Day 14 - Redwood Forest, Northern California
Unforgettable Forest
We started the day by stopping at an information centre because it was very important (we'll let you guess which of us thought this was important, and it's not who you may think) that we find the spot where they filmed the Ewok scene in the Return of the Jedi. We were very disappointed to learn that the section of forest where they did the filming has been logged. It was private land and therefore could not be protected. The kind lady behind the desk assured us that many hikes would take us to places that looked very similar, but it was still disappointing to know that the spot we wanted to see didn't exist anymore. This also spawned many conversations about why forests get logged and what our impact is on the planet.
However, we headed out to explore these legendary forests and were not disappointed. As you drive into the old growth, the trees just get more and more breathtakingly huge. These silent giants dwarf you. Kaija said it all when she said, "I'm speechless." It is truly amazing to stand among these ancient organisms, some of which were around before the pyramids were built. How anyone could think it's OK to cut them down, we'll never understand.
It's been the trip of learning about our female heros of conservation. When we stayed in Jessie Honeyman State Park in Oregon, we learned about how she fought to preserve that area as a place for people to come and enjoy undeveloped, untouched nature. Here in the Redwoods, we walked the Stout Trail, named after the woman who donated the land to an organization dedicated to saving the Redwoods from being logged. What foresight these women had, and how shortsighted we humans too often tend to be. It's so hard to find a piece of the planet that has been untouched by human activity, but here it feels good to know that at least small bits of it are being protected.
During our hike, we chatted with some folks that were floating down the river in a raft. When they said they rented it up the river, we all looked at each other and thought - let's do it. We looked into white water rafting near the Columbia River Gorge, but most tours wouldn't take anyone as young as Aria, plus Aria was sick with a cold, so it just didn't seem like a good idea. Also, I had been wanting to do some kayaking, but there hadn't been any good opportunities, so this rafting down the river idea sounded like the perfect mix.
However, that meant that we needed to forego the hike that we had planned for the next day, or we needed to squeeze it into the evening. We decided to squeeze it in, so we headed off after supper for Fern Canyon, and it did not disappoint. It was a bit of a drive, and we only got back to the camper at 10pm, but it was really something. It is like a long, winding hallway of rock where the walls are completely covered in ferns and the floor is a shallow stream flowing along bed of small round rocks. Apparently they filmed some scenes in Jurassic park in this canyon. You could walk a long way in, but you had to teeter along logs and hop from stone to stone to keep from getting wet feet. It felt like an obstacle course. In many places, small water falls would run down the moss-covered side of the canyon, and everywhere were fallen trees to climb along, under or over. At the end of the hike we were treated to a bull elk sighting and a beautiful sunset over the ocean.
We started the day by stopping at an information centre because it was very important (we'll let you guess which of us thought this was important, and it's not who you may think) that we find the spot where they filmed the Ewok scene in the Return of the Jedi. We were very disappointed to learn that the section of forest where they did the filming has been logged. It was private land and therefore could not be protected. The kind lady behind the desk assured us that many hikes would take us to places that looked very similar, but it was still disappointing to know that the spot we wanted to see didn't exist anymore. This also spawned many conversations about why forests get logged and what our impact is on the planet.
However, we headed out to explore these legendary forests and were not disappointed. As you drive into the old growth, the trees just get more and more breathtakingly huge. These silent giants dwarf you. Kaija said it all when she said, "I'm speechless." It is truly amazing to stand among these ancient organisms, some of which were around before the pyramids were built. How anyone could think it's OK to cut them down, we'll never understand.
It's been the trip of learning about our female heros of conservation. When we stayed in Jessie Honeyman State Park in Oregon, we learned about how she fought to preserve that area as a place for people to come and enjoy undeveloped, untouched nature. Here in the Redwoods, we walked the Stout Trail, named after the woman who donated the land to an organization dedicated to saving the Redwoods from being logged. What foresight these women had, and how shortsighted we humans too often tend to be. It's so hard to find a piece of the planet that has been untouched by human activity, but here it feels good to know that at least small bits of it are being protected.
This is the bottom of a redwood that has fallen over. The scale of these things is just mind-boggling.
During our hike, we chatted with some folks that were floating down the river in a raft. When they said they rented it up the river, we all looked at each other and thought - let's do it. We looked into white water rafting near the Columbia River Gorge, but most tours wouldn't take anyone as young as Aria, plus Aria was sick with a cold, so it just didn't seem like a good idea. Also, I had been wanting to do some kayaking, but there hadn't been any good opportunities, so this rafting down the river idea sounded like the perfect mix.
However, that meant that we needed to forego the hike that we had planned for the next day, or we needed to squeeze it into the evening. We decided to squeeze it in, so we headed off after supper for Fern Canyon, and it did not disappoint. It was a bit of a drive, and we only got back to the camper at 10pm, but it was really something. It is like a long, winding hallway of rock where the walls are completely covered in ferns and the floor is a shallow stream flowing along bed of small round rocks. Apparently they filmed some scenes in Jurassic park in this canyon. You could walk a long way in, but you had to teeter along logs and hop from stone to stone to keep from getting wet feet. It felt like an obstacle course. In many places, small water falls would run down the moss-covered side of the canyon, and everywhere were fallen trees to climb along, under or over. At the end of the hike we were treated to a bull elk sighting and a beautiful sunset over the ocean.
Wow! Very amazing pic's..
ReplyDelete