July 21, 2024

Redwoods - Trees of Mystery

In my last post I covered our typical evenings of gathering together for happy hour, dinner, bon fire, cribbage and a movie. This is the first post of how our days were spent exploring, with our first stop at the nearby Trees of Mystery.

Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox ‘Babe’ guard the entrance.

Fran walking past Paul Bunyan and Babe
This guys are BIG!

Before going on, let me introduce you to the group:

Back; Me, Michael, Jm Lucas, Nikki, Lori
Front: Fran, Juanita, Marty, Claira and Audrey

Michael (son) and Lori (DIL) belong to Jm
Marty (brother) is Nikki's dad, so our niece
Nikki and Lucas are proud to claim Claira and Audrey
Marty and Juanita, like Fran and I, are just dang thrilled we can gather together

There are many carvings at the entrance and throughout the park.

The fox is my favorite

Sasquatch chatting with Jm

The Trees of Mystery is a tourist attraction, pretty much a one-and-done destination, but it is so worth a stop. The age of the redwoods within the park would indicate the park was built around them, they were not created by the park founders.

Claira, Audrey and Lucas at:
Nature's Underpass

The well marked trail winds through the park past its many attractions. In this interesting grove some of the trees rise from a common trunk.

The Redwood Canopy Trail was certainly an attraction for all of us. The trail consists of several suspended foot bridges between platforms high (up to 100’) in the trees. Yes the bridges wiggle!

Nikki with daughters Claira and Audrey

Lucas leads the way as the bridges begin to work their way back down.

The sisters crossing a downhill span. Lori, Michael and Jm are waiting on the platform behind.

Even after starting down we’re still pretty high

The tallest tree in the world is a redwood, the Hyperion Tree, at 380’

By comparison the Brotherhood Tree is the tallest in the Trees of Mystery at just under 300 feet.

From below this is what the little 300’ Brotherhood Tree looks like.

Looks pretty darn big to me!

We also took a ride on the gondolas that comprise the Sky Trail.

Lucas, Claira, Nikki, Audrey exit their gondola

From the viewpoint at the top we did not see the ocean, but just a nice cloud layer where the beach should have been.

An option at the top was to either hike one mile down on a straight down trail with climbing ropes ’For Expert Hikers Only’ or ride the Gondola back. Fran joined the small group to hike down (and found out too late she wasn't an 'expert' hiker). I took the gondola! And enjoyed some more wood sculptures while waiting for them.

The story of Paul Bunyan is depicted on wooden panels on the trail leading out via the gift shop and exit. Although I did not take any pictures of the panels. Lucas and Paul could be twins, so I had to have this picture!