It has now become a tradition that after Christmas our family goes to the Oregon coast and on the way there we go to the Redwood Forest in Northern California.
It is amazing!
I don't know if I will ever tire of looking up to find the tops of the trees, or down at the amazing ferns that cover the forest floor. I enjoy feeling the dampness and humidity that happens when you walk into this forest.
We arrived at just the right time, a forest ranger was about to start a tour. Yay! I enjoy tours and learn so much.
Let me share with you what I learned about the Redwood Forest in Northern California.
Hemlock Trees
These are hemlock trees and they often grow on fallen trees or what are called nurse logs and their long roots stretch out and take nutrients from the fallen tree or log.
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Nurse logs
Here is a video of a hundred year old nurse log. They provide nutrients for other trees in the forest.
Temperate Rainforest
There are about 400 gallons of water in this forest and it is mostly fog. You could feel it all around you and see it in the plant life all over!
Old growth trees
These old growth trees grow up to 380 feet tall and 29 feet wide. Here is our group is a fallen tree. We are a tall family too!
Huckleberry bush
The huckleberry bush is a part of the Redwood forest. It provides food for animals and shelter for both animals and plants. One of the plants that grows next to it is red sorrel.
Red Sorrel
This clover looking plant is called sorrel and it tastes like a granny smith apple.
The ranger picked some for each of us to taste making sure to get leaves that were away from the path.
It was such an immersive experience to see the plants all over, feel the water and moister in the in the air, taste the sorrel, hear the people and river and forest, if we were quite enough.
The ranger talked a bit about forest bathing too and how good it is for your health to immerse yourself in nature!
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Hope you enjoyed this tour of this temperate rainforest and learning about the plants like hemlock trees, huckleberry bushes and sorrel plants along with the old growth trees and doing a little forest bathing with me!
Sources:
Save the Redwoods
Share Our World Series
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