Redwood Trip Photos - Just Got Back From Camping National Park

[Janus]

I just got back from a camping trip to the Redwoods National Park and thought I'd share some photos we took:

Looking up at some of the tall trees in the park:

http://home.earthlink.net/~jparvey/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/talltrees.jpg" (vertigo advisory)

Walking along some of the trails:

http://home.earthlink.net/~jparvey/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/trail2.jpg"

http://home.earthlink.net/~jparvey/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/trail.jpg"

This is known as a "goose pen" tree. The base has been hollowed out during a forest fire. It gets its name from the fact that early pioneers found them useful for penning up geese, ducks and chickens.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jparvey/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/goosepen.jpg"

Sometimes when a large redwood falls, new trees will grow from its remaining root system. They will grow along an arc along the circumference of where the original tree stood. The result is called a "cathedral tree":

http://home.earthlink.net/~jparvey/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/cathedral.jpg" (vertigo advisory)

My daughter standing at the base of one of the big trees a Prairie Creek State park (where we camped).

http://home.earthlink.net/~jparvey/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/bigtree.jpg"

The evening we arrived, my wife got some nice pictures of sunlight playing through the trees:

http://home.earthlink.net/~jparvey/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/sunbeam1.jpg"

http://home.earthlink.net/~jparvey/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/sunbeam2.jpg"

Speaking of the Sun, We were up in the Northwest corner of California, not too far from where the Wildfires were. We were close to the coast, so the what prevailing winds there were kept the air clear for the most part. By Tuesday evening the upper winds had shifted some and we started to get some smoke over head. On Wednesday morning the Sun stayed blood red until quite late into the morning.
This picture was taken from our camp site about 8:00 AM when the sun was quite high in the sky. It doesn't really show how red the Sun was, but gives an idea. I'll have to check and see if My daughter got a better one with her camera

"[URL
[/URL]

We stopped off at the Aquarium in Newport, OR along the way back. You may remember that this is where they kept Keiko the orca before they released him to the wild. This is what they did with the tank where he was kept. They have three "underwater" tunnels through which you can walk. This is one of them:

http://home.earthlink.net/~jparvey/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/aquarium.jpg"

Okay, now we reach the quiz part of our tour. Can anyone tell me the significance of these buildings?

http://home.earthlink.net/~jparvey/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/house.jpg"

http://home.earthlink.net/~jparvey/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/barn.jpg"


Answer:

Spoiler

These two building were part of an early warning radar station placed on the California coast during WWII. They were disguised to appear as a house and barn of a working farm to planes flying over or ships at sea. It doesn't show in the photo, but the dormers on the "farm house" are fake, and are just placed on top of the existing roof line. The road passes behind and above the buildings, so even driving by them on the road you would be able to tell their real purpose.

BTW, if some of this scenery looks somehow familiar to you and you don't know why, as you have never visited the redwoods, it may be because these pictures were taken very near where George Lucas filmed the forest scenes in Return of the Jedi.

 

[JasonRox]

I want to go!

So far...

Very nice pictures. Nice fun fact at the end. I wouldn't have known.

 

[turbo]

Gorgeous pictures, Janus. If ZZ ever gets it in his head to choose "trees" as a PH photo contest theme, I'm going to hide under my bed.

 

[Evo]

So awesome! I want to go! Those trees are amazing.

 

[lisab]

Beautiful, Janus! Did you drive up Highway 1?

 

[hypatia]

Those were just great, looks like you had a wonderful time. Makes me want to go back.

 

[Janus]

Beautiful, Janus! Did you drive up Highway 1?

No, I live North of there so, we took I-5 south and crossed over at Grants Pass, OR. On the Way back we drove up US 101 most of the way.

I have driven Highway 1 however, many years ago, heading South. That was on a long trip; South to LA, across to the Grand Canyon, up through Utah and then back home. I'll always remember driving that stretch of Highway 1, hairpin curves with drops of a few hundred feet above the ocean and no guard rails. Then later on that same trip driving a section of highway in Arizona on flat desert, past a little three foot deep ditch, and they had a guardrail!

 

[Ouabache]

Great shots Janus!
I took some pictures there a few years ago.. When I first came upon those trees, I was at a loss for words. The photo where your daughter is posing reminded me, I put some things near the tree to try to gain perspective & scale (stuck my camera tripod on one tree, parked my car in front of another). If I can find my pictures, I will post..