Today we traveled by both highway and really winding roads to Big Basin Redwoods State Park to take a hike on the Redwood Loop trail. This trail passes by some of the biggest Coastal Redwood trees in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The trail was only about 6 tenths of a mile, but took about an hour to complete, because we had several stops along the way. We had a docent to guide us through the loop. She was very knowledgable and encouraged questions. She showed us Redwood seeds, cones, leaves, burles, and bark, as well as pointing out huckleberry bushes, Douglas Fir trees, Madrone trees and Tanbark Oak trees.
On the trail we saw Redwood Fairy Rings. In this aspect, they are just like mushrooms. There used to be a large Redwood in the center, but some time during the centuries it died and decomposed. Then the offspring of the original tree, which are actually clones of it, formed a circle around where the tree used to be.
We also saw lots of trees that had holes in them so you could either look straight up through them to the sky, or go into them like a hidey-hole. One of these trees is called "Chimney Tree." It is a live tree that is entirely hollow from the bottom to the top. It got that way from being burned by a forest fire.
Also included in our walk was a view of both the Mother-of-the-Forest and Father-of-the-Forest trees. The mother is a 329 foot tree, which is the tallest in the Big Basin Park. The father is estimated to be 2000 years old.
We all learned a lot about the Redwoods by taking the trip and listening to the information given by the guide. I'm glad we had a chance to view one of our United States living treasures.
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