Humboldt Redwoods State Park

A few photos from this week in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The park impresses me more and more after each visit, despite the relative small size of the acreage of the remaining old growth. Poison oak is beginning to come out, lots of rain falling these days...

Humboldt Redwoods State Park: February 26, 2014

Eel River, fog. and rain.

A rare 50+ foot circumference titan redwood tree in HRSP. This tree had a cbh of 54 feet, 6 in!

Another absolute beast of a tree for HRSP. A twin redwood with a cbh of 59 feet, 7 in! 

Eel river

Did a little exploring in HRSP after work today. Another rain storm has entered the area. Found these massive redwoods along the Avenue of the Giants. There are some awesome trees here in HRSP, with a lot of character. Listened to the wonderful sound of the varied thrush this evening...

Prairie Creek: February 23, 2014

Another giant along the trail. This tree had a huge hole right in the middle going all the way through. I can't imagine the stress the bottom half of the tree is experiencing. I would guess it will cave in on itself at some point.

One of the largest redwoods I have ever seen. I'm guessing a circumference anywhere between 50 and 65 feet. As curious as I was to know, it appeared that attempting a tape wrap would damage too many plants growing at the base.

Another monster growing along the trail. This tree had a serious lean.

Flying buttress 

Drove up to Prairie Creek yesterday. Getting a little more acquainted with the forest. I'm wondering how much of this park has actually been explored. It seems almost impossible to travel off trail here, and I'm scared to death to try to venture out of eye sight of it. It's truly an incredible place, the natural beauty is absolutely overwhelming.

Van Duzen County Park

I drove to Van Duzen County Park outside of Fortuna on Friday the 21st of February to check out the redwood grove there. It's just a fantastic spot, and the grove was really peaceful. Started to feel like spring with warm air and flowers blooming in the grove.

Humboldt Redwoods State Park: Albino Redwood

I found a redwood albino yesterday while walking through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It's the first one I have found in quite some time and I almost walked right past it. It's also the first one I have seen that is growing in, what looks like, it's own independent spot, away from the base of a tree.

Reports online suggest that HRSP has six albino redwoods growing in the park. This is the sixth one I have found personally in the park, so I'm guessing there are probably at least ten. There is so much ground I have yet to cover, and once again, they can easily be missed.

We have been getting lots of rain around here the last couple of weeks, which is good news. Hopefully the rain keeps coming to make up for the almost rain-less December and January.

This Week in HRSP

Tea Pot redwood: cbh 43 feet, 8 in.

 Here's a few photos from Humboldt Redwoods State Park taken this past week. I try to get an hour of exploration time before work twice a week.

 Found a couple of burled beauties. It's going to be some tough walking come spring time along the Avenue of the Giants. As you can see in the above photo, there is so much poison oak growing on the trees here.

Thankfully, we are getting a lot of rain this weekend, at last...

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

Drove up to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park again today to get a little more acquainted with the place. Hiked along the James Irvine Trail for most of the afternoon. I must say, this place is not like any of the other redwood groves I have hiked in to the south. It is down right dangerous to hike off the trail in many of the places in this park. The forest literally swallows you up. A beautiful day overall though...