The van starts its trip through the giant Redwood tree at Klamath, CA

Redwood Giants.. . . WOW! (part 1)

Sep 19, 2013 by Arthur

Bonnie and I have heard from “our youth up” about the Redwood trees and how big they grow. They actually are taller than the giant Sequoya trees but they are only half the diameter at the base. Nevertheless, they are giants created by an even bigger God who delights in amazing His people.

Needless to say. . .we were amazed as we toured the Redwood forest. We’ve both seen many different kinds of trees throughout our lives, but the Redwoods definitely take the cake for looking majestic. Just take a look at a sampling of pictures we took while we were walking and driving through the forest.

Redwood01 — Flat tries to climb the Redwood tree

Redwood02 — Bonnie and Art in front of a Redwood giant

Redwood03 — Bonnie has a little mustache while standing in front of a giant tree

Redwood04 — Art with some giant tree friends

Redwood05 — Bonnie stares down a root burl. The face isn’t visible coming from her right side down the trail

Redwood06 — Art enters into a burned out Redwood tree that is still alive and well. 8 or 9 people could fit inside that tree cavity.

I was particularly recalling the verses spoken by the Psalmist in Psalm 8:3-5, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!” These verses not only tell us about how great the Lord God is, but it tells us that we, as humans, are not insignificant to Him. Even though those Redwoods grow to gigantic size, yet we are more important to Him than any of His creation. How glorious is that?!

We met several people on the trails as we wandered through the woods and we kept hearing the same exclamation from most of these people. That exclamation? It was “WOW!” Every time we would pass by one of those trees that caused us to utter, “Wow,” we would turn a curve in the trail and we would be confronted with another sight that brought forth the same exclamation. We would encourage anyone who is able to make a special trip to visit the Coast Redwoods in Northern California. It is more than worth the effort and expense in getting here to see the hand of God at work.

Redwood07 — Bonnie and Flat are amazed at the size of the tree

Redwood08 — Art tries to climb the giant (not really!)

Redwood09 — Bonnie shows the size of the root stump that fell

Redwood10 — Art inside a burned out tree. This is different than the previous picture.

Redwood11 — Corkscrew Tree - God created well!

Redwood12 — Looking up at three of the Redwood giants

Several of the trees appeared to be burned out at the heart of the tree, but we discovered that the life of the tree is really able to be sustained by the outer perimeter of the tree. So what would appear to be a dying tree was actually still a very viable tree. Also, many trees appeared to be charred on the bark area of the tree, but the bark is so thick and hard that the tree itself is protected from many fires that would take place in the living forest.

A root burl, usually located at the base of the tree, has been so wondrously created that it releases new sprouts when the parent tree is about to die. And when one of the mighty trees does fall, it can take a few hundred years before it completely decomposes.

Again, we were amazed. But, we discovered that there was much more for us to see and learn from the Redwoods as we continued down the coast. For that story, you’ll have to read “WOW - Part 2” of our blog.