Thursday, May 26, 2011
Old Growth Redwood Tree that survived the loggers because it grew in a twisted shape
Soon after Rick and I moved to the Mendocino Coast we found this magnificent old growth Sequoia Sempervirens or Coast Redwood. We were nearly overcome with awe and delight when we first saw it and even now, after 15 years, we still get a thrill every time we hike down to see it. It is on a neighboring property. Our area was logged in the 1880's. This giant wasn't taken because it wasn't straight; it grew in a twisty fashion. Rick is in the first picture to give you some idea of how big this beautiful tree is. About halfway up a limb grows as big as a second growth tree. It's perfectly straight. The top was blown off in a storm many years ago. Who knows how old this tree is? Many hundreds of years and perhaps even a thousand years old. What stories it could tell...
Nan and I call this tree "Twisted Sister."
ReplyDeleteThere's another straight tree opposite the view of the second photo a little farther up. There's also a nice little cave at the base of the tree on the right side.
Just beyond the tree to the east is the beginning of a steep gulch with some spectacular rhododendrons.
I love that tree
ReplyDeleteIt is a treasure!
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Mill Valley. When I was a girl living on Marguerite Avenue, there was a Japanesse Landscape man named Toshiro who lived below us on the hill. The front two columns of the opening of their pathway were of twised Redwood trees...probably ten feet tall. I always marveled at the beauty of these woodworks. They are still there today and when I drive up the hillside, I remember when I was a kid playing with the kids of my class who lived in the most beautiful of homes, hillside and gardening areas one could have ever seen back in the late 1940's.
ReplyDelete