Two weeks ago I was in Northern California for the 50th wedding anniversary of my cousin.
While there, I played Harriet the Tourist. Among my sightseeing adventures was a visit to Muir Woods, declared a National Monument by Theodore Roosevelt one hundred years ago this year.
It is a magical place, tucked in a ravine on Mt. Tamalpais, and is just 12 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge.
It's primary raison d'etre is the Coastal Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens. They grow to well over 250 feet high, and often are found in ring-shaped clusters. If a tree dies, suckers grow around the stump of the tree, and new redwoods become the children of the mother tree. Below is a great example of a redwood cluster.
Running through the park, at the bottom of the ravine, is Redwood Creek, where apparently Coho and Steelhead salmon can be found during winter spawning season.
One interesting plant is the horsetail fern, which was around during the age of dinosaurs:
Posts
