The Old Trees of Muir Woods

Prior to our trip to the US, we were already thinking about what to do and where to go. Among those places we listed (which I thought was part of my bucket list) was Yosemite National Park where there was Old Faithful, the famous geyser, and old growth forest featuring the gigantic and centuries old Redwoods and Sequoias we only learned about in school and saw on photos in books. However, due to limited time that we had considering the other places and attractions we wanted to go to while in San Francisco, we had to shelve the Yosemite trip for another time. I thought I wouldn't have the chance to go to an old growth forest until our friend Norie came to the rescue, volunteering to take us to Muir Woods, an old growth forest north of San Francisco near Marin and Sausalito. Thank you Norie for the wonderful trip to experience the calm and environment provided by Muir Woods!

Direction to Muir Woods from the freeway exit

The white tree greeted our arrival at Muir Woods

Entrance to the Muir Woods National Monument cared for by the National Park Service

"You shall not pass" - a section of the woods was closed to the public due to some works being undertaken by the park

Explaining the history of the trees through the growth rings

The clear waters running through the woods provide sustenance to the trees and other life in the woods

Walking ahead

How do Redwoods reproduce? The answer is this lump of sorts called the burl. The souvenir shop has baby redwoods waiting to be planted and cared for elsewhere. I guess the conditions for their survival should be a constraint for many who get the saplings without thinking about how these would survive elsewhere.

We just had to take this photo to get an idea of scale

The trees are quite imposing once you see them and appreciate their size and age.

Looking up at the canopy

Gateway to the "cathedral"

The illusion of holding up a falling tree

The tree was actually prevented from falling by two other trees. They now support each other.

Fungus growing on an old fallen branch - we took a lot of photos of mushrooms that I will feature in a future post

The streams were flowing with clean, cool water.

Two explorers

Souvenir leaf from the expedition?

Photo op at a fork in the road

The forest provides an excellent venue for friends and family to get-together and experience nature first-hand. I was glad there were no sounds of cell phones ringing, only the calm breathe of breeze or wind and the sounds of life in the forest.

Inside one of the trees, it felt as if you were in a cave.

That's me inside the trunk of a redwood the park designated for photo ops.

The last time I explored a forest in a national park was back in 1996. That time, I was just starting my doctoral studies in Japan and was invited along with close friend Karl by a former visiting professor to UP, Dr. Mamoru Nagai of Utsunomiya University to visit his university. Dr. Nagai kindly and generously took us trekking in the Nikko National Park forest where we got to see the clean springs, hidden lakes, waterfalls and various flora and fauna of the preservation. This, of course will be a topic of another post once I am able to scan old photos of that trip.