Redwoods - Avenue of the Giants

Jan 14

At the end of the Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway on the south end is a Ranger Station and gift shop. We needed some t-shirts and a bathroom break so we pulled into the station. Talking with the Ranger while paying for some t-shirts I checked if the access to the Ladybird Johnson Grove was open, it’s off the main highway a bit, so worth checking! 

The Ranger’s response was, somewhat cryptic, “the atmospherics are really good up there today”. Not wanting to look like a total idiot, my response was, “ah yes, good to know”. I had no idea! Anyways what he meant was soon clear. Atmospherics are clouds drifting through the trees creating a magical, mystic look, enhanced by the sun peeking through the clouds periodically. 

Lady Bird Johnson Grove rests near the top of a ridge in Redwood National Park, more than 1,000 feet above sea level. The grove was dedicated by President Richard Nixon in August 1969 in honor of the wife of President Lyndon Johnson.

South of Eureka is the Humboldt Redwoods State Park our last stop on this tour of the Redwoods, we could have spent another 2 weeks, or longer exploring, we had to move on to keep up with reservations in San Francisco.

The Founder's Grove, located just off the famous Avenue of the Giants, is home to some of the tallest trees in the world. Some of the trees in the grove are to be around 2000 yrs old. At the end of the loop is the magnificent fallen Dyerville Giant. The giant redwood once stood close to 100m tall and was considered the tallest tree in the park before it fell in 1991. When the giant redwood crashed to the ground it registered on a nearby seismograph and the impact was loud enough from half a mile away, was mistaken for a train crashed. 

It was time to go to San Francisco but not before we had driven the Avenue of the Giants and walked a couple more trails. 

The 50km Avenue of the Giants is located in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which has the largest remaining stand of virgin redwoods in the world. This world-famous scenic drive is by far the most outstanding display of giant trees in the California redwood belt. So amazing. 

I’ve included a selection of photographs shot on film during our visit to Ladybird Johnson Grove and the Avenue of the Giants, I also shot some digital on this trip, a few of those photographs made it into the Redwoods calendar I published for 2020, I may put together a small portfolio of those for a future post.

Until next time, enjoy these and go create some art, whatever form that takes for you!
Dean.

Redwoods - Hiouchi Magic

At the end of the third day out, one made longer by all of the stops along the Oregon coast, we arrived in Crescent City California about a half hour south of the Oregon border. This is where the Redwoods begin.

The next morning there was a big storm off the Pacific which made some amazing scenes near the Battery Point Lighthouse, the tide was in so we weren’t able to walk out to the lighthouse, but it was a great way to spend the morning waiting for the light in the Redwoods up the road.

Our first stop was about 15 minutes outside Crescent City in the Jedediah Smith State Park, the rain was steady, but the light was magical if a little on the dark side. To deal with the challenging light conditions we were shooting Ilford Delta 3200, and still we needed tripods. 

After a morning out in the rain we had delicious cheeseburgers at the Historic Hiouchi Café which is an old time diner in the little town of Hiouchi on our way to Stout Grove for the afternoon. 

The rain had let up by the time we reached Stout Grove, the clouds were still low but the sun tried to break through a few times. We had thought topping the Jedediah Smith National Forest, our first stop, was going to be impossible. The Stout Grove did not disappoint. It was dead quiet except for the squirrels and a few birds, the light was pretty amazing, so the 30 minute drive down a sketchy dirt road in Ansel, the 10 year old Honda Civic, was definitely worth it.  So ended our first full day in the Redwoods.

The next morning we proceeded to begin the journey south towards Eureka and the Avenue of the Giants. Highway 101 is kind of a freeway south of Crescent City so we elected to take one of the scenic byways, the Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway, to tour the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. There’s not a ton of traffic and yes, there are big giant trees, right beside the road, lots of them. So amazing, the weather was still cloudy with rain, but that kind of suited the landscape we were traveling through.

We were nearing the halfway point of our time in the Redwoods, I’ve included a small collection of photographs shot on film from our first days in the Redwoods. There is a second post I’m working on that documents our time in the Ladybird Johnson Grove and the Avenue of the Giants.

Until then, enjoy these! 
Dean.

Oregon - Columbia Gorge to Coast

The  first leg of the 2019 spring adventure involved a few stops in Oregon on the way to Northern California. The first night out we stayed in The Dalles located in the Columbia River Gorge on Oregon side of the river. The next morning we headed out to what was going to be our first stop of the day at the coast near Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia. 

It was a beautiful morning with no clouds in the sky, the last we would see the sun for the next 8 days in fact! There is a spot just outside the Dalles where you can see all of Mount Hood, there were no clouds! A command decision was made for a slight detour to photograph the mountain. We arrived before the sun arrived on the mountain and spent the next hour watching the different faces of Mt Hood as it wakes on a cloudless morning, it was magical.  

Making our way back to I84 we found a scenic bypass that took us to another amazing spot in the Gorge. Multnomah falls. It would be very easy to spend a whole week exploring the Columbia River Gorge but we had other items on the agenda so after another hour shooting in the Gorge near the falls we headed off to Astoria. 

Lewis and Clark landed near Astoria at the mouth of the  Columbia in the late fall of 1805 where they constructed Fort Clatsop and spent the winter before returning over the mountains to the east in the Spring of 1806. The area around Fort Clatsop is a National Historic site that is has been restored to create the feel of what it was like in the time of Lewis and Clark. It was well worth the time we spent exploring Fort Clatsop. 

The second night out we stayed at Manzanita on the coast, not as far along as we had planned, but where we landed, a great little town with a nice beach. Day 3 was going to be a long one to make Crescent City CA, the start of the Redwoods adventure. 

The Oregon coast is unbelievable, as  is the case with the Gorge at least a week is needed to properly explore all the hidden treasures along the coast highway. Like the aviation museum in the Zeppelin Airship Hangar at Tillemook and the Dunes natural area along the coast in southern Oregon and many more to be sure.  

We were lured in by the Yaquina Head Lighthouse and Otter Rock and a few other breathtaking sights along the Oregon Coast. After bouncing along the coast we did the math about 3pm and realized we were still over 4 hours outside Crescent City, so we had to end the exploration and focus on getting there!  

I’ve included a  few photographs of our too short exploration of Oregon in May 2019. 

Enjoy! 
Dean.