Cloverdale CA, Armstrong State Park and sequoias

Yesterday we spent a good part of the day hiking in Armstrong State Park.  These is the Armstrong grove of redwoods.  What magnificent trees!  Very sadly, this park is among several others in the state slated for closure in July due to budget cuts.  I am happy we were able to experience it.

The giant redwoods grow to over 300 feet in some cases.  The Colonel Armstrong tree in this park is one of the tallest, however, the tallest recorded is 365ft high!  These trees have no taproots and their root system is very shallow so they spread their roots some 150ft in all directions and entwine them with other redwoods to secure themselves from the wind:

the trees roots acted like a staircase on this hill

poison oak, it was everywhere but on the trail....guess where we stayed!

look at this guys blue belly

you can see the dark green redwoods towering above the other trees in this forest

banana slug,  he is appreciated for his composting efforts in the forest

Redwood Sorrel, yep looks like clover, only grows where redwoods grow

note the sapling redwood growing right out of the middle of this stump

Mike looks verrrry small!

all these redwoods are growing from the same base