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Humbling giants - A journey amongst our oldest residents

Lazily winding up California’s scenic Highway 101, a few hours north of the steep cable car-lined streets and barking sea lions of San Francisco, we arrived at Humboldt Redwoods State Park, home to earth’s oldest and tallest residents.
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Cruising the Avenue of the Giants.

Lazily winding up California’s scenic Highway 101, a few hours north of the steep cable car-lined streets and barking sea lions of San Francisco, we arrived at Humboldt Redwoods State Park, home to earth’s oldest and tallest residents.

While California offers numerous state and national parks showcasing its ancient redwoods, Humboldt Redwoods State Park offers the best of the best. Amongst its 52,000 acres, Humboldt offers 17,000 acres of pristine old growth coast redwood forest. Humboldt is most notable, however, for the Avenue of the Giants, which is an amazing 50 km interpretive drive through the humbling forest and timeless towns that dot the park itself.

We entered the avenue from the 101 and paralleled it while winding through interpretive hikes, campgrounds, day use areas and a visitors’ centre.

Entering from the 101 it appeared as if the avenue was a carpet rolled out or painted amongst trees that have stood the test of time. In contrast, any visitor should feel young. The average age of the trees is 400-600 years old, with some living to be over 2,000 years old. Calling these trees massive is an understatement. Many soar over 100 metres tall and 30 of the world’s 42 tallest trees are found in Humboldt State Park.

Over the years certain trees have become unique celebrities and have been named appropriately. The avenue remains home to several legends, each with its own story.

Topping the list is the Shrine Drive Thru Tree, which we narrowly managed to squeeze our trusty and not so mini Astro van through, with mere inches to spare on each side. After driving through unscathed and unscratched we checked out the Eternal Tree that, in the past, provided shelter for aboriginals and trappers and once contained a gift shop in its base. There is also the fire carved Chimney Tree, which was entirely hollowed out by flames and has a large walk-in room at its base. All of these unique trees continue to live and adapt to their surroundings.

Some of the most impressive hikes were found in Rockefeller Forest, which is the largest virgin redwood forest left in the world. Also high on the list was Founders Grove, a loop dedicated to the founders of the Save-the-Redwoods-League. It featured the skyscraping Founder’s tree and the exceptional Dyerville Giant. The Dyerville Giant was taller than Niagara Falls or comparable to a 30-storey building. After 1,600 years of life, during heavy rains in March of 1991, the Dyerville Giant was struck by other falling trees and eventually could no longer support its own mass.

Weighing an estimated 1 million pounds, the Dyerville Giant fell to the forest floor, splattering mud 15 feet up other trees that stood over 50 feet away. A local resident thought there had been a train wreck.

Over the next few hundred years of decay the Dyerville Giant will become host to an estimated 4,000 organisms.

These forests possess the most biomass (living and dead organic material) on the planet. The forests’ thousands of residents rely on each other and one negative effect reverberates from the smallest to the largest of organisms. A positive balance and adaptation amongst all residents of the forest insures a future for all.

Amongst the trees, sleepy towns with populations not much higher than their low elevations are tucked away and offer character to the Avenue of the Giants. They seem unchanged by time and the residents are down to earth. The towns of Redcrest, Weott, Myers Flat, Miranda and Phillipsville serve the Avenue and offer basic services such as dining, post offices and souvenirs while all possessing their own “famous” attractions.

Humboldt Redwoods State Park, and many others, are fortunate enough to be protected. Unfortunately these parks only account for a fraction of what these great forests used to be. A meager five per cent of old growth redwood forests remain, and of the remaining forests 83 per cent are unprotected. Extensive logging and development in the late 1800s and early 1900s destroyed the majority of this ancient species. The larger trees took two men with axes up to a week to fall.

We are just beginning to learn how interdependent and complex these diverse ecosystems are. If only our species could realize that we are also dependent — on many levels — to these relics of the past.

Groups such as the Save-the-Redwoods-League (www.savetheredwoods.org) have done exceptional work in preserving these forests for generations to come. Since its inception in the early 1900s the Save-the-Redwoods-League has managed to protect over 165,000 acres through education, donations and lobbying. Of the protected redwoods, 67 per cent were preserved by the Save-the-Redwoods League.

These giants that stood proud long before our arrival on this continent will, if protected, continue to adapt and intermingle with their fellow organisms long after we have passed on. They will continue consuming only what they need and giving back what they can until they pass on into the rebirth of others. Future generations will continue to visit and be humbled while they pause, straining their necks to take in the sheer size and pondering how their ancestors had been so ignorant and destructive, yet thankful that some had the foresight to preserve.