It’s hard to describe adequately the Californian Coastal Redwoods. Pictures fall far short! To say they are huge is still an understatement! They stand 300 feet tall, with those tallest stretching to 370’! The AfriOne communications tower that I have climbed on occasions is only 200’, still falling 100 feet short of the Californian Redwood! I remember shots I took from the top of that tower, and how even the tallest trees were far below me! Even the birds were flying well below where I was perched atop that tower! I was not able to see the tops of most trees, but I think that was more as a result of the fog than anything else! Taking a walk along such well-defined paths was enjoyable; I was amazed at the work that went into creating these paths that are there for the enjoyment of tourists passing by. No one asked me to pay anything; no one stopped me along the way to hassle me for being on the wrong path. No one bothered me at all! I could have been totally lost in that forest (except only a blind man could really get lost on those paths) and no one would have known otherwise! It amazes me that so much money would
be spent on literally hundreds of paths that are randomly selected by passing motorists. They are marked, but nothing other than a small placard indicates what is on those paths. It’s up to you to check it out and to follow a path to its destination. I followed one to “Big Tree”. This sign I only saw after having walked into the forest for 200 meters. I decided to follow it, thinking that if this tree was big, then it must be just immense in size as all of the trees around me were big! I also decided to follow it because I knew I could complete 5km in an hour of trekking. Upon arriving at the Big Tree, I can attest that it is indeed BIG! Very much so!
I did enjoy the trek, but I found that had I just driven 500 meters to another spot, I could have saved myself 50 minutes of walking! The Big Tree was really not that far off from the road – I just chose to come at it from a distance that encompassed 4 kilometers of forest path!
As I drove into the little town of Eureka, I noticed a line of trees along the road that I actually knew! These were obviously planted and I was surprised to see eucalyptus growing in temperate climes! Didn’t know they grew in any place other than tropical areas (though I think they may be an indigene of Australia)!
Eureka. The name of the town I stayed at. All I can say is that this town had its eureka moment a great many moments ago!
I can now attest that I have found a Nigerian hotel in northern California, complete with cockroaches! This was far and away the dirtiest and dingiest hotel I have stayed at yet! It was also the noisiest, situated on the inside of a very busy corner with trucks passing all night long! All in the name of trying to get back on budget… At least there were no prostitutes banging on the door all night long to boot!
3 comments:
What of the bed linens in the hotel Mike? When you didn't have bedsheets, did they bring you a curtain to use instead? What about the night guards who slept next to your car all night only to discover in the morning that someone had come by to siphon all the fuel out of your tank? Did the hotel manager promise a whole night of generator power only to have the AC quit around 11:30? Too many more months living in civilization and you'll never want to return! Your ferry comparison was also great...
Boy, you bring back a lot of memories there, Keith! Even in the "good" hotels there was only ONE sheet, never two! I remember having to FIX the generator so it would run, then buying an extra jerry can of diesel fuel to keep it running, only to have them "misplace" it! Yup, pretty soon those will be set aside and forgotten completely! Thanks for the reminder!!
There is no hope so strong as that of the bature in Nigeria who buys fuel in the middle of the night and trusts that those who receive it will use it for its intended purpose.
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