Avenue of the Giants

Avenue of the Giants runs through the Humboldt Redwood State Park. It is made up of smaller, once privately owned groves of trees, and then donated to the state park system to make up this magnificent park. Only 5% of the Coastal Redwood trees still remain today, nearly all of them protected within this park and two others. The Avenue of the Giants is site for an annual spring and fall marathon, in which Matt and I will participate while we live nearby.

We did a few hikes along the Avenue, marveling at the giant trees that made us look like insects by comparison. I'll let the photos do the talking :

little people, big trees.

The loyal Focus. Where would we go without you?

Hugging trees.

Tiny power pole running through the redwoods.

The most interesting thing about the two short hikes we did, was that even though we were really near to the highway, the trees had a soundproofing effect on the forest floor. I had to strain to hear the highway. What I heard instead was a little alarming : a creaking noise when the trees swayed gently in the breeze. The sound of creaking stairs. If even a limb fell off of one and landed on me, I'd surely be pounded into the ground like a nail. I have yet to see more than birds and slugs on my hikes. I did, however, find lots of tunnels beneath old stumps--bears. Had to be. If I were to venture further from the road next time, I'd need to pack the bear spray.