Wednesday, January 22, 2014

THE Trip, THE Encore' :: Petrolia and More Redwoods

Copyright 2014, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

May 19, 2013  It has been a LONG day trip, sans Tana.  Remember, this was last spring!

As we turn away from the Lost Coast we see this sign, "Leaving Tsunami Hazard Zone"  For us, this is rather interesting, and just a little unnerving, out of our comfort zones.


As we approach the little town of Petrolia, it reminds us towns in the Northeastern USA.


Picturesque for sure.  It is a remote and very interesting place.  Wikipedia tell us:

"Because of its isolation, the Mattole Valley has cultivated a reputation for independence and self-sustenance, including a network of local resources, the maintenance of its own emergency help line (an alternative to 9-1-1), and even its own currency, the petol. A survey conducted in recent years determined that half of the community is located "off the grid" and relies on solar or alternative forms of power, or none at all."


Town name in stones:


Not far from town is the site of the first oil well in California, it was pumped in 1865.


Alrighty, leaving town there is a bit of a wash out on the road.  That is going to take some serious fixing.  Personally, I was glad to be riding on the other side of this section of roadway. (That is Jolly's dirty hood in the lower area of the photo.)


I did tell you I LOVE bridges, right?


I took this to attempt to show the curvy road.  Photo is less than stellar.  But the road IS curvy!


Humboldt Redwoods, sign hiding behind Flora and hopefully some redwoods.


Road narrows, Jolly fit, but, Man drove carefully and slowly.


We stopped at the Big Trees parking area, yes, Man, that IS a big tree!


This is Tall Tree, also know as the Rockefeller Tree, it was dedicated to John D. Rockefeller III, whose financial backing helped to save this area of old growth forest.  The Tall Tree is 42 foot in circumference, 13.4 feet in diameter and 359.3 feet tall per the signage that was nearby.  I stood WAY back and used the panoramic on it's side and barely managed to get Man and the top of the tree.  You can see Man down there, right??  All 5 foot 10 inches of him??


We had a LONG day, yes, we were very tired.  It was exciting, it was awe inspiring, quiet, huge, tall, curvy, huge, did I say, it was HUGE??  Nature at it's best, with little interference from humans, what an experience.

We have a bit more to see here before we wander up the coast just a few more miles.  We will move 30, 40 maybe even 60 miles at a time, sitting a spell, wandering back and forth on the coast sightseeing, enjoying, trying to absorb the beauty.  One trip may be all we get, and, in hindsight, it was NOT enough!  What a gorgeous place.  We have one month left on the coast.  Hundreds of photos.  Beauty beyond description!





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