Redwoods and trails in Muir Woods National Monument.
Feeling a bit second hand from the sensational night last night, I still made it to Muir Woods for my assigned 9.30 am parking and entrance time. I’m all the glad I did – I’ve always wanted to see the real redwoods.
Muir woods has Coast redwoods, Sequoia sempervirens. This species is the tallest in the world, though the very tallest aren’t in this forest specifically.
I happened to time it perfectly with a ranger talk. Despite that they can reach over a hundred metres tall, these trees’ roots ony go down 2-4 metres, or 6-12 feet. To stay upright, the roots spread out over thirty metres laterally and interlock with other redwoods.
The bark alone is mesmirising. The last fire was over two hundred years ago, but charring still remains.
I don’t have the camera for it, but I saw a couple of woodpeckers. This one was
busy doing what they do, as well as tearing away bark and making a lot of noise
to get to the insect larvae underneath.