The Quietest Place on Earth:
I just returned from 3 days wandering around in the Northern California redwood forests. Redwood trees are taller than any other living thing and can live over 2000 years. I was near the oldest known living redwood but Park officials will not disclose it's location since I would guess they don't want people trampling through some grove to get to it. It was alive around 800 years before the birth of Christ. These living giants have only one enemy---man. 96% of the ancient redwood forests has been destroyed by logging so, to me, these primordial havens are sort of precious---a chance to sense what the earth was like hundreds of thousands of years ago. Few ever walk around in these remaining forests---most of the trees are growing on extremely steep mountains and the horizontal trunk of a fallen redwood tree, which can take 400 years to become absorbed into the bio mass of the forest floor, can be twice the height of a human. The biomass of a redwood forest has 7 times the biomass (living and dead organic material) of that found in a tropical rainforest.
Besides the vastness and primordial nature of these forests there exists a quietness not found anywhere else. Except during a storm there is not even any wind. Just the bark of these giant redwoods can be a foot thick. It is also rich in tannins which are toxic to insects, and no insects means few birds. Like I say, these forests are quiet. No deer and rabbits etc. because the kind of plants and trees most such animals like, do not get enough sunlight to grow in a redwood forest. Thus you find such animals on the fringes of the forest, not in it. The thick bark also protects these trees from forest fires. One can often see charred portions of bark on a tree.
The height of an ancient redwood tree can be 30-40 stories high, around 370 feet. The diameter of a really big trunk can approach 20 feet and the circumference over 50 feet. The weight can be over a million pounds. Since the roots only go down a foot or two it amazes me these roots can support such tall and heavy trees for thousands of years. It takes a lot of water to sustain these trees and where they grow the rainfall averages 65 inches/year. Floods have little effect on them. While there is no obvious vibrant life forms in a redwood forests, it is estimated there are 1700 species of plants and animals that depend on a redwood tree during its life span. Almost all are microscopic. There are flying squirrels who live high up in the redwoods but they are nocturnal so are seldom seen. Present are populations of organisms which live their entire lives without ever coming to the ground.
Redwood forests are my favorite places to visit. It is hard to explain but a redwood forest brings a sense of time, a sense of connection with a time long ago, a reverence for the present, and a sort of melancholy realization that so much so important to us is so fleeting----in the redwood forests one feels a part of the evolutionary process, which brings to one an acceptance that time doesn't go---it is we who go---time stays. Like Jackie Gleason used to say, "Away We Go". Like it or not!
