We started the eighth day of our trip in Forestville, with a delicious breakfast at the Case Ranch Inn B&B, which included raspberries from her garden and fresh apple juice from the tree in her yard. On the suggestion of our innkeepers, we headed to Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve. It was in Guerneville, just a few miles from where we were in Forestville. We walked along an easy, relatively flat trail through redwood forest, stopping to take photos and to read the informational signs along the way.
This was our first visit together to a redwood forest, and seeing them on foot was much different from seeing them out the car window, as we had been for days. Some of the trees were just enormous, and even those that were relatively slender were so high we couldn't see the tops. We really enjoyed the natural, wild state of the forest in the reserve, and could understand why people care so much about protecting these majestic giants. We saw some trees that had had their bases hollowed out by fire, but were still alive and growing. There was a cross section of a 1300 year old tree on display, with markers showing at what point in the tree's growth various historical events occurred. When Christopher Columbus landed in America, that tree was already about three feet in diameter!
We got a picnic lunch from a deli in Guerneville, which we took to a secluded spot on the bank of the Russian River for a picnic lunch. Sadly, we left our camera in the car, and it would have been a hike to get it. :-( After lunch, we headed to San Jose where Shannon's sister lives with her husband and our four-month old nephew, Evan. It took about three hours, although part of the drive was in beautiful country. After playing with the baby for a bit, we went out for Thai food, then had ice cream and more baby time at home.
Saturday we slept in, glad to not have a check-out time or a set time for breakfast. We went to Big Basin State Park, after stopping at Whole Foods to get a picnic lunch. Big Basin was only 34 miles away, but it took us an hour because the road was so windy, with tight curves that the locals took way too fast. Some of the trees in Big Basin were unbelievably huge, like nothing we've ever seen before. There was information about the forest in the trail map we got, and we followed the guide as we walked along. We would have liked to have been able to spend more time there, but we had plans for the afternoon.
We had learned about fairy rings the day before, which occur when a redwood dies or is badly damaged. Apparently, this causes a group of new trees, offspring of the original tree, to grow in a circle around the parent tree, or the hole where it used to be. The child trees often are fed by the decomposing remains of the original for many many years. We saw a lot of fairy rings in both redwood forests we explored, but today we saw one where the original tree must have been nearly 20 feet in diameter! It's incredible to think that anything could ever hurt a tree that large or that old, but we saw another tree which had been completely burned from the inside like a chimney, but which was still growing. We could see its leaves from the hole in the base, which was large enough for us both to climb in, along with 10 other people had they been there.
We really enjoyed spending time with our nephew, who gets cuter every time we see him. He got a bath tonight, and we snapped some photos for grandma, who never gets enough. Tomorrow we drive home, which should take about seven hours, give or take eight or nine bathroom breaks for Shannon. We're sorry that the trip has to come to an end, as we have really enjoyed the time we have been able to spend together, but it will be nice to see our kitty and sleep in our own bed tomorrow night. We look forward to our next trip...
We started the eighth day of our trip in Forestville, with a delicious breakfast at the Case Ranch Inn B&B, which included raspberries from her garden and fresh apple juice from the tree in her yard. On the suggestion of our innkeepers, we headed to Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve. It was in Guerneville, just a few miles from where we were in Forestville. We walked along an easy, relatively flat trail through redwood forest, stopping to take photos and to read the informational signs along the way.
This was our first visit together to a redwood forest, and seeing them on foot was much different from seeing them out the car window, as we had been for days. Some of the trees were just enormous, and even those that were relatively slender were so high we couldn't see the tops. We really enjoyed the natural, wild state of the forest in the reserve, and could understand why people care so much about protecting these majestic giants. We saw some trees that had had their bases hollowed out by fire, but were still alive and growing. There was a cross section of a 1300 year old tree on display, with markers showing at what point in the tree's growth various historical events occurred. When Christopher Columbus landed in America, that tree was already about three feet in diameter!
We got a picnic lunch from a deli in Guerneville, which we took to a secluded spot on the bank of the Russian River for a picnic lunch. Sadly, we left our camera in the car, and it would have been a hike to get it. :-( After lunch, we headed to San Jose where Shannon's sister lives with her husband and our four-month old nephew, Evan. It took about three hours, although part of the drive was in beautiful country. After playing with the baby for a bit, we went out for Thai food, then had ice cream and more baby time at home.
Saturday we slept in, glad to not have a check-out time or a set time for breakfast. We went to Big Basin State Park, after stopping at Whole Foods to get a picnic lunch. Big Basin was only 34 miles away, but it took us an hour because the road was so windy, with tight curves that the locals took way too fast. Some of the trees in Big Basin were unbelievably huge, like nothing we've ever seen before. There was information about the forest in the trail map we got, and we followed the guide as we walked along. We would have liked to have been able to spend more time there, but we had plans for the afternoon.
We had learned about fairy rings the day before, which occur when a redwood dies or is badly damaged. Apparently, this causes a group of new trees, offspring of the original tree, to grow in a circle around the parent tree, or the hole where it used to be. The child trees often are fed by the decomposing remains of the original for many many years. We saw a lot of fairy rings in both redwood forests we explored, but today we saw one where the original tree must have been nearly 20 feet in diameter! It's incredible to think that anything could ever hurt a tree that large or that old, but we saw another tree which had been completely burned from the inside like a chimney, but which was still growing. We could see its leaves from the hole in the base, which was large enough for us both to climb in, along with 10 other people had they been there.
We really enjoyed spending time with our nephew, who gets cuter every time we see him. He got a bath tonight, and we snapped some photos for grandma, who never gets enough. Tomorrow we drive home, which should take about seven hours, give or take eight or nine bathroom breaks for Shannon. We're sorry that the trip has to come to an end, as we have really enjoyed the time we have been able to spend together, but it will be nice to see our kitty and sleep in our own bed tomorrow night. We look forward to our next trip...
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