Meet some elders from Circa 400 B

(Read below in Morgan Freeman voice for dramatic impact)

They look happy and peaceful, they seem powerful yet humble…

they might be curious about you as much as you are about them…

they are ancient…

they are legendary…

they are the Giant Redwoods trees that reside along a windy twisty road - 

The Avenue Of Giants.

As a kid, i was always curious about plants, animals, planets, history & all things science i guess...

But one specific page from my eighth grade geography textbook left a mark on me.

Even today, i have a clear image of that page imprinted on my mind so clear that i can visualize it when i close my eyes…

It was a sketch showing a tree trunk with a massive hole carved in it, and a car shown passing through it.

It showed people standing right next to the car i guess to give a context of the tree’s trunk and scale of this image.

Its description read:- in California, there are some Redwood trees so huge that they can have a hole carved in its trunk so huge that cars can pass through them! 

My first thought was how can this be!

I mean how can a tree be so huge!

I even remember closing my eyes and imagining the scene, but had little to go by as at this point most trees i had seen were probably couple of feet in diameter at most in trunk size,  i had seen a banyan tree which was about 3-4 feet wide at best, and was less than 30 feet tall

I had no reference to what such a tree would look like in reality, what would be the branches of the tree like? how tall would it be? what would be the size of it’s leaves? how about its roots?

So that picture was incomplete, best i could do is fill in some color in the monochromatic sketch from the book and imagine motion - people moving to get in the picture, car moving slowly from inside the tree etc. but i wanted more, i wanted that textbook sketch to come alive and exactly that happened recently.

I finally made the journey to “Drive through tree” in Leggett, CA, that sketch was finally complete. Let me paint that picture for you here...

The area around this tree is a quiet sanctuary, a place with subtle cold fresh breeze, you hear a very mellow rustling of branches and brilliant leaves illuminating the area as they shine in sunlight.

Some squirrels and perhaps birds chirping, nature at it's best...
As you slowly drive along and are absorbing all of this, you will start to you hear some gentle soothing musical notes from a gift shop that's located in the vicinity…

And right about now, when you are soaking all of this in, with a little bit of anticipation and excitement, you see a structure in front of you that's larger than anything else in your view thus far,  & for those with a sunroof in your car, I assure you, you will follow it right from level zero through the roof, but you will still not be able to see its peak…

Behold...The Chandelier Tree...

At this point, your car would be directly in front of the tree and you will get a very good view of the entire tree in it’s awesomeness - what a view!!!

I got out (and usually everyone does) and it took me a few moments to absorb it’s enormous presence,,,the board read that the tree is 2400 years old, and is 21 feet in diameter 315 feet in height.

This tree was born ~ 400 BC and it thrived in a world that saw personalities such as :

Alexander the Great

Socrates 

Aristotle

Chandra Gupta Maurya

Plato

Gautam Buddha

This tree lived when elites like above lived in this world!!

Such an honor to be in presence of something so ancient! so legendary!

I suddenly felt respect, regard and affection towards this grandfatherly figure 🙏

After soaking all of this in, we went onwards to our next stop - Fern Canyon

This canyon had a lot of water gushing through it at some point, but water receded many years ago and now has just a small stream flowing through it. 

And in addition it has an abundance of fern growing all around it like beautiful fur!

It is a real treat to take the short hike & witness colorful fern leaves not just in the canyon but also along the drive to the canyon and see some Elks grazing around. If this amazing drive looks familiar, like you have been here before, then it is because it was one of the locations used in the movie Jurassic Park.

After spending a couple hours in the canyon, we drove south towards Humboldt State Park again. A 29-mile long drive that goes through the park - Avenue Of The Giants.

Terms such as Scenic route or Vista Spot do not do justice to this road. The two lane curved road indeed is an Avenue that looks like it’s guarded on both sides by Giant Redwood trees.

It takes only moments to realize that you are about to be in the vicinity of something special.

there are plenty of camping & lodging facilities along this park and the avenue that offer some mind blowing camping opportunities - my favorite is Burlington Campground.

Campsites are a good distance away from each other for privacy, all have fire pits and almost every site has it’s own reminiscence - a giant redwood stump, a result of a logged giant tree in the past - that you can climb on for fun or get atop to meditate.

There are some that even present the opportunity to actually set up a tent inside the tree.

Yes, you read it right, a Tent… Inside…Tree trunk. 

Regardless of age, one cannot help but feel like a little kid amidst these gentle giants that offer an opportunity play, to be mischievous and to get your climb on!

There’s a short nature walk ~ 1 mile right besides the visitor center and some more hiking opportunities around here.

Amongst these trees, we saw life in perhaps the most magnificent form standing tall, taller than anything else alive today and then saw some of them fallen. 

The site is quite unique to describe. Seeing them lying flat on the ground, with their massive girth facing you, sometimes a bent trunk due to it’s own weight, and others cracked from the middle like a matchsticks. 

One can only imagine what a falling Redwood giant would sound like, it has been described as a train derailment by many.

Makes you wonder how powerful the forces of nature could be to take down such gritty majestic beings…makes me think of the times when dinosaurs walked on earth…such enormous beings and yet they fell! 
And here we are, puny humans, thinking we can keep pushing natures buttons...

I have learnt and known, that forces of nature are extremely powerful and should be respected, even feared, but when I saw a fallen redwood I was only beginning to comprehend how powerful nature can be…

Rockefeller forest, founders grove, visitor center nature walk, Big Tree area are some of the highlights of the forest that deserve a visit for sure and am sure there are plenty more things to do.

We came hoping to see big trees, 

we arrived in natures cradle, we experienced magic, witnessed history, saw tenacity and gave life a big hug & returned home happy...

It’s nearly impossible to describe in words what we experienced when we were here, but it’s somewhere in between humility, curiosity, gratitude, warmth, overwhelming, peace, love.