Prairie Creek/Redwood National Park

Prairie Creek meadow on a clear frosty morning.

Redwood Morning

Morning on the trail

Walking through logged forest. Mutated fairy ring.

Stump and cables

Entering this particular forest is about as close as I can get to a spiritual experience. Wild canopies, screeching hawk, untouched forest. Terrifying, yet inviting. I can only stay so long, before I need to get out.

Ancient Forest Canopy

Camped out in Prairie Creek over the weekend to get an early start and check out more logged and old growth areas. This particular trip I was all over the map. The sky remained completely clear for at least two days and the night I was there. It became very cold at night, and the stars were out bright. It was neat taking a short walk near the meadow at night, listening to the frogs, and staring up at the stars, watching the meadow fog come and go. I've seen these same stars in so many places around this country, each spot has a mystique of it's own. The redwood forest can really feel overly intense at times day or night. Pretty much hiked myself stupid, but learned a little more about the area in the process...

This Week in Humboldt Redwoods State Park

Poison Oak leaves are budding once again in the groves in Humboldt Redwoods State Park which means one must be careful how they travel through the forest. I tend to have a permanent case of the rash somewhere on my body until winter returns later this year. New redwood sorrel clovers are growing, which makes a neat mixture of shades of green in the spots where it grows a bit more densely. Days continue to get longer, and sunny days tend to be a bit brighter...

Fern Canyon

Could not have asked for a nicer day on the coast on Monday.

Fern Canyon

Big Sitka Spruce

Wish I could have added a person for scale to show the size of this bubbling mass of redwood

Strange hillside tree

Drove up to Redwood National Park, Prairie Creek on Monday. Weather was just about perfect, so I decided to go to the coast and check out fern canyon. I don't know much about ferns, but I'm guessing now is not the time to experience the green lushness of the canyon. Most of the ferns looked dead or golden brown. Maybe summer is the time to go if you want to see the greenery. The drive to Fern Canyon is a long 8 miles on bumpy, unpaved road and the loop trail is pretty short. If you like the beach, it's a great spot.

After enjoying the warmth and sun of the beach, I checked out a couple of other random spots in the park to look at the trees. By the time the sun began to set, a thick fog set in, bringing cooler overcast weather once again...

Stumps of Redwood National Park

Former Forest Giant

I will call this tree the "Sleeping Bat." A redwood remnant with several reiterations growing off the top, located in logged portion of forest.

There are still random untouched random giants like this one, not logged for some reason.

Stump and scars

There are several large areas in Redwood National Park that have been logged, and are worth checking out if you want to experience something different. I entered one small area on Monday, just to look around for a short while. This was, and I guess you could still call it prime redwood habitat. The forest looks absolutely fucked. There are huge stumps back there. However, there are giant, awesome, dead, burned out redwood shells that the loggers never bothered cutting, that you can look at. There are also random forest giants that were not cut, I'm assuming due to the strange way the trees grew, making the wood less valuable. It's a redwood freak show, as fairy rings abound, and the trees have all sorts of other mutations where they attempt to do everything they can to stay alive and keep growing. There are probably some really interesting things to find back there. Makes me wonder what the forest will look like in 500 years, if not cut. Probably pretty wild...

This Week in Humboldt Redwoods State Park: Water

This is how one of my favorite groves looked yesterday.

The forest was still filled with the sounds of running water yesterday. Seasonal waterfalls, streams, and water holes were full and flowing, the Eel and it's major tributaries still muddy brown and moving fast. Above is a photo of one of my favorite groves, basically transformed into a swamp. Keep in mind not all groves look like this. This one just happens to carry water through it when it rains significantly. I had to laugh a little when I think about how peaceful this spot is when the ground is covered with fresh sorrel and needles, and how easy it is for Mother Nature to turn it into what appears to be a chaotic mess.

HRSP Post Storm

Many seasonal waterfalls and creeks are flowing.

Eel River appears to be at it's highest point all winter

Founder's Grove parking area took a hit from a fallen redwood.

Down redwood into parking area of Founders Grove.

