Montgomery Woods

I was fortunate to have the morning off from work yesterday, and didn't have to be at the coast until the afternoon. I decided to head up to Montgomery Woods for the morning, the day after another major rain event. The alluvial plane was filled with water, and I'd imagine the trees were loving it. 

 I was very fortunate to have the grove all to myself for the two whole hours I was there. I'm having a bit of a conflict these days. I'm feeling like the most invasive species around especially when it comes to Montgomery Woods. I have to battle with my conscience to stay on the trail. Today, my conscience lost, as I wanted to see some trees up close that the trail doesn't allow. The redwood sorrel (the clover) seem so fragile, and you can practically see a trail emerge from walking on them once.

 I continued to look for "the ghost of Montgomery" but came up empty once again. After leaving the grove, I drove the rest of the way to the coast along a road I've only taken once before. It's still startling, embarrassing actually, to see mile after mile of logged forest all the way to the ocean.

For now, we still have this gorgeous grove to visit. If you are ever in the area, it's well worth the drive to see these ancient giants.

California Buckeye

 My friend Kate sent me an email yesterday asking me if I wanted to come check out a California Buckeye tree that she believes may be one of the largest, if not the largest in Mendocino county. I was very excited for the chance to see this tree, not knowing anything about the California Buckeye.

 We took a few rough measurements of the tree's circumference, height, and length of the crown. My focus has mostly been on California conifers the last few months, and Kate's focus has been on the deciduous trees. I had to laugh when we shared what we notice in nature. There was a whole list of things I've never noticed before, simply because my awareness has not been awakened. Kate wrote down the measurements in her notebook and a friend of hers showed us a giant Bay Tree growing near a small creek. Kate pointed out a few birds, including one that makes its winter home here in Mendocino, and will begin migrating back to Alaska pretty soon for the summer.

Another great day, another great tree...

Ponderosa Pine

Here's a giant leaning Pondersosa Pine in a park in Ukiah, California that I stopped by to visit today.

Pacific Madrone (Mailliard Redwoods State Natural Reserve)

 (Pacific Madrone above)
I drove to Mailliard Redwood State Natural Reserve again on Saturday to explore the hills for interesting trees. The day resulted in another steep bushwhack to the ridge line of one of the mountains in the area. Near the top of the mountain was this rather large Pacific Madrone tree.

 (Pacific Madrone above)
As always, the climate is much drier higher up the mountain. After spending an hour or so looking around, I came back down the mountain and drove to a different spot. I parked my car near the area where I saw the wild black pig a couple weeks ago. When I got out of my car, I noticed a black severed pigs ear lying on the ground about ten feet in front of my car. When I looked into the woods, I saw the rest of the remains lying in a pile in the underbrush. I wonder if it was the same pig? Anyhow, after entering the forest, there was trash everywhere. A dozen or so black trash bags thrown into the forest, with their contents strewn about. I wonder if the pig had been raiding the garbage cans of the locals in the area?

 After wandering around a bit in search of trees, my curiosity was exhausted and I decided to call it a day. Just before leaving, I found this old giant (below) growing not too far from the road. Just a side note: Yesterday, I found a small deer tick partially embedded in my arm. Lyme disease in rampant in these parts. I'm hoping I found it in time. If anyone reads this and is hiking anywhere in the area, make sure you do your tick checks, and take whatever precautions you think are necessary.

45 Degree Tree

 Yesterday I had a little extra time to take a look around a section of saved second generation redwoods along the Navarro River. Lurking in the shadows near the river was this fantastic tree that was practically growing at a 45 degree angle with an enormous base.

 What's interesting about the trees along the Navarro, is that all of the old giants have been logged. Whatever  few old trees remain are ones with fantastical forms, burls, or mutations. I would assume the wood is of poorer quality as a result of the tree's growths. For some reason, even a lot of the second generation trees have odd forms along this river. Nevertheless, part of the redwood's charm is their ability to take these wild shapes from time to time.

This young tree had a bouquet of redwood sorrel attached about three feet from the ground.

The Majestic Tree

I had a couple of hours after work today to do some forest exploration, and there was one particular Douglas Fir I wanted to measure that I found a couple weeks ago. After wrapping the tape around the old beast, it became a personal record breaker with a cbh of 21 feet, 8 inches. The Douglas Fir was growing in a second generation redwood forest. There were massive stumps all around, and I longed to see what the forest once looked like. It seemed to be recovering nicely, but I don't know how this forest is managed. It may be on the chopping block at any time for all I know. What made this day even more special was my return trip to my vehicle. After emerging from the forest I was walking along road 20 and I glanced across the street and saw what looked like a hunkering redwood giant way up on the hillside. There seem to be no old growth redwoods anywhere around here so I assumed it was probably two or three medium sized trees growing near each other giving the illusion of a distant giant, watching over the road way up on the hill.

(Ginat Douglas Fir crown on left, growing next to The Majestic Tree on the right)
It was worth checking out, and after climbing the hill, I was in absolute awe. It was one of the most beautiful redwoods my eyes have ever seen. Perhaps due to spending the afternoon looking at smaller second generation trees made this one hit me the way it did. It was totally unexpected, and had one of the most interesting crowns. There were enormous branches, and several gigantic limbs protruding from the main trunk. I mean GIGANTIC limbs. I wish I could climb this tree and see what's up there. After driving this road probably close to a hundred times in the last year and three months, I never have seen this tree from my car, despite constantly scanning the hillsides. Maybe it's not visible from the car. It may be the grandest tree in the area for all I know. I felt truly blessed to experience for a moment what this area actually did once look like.

(The Majestic Tree)

Douglas Fir

Today I measured a personal record breaker for girth on a Douglas Fir, with a circumference at breast height of 21 feet, 8 inches. I actually found the tree along the Big River in Jackson State Demonstration Forest a couple of weeks ago, but finally grabbed the chance to measure it today. It's a glorious old giant, growing along side second generation redwoods.