A misty day in the Redwood Forest

A persistant rain fell as we made our winding way up the coast of northern California. Rain and fog, two substances we've seen and felt a bit too much today, turns out to be the lifegiving substance in these parts. They create the perfect conditions for the Giant Redwoods. The fog alone, condensing on the needles of the trees and then dripping to the ground, accounts for as much as seventy inches of moisture per year. Those BIG TREES that we loved in California's southeastern mountains and these TALL TREES of the northern California coast share remarkable characteristics. Both are resistant to disease and insect attack, and their super-thick bark and absence of lower limbs protects them from damage by fire. Both can self-heal from the attacks of wind and fire and then keep growing for many hundreds of years. No wonder people travel from all over the world, even further than Maine, to behold these gentle giants. More rain in the forecast? But of course!