with my shoes off) Im not too tall myself.......

[solodan]

I grew up on the coast, and as a kid I thought that trees were  this big everywhere. ;) I have traveled a bit, and now as an adult realize how awesome these trees really are. I think everyone should try and see them. Now I live in the Sierra, and unlike the Coastal Redwoods the Sierra Redwoods are confined to just a few groves, so it takes a bit more effort to see them. They are not as tall, but more massive overall. Everyone should see these too. They are so massive that a picture cannot do justice, for either the Sequoia or the Coastal. Here is a pic of my wife and my girls next to an average Sequoia.

[mike_van]

Great photo's guys - Thanks! 8)

[Left Coast Chris]

Dan,   did not know you grew up on the coast.  Nice place for wood workers.   

I planted a couple of sequoia gigantica here in Anderson.   So far they are about 12" tall.  I poured the water to them this summer and they did not burn so far.  Got my fingers crossed.

We also planted some madrones.  Hope they make it here in the valley floor.

[asy]

I wonder if either species would grow well here???

Hmmm... 

interesting thought...

asy :D

[LOGDOG]

Does anyone know if there have been any reforestation efforts on behalf of the sequoia or redwoods? Even though it would take several lifetimes for them to reach anywhere near the stature the trees in these pics have it would still be a good idea to begin some replanting sooner than later.

LOGDOG

[WDH]

 

Asy,

Here is a pic of a redwood grove planted in Rotorua, New Zealand at the Research Station there.  The grove was planted in the early 1900's.  Largest trees are about 8' in DBH.  I bet they will grow in some parts of Australia with a wet, temperate environment.

[LOGDOG]

Think they would grow in the Gulf South WDH?

LOGDOG

[asy]

 8) 8) 8)   COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL   8) 8) 8)

Where can I get seeds!

If they'll grow in Rotorua, they'll grow on our farmy!

asy :D

[sawguy21]

I wonder if you would be allowed to import seedlings.

[Bro. Noble]

Redwood seedlings are advertised in seed catalogues.

[WDH]

LogDog,

Too hot, I suspect.

[Ianab]

I'm sure they can be grown in a lot of places outside their natural range. But what they found in NZ is they need a pretty precise micro-climate to grow really well. The grove at Rotorua is in just such an area, and they have grown fast and BIG. They were tried in other areas, but they were not as successfull. I know of a few medium size trees locally, but none as impressive as the Rotorua ones. 

The forest research department had hoped the Redwood would be THE tree to replant NZs forests with, but it was too fussy about exact conditions. They decided on Radiata pine and Douglas Fir which will generally grow anywhere in NZ.

Asy, you may have problems because of the heat and low humidity compared to their natural home, but you can probably still grow some once you get them established, even if they never grow in to real GIANTS.

These are some pics we took at the Rotorua grove a couple of years back. Like WDG says these trees are about 100 years old, bet they will look amazing in another 500  ;)





Cheers

Ian

[solodan]

At one time much of the Northern hemisphere was forested by Redwoods. I think they could grow well in some areas outside their now native zones. The Coastals seem to thrive in cool wet climates. This is the reason that they don't grow too far from the coast in California, but they do seem to do just fine when planted in my neck of the woods, where cold wet winters and very dry hot summers are common. The Giant Sequoia seems to do well in much drier soil found here in the mountains and areas of heavy snow in the winter. The natural growing zone for the Giants seems to be the mid transition zone where 300" to 500" of snow is common, but with some good amounts of winter rain also. They don't seem to do real well in areas too high or too cold, or too low and too hot.  However I still think they could both grow in other conditions, they just might not grow as big or as fast. I think the Dawn Redwood has done pretty well as an ornamental, but I'm not really sure about what their optimal growing conditions would be. I don't think there are any Forum members from China to chime in on this. ??? maybe some one else knows.

[Furby]

I have some cones from the redwoods out West, don't recall them having any seeds in them though. :-\