I went for a hike in Montgomery Woods on Sunday. What a difference a week makes. The grove looked really ravaged in places. Last Saturday night we had an intense rainstorm come through the area and it looked like the creeks around the grove flooded quite a bit.
Along many of the creek beds, the orange layer of redwood needle duff had been completely washed away and all that was left was bare soil. In the grove itself, the same thing occurred in many spots. Where the water raced in, it washed away a path of redwood needles and left the ground exposed and bare.
The trail on the southern side of the grove is pretty much under water now. As a result, the water forced me to walk in spots where I don't usually go. Again, many parts of the grove looked flood damaged. A lot of the redwood sorrel looked stripped and damaged from the water. It made me a little less cautious where I walked this time.
It seemed as though I walked on some spots for the first time. I found a geo-cache that had been stashed in the grove. There were some cool trinkets and other items in the container. I didn't take anything, just looked inside and put the lid back on and put it back into place.
I saw one impressive tree which I've only really noticed once before several months ago. It's like it's hidden in the middle. Again, the water pushed me into places I don't normally walk. It's a great looking tree (below.)
Near the tree was a little redwood sapling. It's rare that I see little saplings growing by themselves in the grove. Usually they are attached to the roots of downed logs or redwoods that have already been cut down. This sapling had found a great spot near the middle of the grove, where it should remain undisturbed. Maybe I will check on it from time to time. It's amazing to think that this could be the first year of the tree's life, and that it could potentially have a couple thousand more to go.
Despite the ground looking disturbed from last week's storms, all the redwood trees seemed to weather it just fine as far as I could tell.
Other than that, it was another quiet day in the grove. Many salamanders walking about again yesterday.
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