Jan. 12, 2014 - West Coast Trip - Redwoods

When we drove along the California coast, we especially wanted to see the Redwood trees. Diana and I visited Humboldt Redwoods State Park and had our photo taken at the base of one of these giants. This gives some idea of just how large these trees are.

EarlDiananextRedwoodtreeHumboldtRedwoodsStatePark20131020

This photo gives an even better perspective on the size of a Redwood tree. We found a place where we could get almost all of a full grown tree in the picture. I stood beside the tree and Diana took this photo. I wore her red sweatshirt so I would show up against the bark of the tree. Yes, that tiny speck of red at the base of the tree is me. Redwoods can reach 320 feet tall, higher than a 30-story building.

EarlnextRedwoodtreeHumboldtRedwoodsStatePark20131020

Here’s a close-up of Redwood needles. They are soft and closely bunched. Even though the Redwood tree is the largest tree species in the world, it’s cone is only about an inch long.

RedwoodbranchHumboldtRedwoodsStatePark20131020

There were several exhibits with a cross section of a Redwood tree showing the age rings. This one was 603 years old and started growing in 1377. It had a maximum diameter of over 10 feet. The largest Redwoods can reach a diameter of 24 feet and can live more than 2000 years.

MeasurementRedwoodTreeMetricEnglishKlamath20131020

Here’s an outhouse made from a hollowed out section of a Redwood tree.

OuthousemadeTreeKlamath20131020

We also visited two places where we could drive our rental car through a hole cut in the base of a living Redwood tree.

TourThruTreeKlamath20131020