CROSS COUNTRY TRIP 2010 - Northern California

California......Continued......

On our last day in California, we made a few stops:  We visited the famous "Drive Through Tree".  It was for real, and so narrow that we had to fold in one side mirror.

This particular tree is approximately 735 years old, and at one time, scarred by fire.  The bark on a giant redwood can be as thick as 12 inches, so it's nearly impervious to fire and insects.  It is 15 feet in diameter and about 90 feet tall to the point where the top was blown off.  The coastal redwood is the tallest tree on earth, with some of the towering giants as high as 370 feet - taller than The Statue of Liberty -  and weighing in at 500 tons.  Ironically, these giant trees grow from seeds not much bigger than a pinhead, and the pine cones they drop are about the size of an egg. 

Redwood roots penetrate only about 10 - 13 feet, but spread out 60 - 80 feet.  The base of the oldest and largest trees can be 22 feet, and are thought to be 2000 years old; they average 500 - 700 years old.  As little as 160 years ago, this area of Northern California was inhabited by various tribes of American Indians, who utilized the wood from the fallen giants for building their villages and travelled in canoes dug out of the trees.  Today it is estimated that 10% of the population here is American Indian.

We drove through the Jedediah Smith State Park - on a gravel road winding through the stately trees.  Let the photos tell the story, although they don't even do justice to these towering giants.

Click the arrow and take a short drive through the giant redwoods:

Here's a headache waiting to happen:

Here I am inside a hollowed out tree.

There's a section near town where elks gather and graze.  We were lucky to catch about 20 of them out on a stroll. They didn't seem to mind us being nearby.  

Yesterday, when we drove here, there were a couple of dozen elk on a grassy area right in town!  It was a tourist's delight, as everyone pulled over and took their photos of this unusual sight. 
Tomorrow, we head for Oregon, so TZ can pan for gold, then on to Portland, Seattle and Vancouver.