Went on a 9 mile hike with my sister yesterday(Dec 29th 2017) at Redwood Park..on the Berry Creek trail which is about 34 miles from San Jose in California. I am definitely not one of those disciplined people who exercise regularly and I made it through this hike on sheer adrenaline, brufen and determination!
Below are a few tips about this place and a few photos.
It's a drive up a mountain to reach there and if you feel car sick on curving roads, too bad.
10-00$ parking fee. No other cost. The parking attendant gives you a map of the grove, with the different trails
There's a small 2 room museum(free) with taxidermied wildlife found in this place, names of the trees, ferns, plants found there, etc.
There's a place where you can get some coffee/snacks near the parking, museum and ranger's office.
I think this is the first time I saw orange color fungus. I was pretty excited to see this.
Above is the top of a mushroom and below is the same mushroom turned over
Above is the underside of a mushroom. The mushrooms here were quite big.
Above is a 'live' mushroom still rooted; below is a dead and crushed mushroom, I saw on the path.
I simply can't figure out, how to photograph the underside of a mushroom without uprooting it. The underside is patterned and pretty but not visible to the camera!
My sister did not give me much time to take photos. She kept asking me to move....we had to get back before the sun set ( 4.45pm) and we started on the trail only at twelve noon.
I was pretty excited to discover these small red mushrooms above. My eagle-eyed sis is usually the first one to spot things...but not this time! This is the first time I have seen red ones.
There were a few more types of mushrooms in this grove, which I did not photograph.
Above is the Berry Creek falls. There is one more falls of the same creek if we had walked further up. We did walk up a bit but then turned back so that we get back before dark.
Above are parts of some of the many paths on this trail. There were tree roots the entire way...and I had to keep looking down, to avoid tripping.I cannot imagine how people have the ?courage to do this hike in the dark with flashlights!
Above are a pair of banana slugs...having sex? This is the first time I have seen banana slugs. They were quite big...at least 3 inches long.
Above is the giant redwood tree when it is still a young plant...These grow in clusters just around the trees and there are giant redwoods close to each other and some even seem to be attached.
Above is a bunch of redwoods. One of them has the lower part of it's trunk, burnt and hollowed. There were several burnt, partially burnt, extremely photogenic redwoods in this place. Here are a few photos.
Below is algae growing on burnt part of the tree.
I simply loved the patterns, textures and colours as the Redwoods breakdown...the bark, the inside, the humongous roots, the burn color i.e. shades of black
Above is a red wood which has fallen across the path. It's been sawed through to unblock the path. Note the beautiful emerald green algae on the burnt black surface
Above is a Redwood tree, sort of half uprooted...wonder when it will come crashing down? Will the crash be quick or gradual?
I loved this green algae on the burnt hollow....it was shinier and more velvety than it seems here.
Isn't the above picture like a Dystopian Modern Art? I love it!
Above is a vibrant green live fern...below is fern, from same family, whitish and brown. I suppose the white is dead and the brown is dead and dried up.
Many types of lovely ferns in this place...I loved a thin hair looking fern but unfortunately I only found 'plucked out patches' of it lying around and not 'rooted'. So no photos of my favorite fern!
Above is what seems to be clovers. ( I tasted a leaf and it was not sour as I expected it to be)These seem to be 'floating' ... because we cant see the thin stems below the leaves I think.
Above is algae and ferns growing on rocks in the creek.
I loved these ferns, growing on fallen trees and hanging down. I saw amazing fern growth on trees in Hoh rain forest at Olympic National Park, in Washington state. That place is definitely worth a visit.
I would guess the above piece to be a fallen log, evened out to make a bench for hikers to rest...it's besides the trail
Below are a few tips about this place and a few photos.
It's a drive up a mountain to reach there and if you feel car sick on curving roads, too bad.
10-00$ parking fee. No other cost. The parking attendant gives you a map of the grove, with the different trails
There's a small 2 room museum(free) with taxidermied wildlife found in this place, names of the trees, ferns, plants found there, etc.
There's a place where you can get some coffee/snacks near the parking, museum and ranger's office.
My sister did not give me much time to take photos. She kept asking me to move....we had to get back before the sun set ( 4.45pm) and we started on the trail only at twelve noon.
There were a few more types of mushrooms in this grove, which I did not photograph.
Above are parts of some of the many paths on this trail. There were tree roots the entire way...and I had to keep looking down, to avoid tripping.I cannot imagine how people have the ?courage to do this hike in the dark with flashlights!
Above is the giant redwood tree when it is still a young plant...These grow in clusters just around the trees and there are giant redwoods close to each other and some even seem to be attached.
Many types of lovely ferns in this place...I loved a thin hair looking fern but unfortunately I only found 'plucked out patches' of it lying around and not 'rooted'. So no photos of my favorite fern!
I would guess the above piece to be a fallen log, evened out to make a bench for hikers to rest...it's besides the trail
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