In the Land of the Giants

And here’s our blog entry for Monday August 24….

The day started bright and chilly with the RV windows fogged with condensation and Little Starlet climbing into our bed complaining of cold toes. We spent 50c each on a shower in the campground facilities and it was money well spent (especially for Little Starlet’s feet).

Today was a hiking day. Over the course of five hours we walked a mile of the Bull Creek Flats Trail, then across the creek onto Mattole Road, up the Addie Johnson Trail (and back, as that isn’t a loop), and returned to Albee Creek campground via the Homestead Trail. Our route took us through silent groves of old growth redwood trees, where there were few birds or tourists to interrupt the solitude. We practically had the place to ourselves. Unfortunately, Little Starlet would not stop yakking, which really spoiled the almost creepy stillness of the forest; so Deep Thought and I pressed on ahead, leaving her with Hubby and his new camera to take many, many, many photos of tall trees.

Most overused sentence of the day: “Look, there’s a big tree.” It was one of those places that made you feel privileged to be there. There’s something about a tree that is so straight and tall that you can hardly see where the canopy begins that makes you feel insignificant. Some of these trees are 50+ feet in circumference, and 350+ feet tall. Some are thought to be well over 1,000 years old. It’s strange to think of a living thing that was already growing when the Vikings were looting and pillaging our Anglo-Saxon ancestors.

We were perhaps even more impressed by some of the fallen trees, many of which were real giants in their prime. When the trees fall, they pull up their root balls. They seem comparatively small for such large plants, but leave large holes in the ground, and tower above us like great tufts of ossified Medusa hair. Deep Thought was impressed from the start, and even Little Starlet stopped her chatting to focus on the incredible things around us.

Our walk up Addie Johnson Trail was a diversion, aiming to give us a bit more exercise. We climbed to the top of a steepish hill – Little Starlet shamelessly got her Dad to carry her part of the way on his back, while Deep Thought practically sprinted up in a display of Mom-shaming fitness – to arrive at a view and the grave of Addie Johnson. When she died in 1880 at age 27, she was the first white woman to do so in the area. We didn’t learn anything else about her, but an information board close to the Big Tree Area told us that pioneer homesteading began in this area in 1870. It’s amazing to think of European settlers coming to farm this land as recently as that.

By the time we got back to the campground, we were all quite exhausted and had a collection of over 200 photos of redwood trees between us. We finished the day with board games by the fire and some star-gazing. It’s been a perfect visit to a beautiful area. We would thoroughly recommend it.