The next stop for Miranda and I on our way to the half-marathon takes us through the Founder's Grove of coastal redwoods. I was lucking enough to discover this short trail last fall when I was backpacking near here. I thought it might give her a great chance to walk among the giants. After parking the jeep, we headed into the forest and were immediately greeted by the patriarch of the grove, the Founder's Tree. Rising some 346 feet into the gray skies, this giant redwood has a trunk diameter of 12.7 feet and a circumference of 40 feet at the base. You would have to climb 190 feet to just reach the lowest limb on this magnificent specimen.
After regaining our senses, we head deeper into the lush green forest to see other giants. Some of them have been partially hallowed out by fire. I explain that the trees have some resistance to fire and that's what allows them to survive these infernos. In addition to the standing trees, there are a number of trees that have fallen at various points in time. The most interesting is perhaps a series of three giant redwoods that fell on top of other and splintered their trunks into gigantic toothpick like structures. It's hard to imagine the crashing sound and rumbling earth that anyone nearby must have felt with these giants met their end.
The whole trail is only about a mile, but provides a great taste of what this area is all about with regard to the coastal redwoods. I think Miranda was thoroughly impressed with the mighty trees of this grove. Once we returned on the designated loop, we headed to the jeep and departed for some dinner.
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