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| Redwood cathedral (Photo credit: Kid Cowboy) |
Think of the West Coast of the USA and the first images that float up are those of the Pacific Ocean and its restless shade of blue. The mysterious rock formations and formidable cliffs lining the coast only make the already dramatic landscape even more so.
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Driving along Highway 101 towards the Redwoods National Park enthralled by the many wondrous views of the ocean, I wondered if it was really worth leaving this heavenly strip of asphalt to take a look at what amounted to tall trees. Tall trees? Meh, how impressive could those really be?
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As I got nearer Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park, I became aware that my not-so-tiny Dodge Journey was submerged in giant shadows. It is usual not to be able to see the tops of trees lining the road when driving along it. It is not usual is to be unable to see even the beginnings of the first branches of those trees. They had me surrounded yet all I could see so far was their ankles.
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Within the first couple of stops inside the State Park, including at the simply named cedar tree "Big Tree" my skepticism waned as rapidly as my eyes grew ever wider with wonder. The scale and size of these trees was hard to compare against anything else I had seen before. These trees, it seemed, were designed for a different planet.
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The Lady Bird Johnson Grove in the Redwoods National Park was the culmination of all that is magnificent about these groves of giant trees. I arched my neck a little, looking up, then some more and then as far as I could. No luck. I arched my back now as far as I could. Now I could finally see the top of these trees and gasp at their size. I also knew that the tallest trees in these forests were not even in this grove! They were unmarked, looming somewhere out there in the acres of surrounding forests; unmarked to keep them off the map of photo-op hungry tourists.
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At their feet, a few other dazed puny humans like me wandered around, wondering, how on earth were they supposed to explain THIS to the world beyond? Photographs wouldn't suffice and descriptions would fall woefully short. They wanted to let the world know, to shake everyone they knew and shout in their faces "Go! I can't explain how amazing this place is! Go! See it for yourself."
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An information board at one location talked about how silent these redwood forests seemed when compared to the nature's noisy squabbles in a tropical forest. The tops of the trees and their first branches were so high up that they did not afford the animals living on the ground the chance to quickly scamper up their great trunks to safety. Hence the quietness.
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The quietness came from the deep feeling of awe generated when walking under the gaze of 200 foot plus observers, most of them over a 1000 years old. The quietness came from the perception that if a tropical forest were Mother Nature's version of a bazaar, this was her version of a monument. The quietness came from the strong connection that exists between nature and us making words seem superficial.
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Anything else would be a violation, a crude disrespect of this true magic, ancient, strong and eternal.
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[http://virtual-inksanity.blogspot.com/2014/05/magic-faraway-trees.html]
Within the first couple of stops inside the State Park, including at the simply named cedar tree "Big Tree" my skepticism waned as rapidly as my eyes grew ever wider with wonder. The scale and size of these trees was hard to compare against anything else I had seen before. These trees, it seemed, were designed for a different planet.
-
The Lady Bird Johnson Grove in the Redwoods National Park was the culmination of all that is magnificent about these groves of giant trees. I arched my neck a little, looking up, then some more and then as far as I could. No luck. I arched my back now as far as I could. Now I could finally see the top of these trees and gasp at their size. I also knew that the tallest trees in these forests were not even in this grove! They were unmarked, looming somewhere out there in the acres of surrounding forests; unmarked to keep them off the map of photo-op hungry tourists.
-
At their feet, a few other dazed puny humans like me wandered around, wondering, how on earth were they supposed to explain THIS to the world beyond? Photographs wouldn't suffice and descriptions would fall woefully short. They wanted to let the world know, to shake everyone they knew and shout in their faces "Go! I can't explain how amazing this place is! Go! See it for yourself."
-
An information board at one location talked about how silent these redwood forests seemed when compared to the nature's noisy squabbles in a tropical forest. The tops of the trees and their first branches were so high up that they did not afford the animals living on the ground the chance to quickly scamper up their great trunks to safety. Hence the quietness.
-
The quietness came from the deep feeling of awe generated when walking under the gaze of 200 foot plus observers, most of them over a 1000 years old. The quietness came from the perception that if a tropical forest were Mother Nature's version of a bazaar, this was her version of a monument. The quietness came from the strong connection that exists between nature and us making words seem superficial.
-
Anything else would be a violation, a crude disrespect of this true magic, ancient, strong and eternal.
-
[http://virtual-inksanity.blogspot.com/2014/05/magic-faraway-trees.html]
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