Today we decided to explore Fern Canyon. The access road there was an adventure of its own. It runs 4 miles west off of highway 101 to the beach then north another 4 miles. Its all dirt, although today since it rained this morning, much of it was mud and wash board. It was also narrow, very narrow, with sharp curves, and hills, and 2 way. To increase the adventure aspect, you cross 3 streams, one fairly large, about 1½ foot deep. We made it without incident but ticked off everyone following because I went slowly. Amazing, we saw Toyotas, minivans, and even a Mustang in the parking lot. Most were rentals, so they didn’t care, whereas our truckie needs to get us home, so we were very careful.
Okay, after a restroom stop, we embarked on our hike to Fern Canyon. Talk about weird places. The canyon is about 50 feet high with a stream running along the floor. Much of the time you are walking in the stream, about ankle deep, or climbing over logs that are laying in the stream. There is evidence that you would not want to be here in the rainy season. Covering the walls were ferns of various types. They say Jurassic Park II was shot in here. It did look like a dinosaur might show up at any time. A fun day! Check out the pictures.
Tomorrow we head to Cave Junction, back in Oregon for a cave jaunt, then on to Grant’s Pass for the night.
September 16, 2013 – Monday
A little foggy this morning, but it burned off in short order as we drove about 100 miles down to Humboldt State Park and the Avenue of the Giants. Finding specific information about the park and the trails was impossible. No park ranger to be found and the first volunteers we encountered were, I hate to say, useless old farts that should have been home watching Phil Donahue. So we tried a ½ mile loop trail that was so poorly marked we lost our way and made a 1 mile plus hike out of it. We persevered and found some other interesting places to see. The big trees in here are 20 to 22 feet in diameter and there are lots. We were looking for that 50 footer, well we found that is the circumference, not the diameter that is being referred to. Those old trees are 1500 to 2000 years old. Some pictures follow.
Some additional information we have learned about the redwoods. There are three types of redwood trees, the Dawn Redwood, a tiny species that only grows in China. The Sequoia Redwood which is larger in girth but shorter than Coast Redwoods and grows only in central California. The Coast Redwoods that we are seeing grow only in the 4 mile wide 400 mile long region along the northern California coast. They used to extend into Oregon, but have been all logged out.
They do not reliably germinate from seed. So new growth starts in Park Service nurseries, then transplanted a couple times before ending up in a new forest. An old growth forest is too dark for seedlings to grow. So how do redwoods regenerate in the forest? At the base of most old trees are burls which contain the makings of a sprout, or offshoot. At some point they pop out and begin growing. The old parent eventually falls over and the young sprout continues to grow with the help of the parent’s root system and an opening in the canopy to get light.
Coast redwoods only live in this narrow coastal band because they rely on fog and the moisture in it to survive during the relatively dry summer months. Also, the tree produces seeds only every other year. The cones in the pictures have already opened and dropped their seeds. The diametric growth rate of the tree is unpredictable, as they will first try to grow height to get the sun and fog. We saw some trees that were maybe a foot in diameter, but 200 feet tall. It seems once they reach that height then they add girth. They are a very unique tree.
A few gripes about the California State Parks. Real Park Ranges are scarcer then hen’s teeth. The bathrooms have water to wash hands, but nothing to dry them; maybe they expect you to use toilet paper? No hand sanitizer in the outhouses. Roads and trails are poorly marked and their maps are nearly useless.
Klamath appears to be California redneck country. We heard two 3 shot bursts from a rifle last night after dark, maybe around 9. Maybe hunting elk, after dark? Really? There are bear in the park that hang out near the fish cleaning station about 100 yards from our site. The campground is very near the Klamath River and most in here come to fish for salmon and trout. Very nice facilities here and great location for jumping on and off 101.
No comments:
Post a Comment