The Big Tree

     Big trees amaze me, and each species seems to age differently.

     I stopped at northern California's Richardson Grove State Park (click here for map location to notice how the park straddles Route 101). It's not a large park as parks go, but it offered me a quick "tree fix".  I needed a calming effect due to driving on busy Route 101.

Where I'm standing in photo below, it's about 40 feet up from the tree's base.

Here's the base of the tree; I'm at far left center.

     The reason I use the 10-second timer on my camera to include me in these shots is because without a human perspective, it's hard to comprehend the greatness of these wonderful trees. This huge now-prone tree has a story.

     Wildfires throughout many past centuries have eroded trees' heartwood, but many still stand!

     Because the Richardson Grove State Park straddles the main highway (Route 101), the road narrows significantly due to the large size of these trees on both sides of the highway. Click here for commerce-preservation debate going on about this problem.

     About 14 miles south of Richardson Grove State Park on busy truckers/tourists Route 101 is the Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area which straddles the South Fork Eel River. I'm in need of another "tree fix" (click here for map location) so I park, grab my poles, put on my boots and descend steps down to the river (photo above). I follow a trail to a small swimming hole (photo below) and another trail to "The Big Tree".

The trail to "The Big Tree" crosses the river.

It's a beautiful trail on steep mountains . . . . 

. . . but where's the big tree?

Is this the big tree?

This wonderful loop trail is about two miles.

Is this the big tree?

A Stellar's Jay follows me frequently, probably because I was mimicking a Red Cardinal and it was curious.

     So where's the big tree? After more than an hour of looking for a big tree on the trail, I laugh to myself. Maybe there is NO big tree! After all it's the journey, not the destination, eh? I thoroughly enjoyed the hike and that's all that matters.