Textures

I only had a few minutes to look around Humboldt Redwoods State Park yesterday post storm. The groves here also seemed to receive a pruning as well from the high winds that whipped the area. Eel River is high and muddy and swift. Trees down here and there, the few trails I walked along had downed branches, limbs, and huge widow makers embedded in the earth. For the most part, I'd like to say the forest is pretty resilient, perhaps just another winter storm of thousands some of these trees have experienced...

Prairie Creek Post Storms

Some poor visitor's truck smashed by a bay laurel.

Hillside giant with a flipper.

Warm, dry, open, and sun filled hillside grove.

"This is why we discourage visitor's from visiting during windy days," the park ranger informed me while standing next to a smashed pick up truck. Her message was directed toward me as well. It was Monday, February 9, 2015. Most of the really severe weather had passed, but the forest was still reeling from another pruning job via Mother Nature.

The Parkway was closed again and I only checked a few spots in the park, lots of branches and limbs down on many of the trails and parking areas and roads. Some spots worse than others. Trees were down as well in spots, some snapped in half. I guess this is normal for the redwoods to shed branches and limbs like a dog shaking off a bad case of fleas. I imagine it will take a while to clear off trails...

This Week in Humboldt Redwoods State Park: Wind and Rain

Fresh fall near the Tall Tree

Giant branch embedded into the ground

Fresh fall. A big ol' giant fell which made the forest look like a bomb went off. I'm wondering if I took a photo of this tree a couple years ago, but I couldn't make a positive match. Going to look a little closer next week. Anyhow, the forest looks very different now in this particular spot.

Lots of rain and heavy winds this week along the North Coast, which has resulted in fresh falls in the forest. I have to wonder how many trees fall on average in a given year in the remaining redwood groves. I got completely soaked before work yesterday in just a few minutes. I accidentally left my poncho at home and my rain jacket is pretty much worthless. I always think that maybe the redwood canopy will shield me from the bulk of the rain, but the opposite may be true. Gigantic rain droplets seems to gather and fall from the canopies, completely drenching my jacket in a matter of minutes. Serious winds have blown through the area the last couple of days. I'm curious to see the effect in HRSP next week. A wet forest makes for great photography and a feast for the eyes though as the colors really tend to come out...

*****UPDATE*****
Weather forecast for Redway this weekend:http://lostcoastoutpost.com/weather/garberville/

Flood Watch

FLOOD WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EUREKA CA 136 PM PST FRI FEB 6 2015 …STRONG STORM SYSTEM TO CONTINUE TO BRING HEAVY RAINFALL TODAY WITH LINGERING RAINS THROUGH THE WEEKEND… .RAINS ASSOCIATED WITH A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INLAND ACROSS NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA THROUGH THE WEEKEND. HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ACCOMPANY THIS SYSTEM AND WILL LEAD TO RAPID RISES ON RIVERS AND SMALL STREAMS WITH FLOODING POSSIBLE IN LOW LYING AND URBAN AREAS…PARTICULARLY THROUGH THIS EVENING. CAZ001>004-076-070545- /O.CON.KEKA.FA.A.0001.000000T0000Z-150207T0600Z/ /00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/ REDWOOD COAST-MENDOCINO COAST-NORTH COAST INTERIOR- UPPER TRINITY RIVER-MENDOCINO INTERIOR- 136 PM PST FRI FEB 6 2015 …FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS EVENING… THE FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR * A PORTION OF NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA…INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS…MENDOCINO COAST…MENDOCINO INTERIOR…NORTH COAST INTERIOR…REDWOOD COAST AND UPPER TRINITY RIVER. * UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS EVENING * A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING AN ADDITIONAL 3 TO 6 INCHES OF RAIN TO THE AREA. LOCAL AMOUNTS OVER 8 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE OVER HIGHER TERRAIN AND ON THE SOUTHWEST FACING SLOPES. * RIVERS AND SMALL STREAMS WILL RISE RAPIDLY AND LOW LYING AREAS MAY BECOME FLOODED. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… A FLOOD WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING BASED ON CURRENT FORECASTS. YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE FLOOD WARNINGS. THOSE LIVING IN AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION SHOULD FLOODING DEVELOP. $$