Redwoods are Survivors, too!

Redwoods are B-I-G.

Give it up for the redwoods:
they're SUPERSTARS!

While in California, I learned more about my surroundings. One main area of discovery was about redwood trees. Sure, back in college, I'd driven a teensy purple Geo Metro through a huge redwood in Northern California and thought Wow! This is cool...but I really didn't pay the trees that much attention. This time around, it was all different.

Before I say anything further, here's some more "official" information about redwoods:

Redwoods are naturally resistant to insects, fungi, and fire because they are high in tannin and do not produce resin or pitch. Their thick, reddish, pithy bark also provides protection and insulation for the tree. Even a downed tree can survive. The blackened hollows you will see when you walk through the grove were caused by a fire in 1926, and are a testament to the trees' remarkable ability to survive.

These trees have shallow root systems that extend over one hundred feet from the base, intertwining with the roots of other redwoods. This increases their stability during strong winds and floods.

When was the fire?
Most of the fires were started by lightning strikes that hit the bases of trees during dry season.  Fire travels through the root system to ignite the bases of other trees.  The last big fire was in 1926.  It swept through the forest and continued almost reaching the ocean.  We know it was caused by human carelessness.  One theory states that an accident at an illegal whiskey still may have caused the fire.

Evidence of burned heartwood.

Why are some of the trees burned out on the inside?
These are called “goosepens” (the early settlers kept their geese in them!). When fire sweeps through the forest the duff and slash around the base of the trees burns hotter and longer, thereby finding a weak spot in the trunk and burning out the heartwood.  The bark itself has “tannins” which insulates the redwood, especially further up the tree.

Why are there so many small trees growing around older stumps?
When a tree dies and leaves a decomposing stump, other trees sprout around its base, sometimes creating what is called a “fairy ring” – several mature trees growing in a nearly perfect circle.

Even trees need TLC.

source: Armstrong Redwoods SNR site

Redwoods just keep livin'.

You see, things look different to me because my lenses have shifted. Part of the shift may be regular ol' age-related stuff; undoubtedly my experiences this past year have also made me "see" differently. I was literally in awe as mom and I hiked around and amongst these living giants. They're resilient and they have lived so long and through so much! It really is amazing that there are giant redwoods still standing; they were logged so freely in the 1800s and they've survived multiple fires that burned their heartwood.

Oh, how I'd like to have a conversation with some of these great giants. I see a commonality between me and the redwoods: burnt from the inside, yet we're still standing. I feel a sense of peace from this realization.

The Colonel Armstrong Tree is the oldest tree in the grove, estimated to be over 1,400 years old.
It is named after a lumberman who chose to preserve this portion of the park in the 1870s.