Redwoods Nat'l Park, Ca. August 29 & 30

Ocean and earth is home to a forest of giants.  This Park is a nursery for the world's tallest things.  They only grow here because because of the moderate, almost Mediterranean climate.  They don't have to protect themselves from nature's extreme temperatures, so they can grow to enormous proportions.  These Coast Redwoods grow up to 370 ft. or more.  Their grow to 22 ft. in diameter and are 2000 years old.  This is not the prettiest park we have seen, but it may be the most impressive.  We travelled more than 180 miles out of the park and we saw Redwoods the whole way.  Amazing that a giant can grow from a seed as small as a tomato seed!  Recent studies suggest that rising, global temperatures are changing regional fog patterns, which are necessary for their growth.  A long-term decrease in fog would severely impact the coast redwoods' ability to outlast periods of extreme drought.  A single old-growth coast redwood tree consumes up to 500 gallons of water a day!  From October through April, a high pressure area sitting atop the North Pacific drives a series of winter storms onshore, dumping the majority of 60-80 inches of annual rain over the region.  There is more about this but I don't want to write a book.  We are headed for San Francisco and will see you all there.