The Giants

There is just no way to describe the impact of these trees on one's senses.  They are otherworldly in their size, but that is only part of their unique essence. They feel as firm and permanent as the ground they have been anchored in for as much as 2000 years.


They feel permanent--until you realize how close we have come to wiping them all out just so we might build millions of pretty houses in subdivisions that are indistinguishable, one from another.


How big is it?


Jo said she could live in it...


"It has nice high ceilings."


"And a guest room."

I had to admit it had more room than the RV.

The drive is called "Avenue of the Giants", is 30 miles long...   

  

and just about midway between Canada and Mexico.

We drove to this tree, just a short distance from US 101,  but the opening was a little too small to get the RV through it.


A million pictures have been taken of this tree, and that many cars or more have driven through it.

We were amazed that it could continue to live--for decades--with its heart cut out.

HEIGHT: 315 ft
DIAMETER: 21 ft
MAXIMUM AGE: 2400 YEARS!
LEGGETT, CA.

This tree was already 400 years old when Cleopatra became Pharaoh of Egypt.

  
Near the community of Garberville we found the following 'tourist trap'.

'FAMOUS ONE-LOG HOUSE'

Crafted in 1946 from a 2100 year old redwood, this section of the tree weighed 42 tons and took 8 months of labor to hollow out a room 7' high and 32' long.  With wheels attached, it toured the United States in its early years, then settled in redwood country, arriving here in 1999.  The inside is furnished with living, dining and bedroom areas.


I could not bring myself to go into this house.  The fact that a living tree, a survivor of more than  2100 years, had to be cut down to provide a tourist attraction made me slightly ill--and very sad. 

But Jo took my camera, bought a ticket and did the tour.


I really hope the old growth trees that are still standing can be preserved.  I am not a vegetarian, I wear leather shoes, I drive a gas guzzling vehicle, I have lived in houses built with redwood walls.  My footprint is as big and bad as everyone else's--but I wish it weren't.