Trees and Tired!

Day 89 – Monday, September 9

Today we ventured out to see Myrtlewood trees and Oregon redwoods.  WOW!   They were something to see!  We went to the Loeb State Park, just 10 miles east of Brookings, where there are trails that travel through the stands of trees.   It started out as a great day for a hike.  We laced up our hiking shoes, packed up water and our cameras, and set out to the park.  The Riverview Trail followed the Chetco River, and was about .75 miles long.  It was really pretty, shady, and surrounded by ferns, hemlocks, fir trees, and lots of Myrtlewoods.  You could immediately smell the myrtlewood—a fragrant, almost cedar, or eucalyptus smell.  The leaves are oval, smooth-edged, thick and waxy.  The trees grow slowly.  It takes 100-150 years to grow a 14-16 inch diameter log!  They are hardwood, evergreen trees, and the trees here are estimated to be as old as 200 years!

The Riverview trail ended at the opening to another trail…the Redwood Nature Trail, a mile loop in the Siskiyou National Forest.  This is Oregon’s largest stand of coastal redwoods.

Redwoods grow taller than any tree in the world.  The redwoods along this trail are estimated to be between 300-800 years old. In California, redwoods more than 2,000 years old have been found!  The trees were majestic, as they lined the trail and towered above.  There was one tree with a huge cavity, and it made for a great picture to illustrate the size of these trees!  It was really something to see them and the environment they grow in.  Redwood bark is very dense and thick.   There was a lot of moss around, and there were a lot of roots throughout the trail that almost made steps at times. 

About halfway through the hike, the sun came out and it got really hot.  (They are having unseasonably warm weather here right now—it hit 90+ degrees today.)   We were glad to have our water, and cut the Redwood loop short to get back to the Riverview trail.  By the end of the hike we were tired and hot. 

We discovered another interesting fact about Brookings—about 90% of America’s Easter Lilly bulbs are produced here!  About 10 farms produce all of the bulbs which are shipped to greenhouses around the country.  The area has an ideal combination of climate, soil and water for the lillies.   They are called “white gold”.  Never would have guessed that tidbit!

We got back to the campground, took a quick nap, and headed to the beach with our chairs to rest and relax the rest of the day. 

Tomorrow we will leave the coast and begin heading east.  We are still 1,200 miles from Phoenix!