DRIVING THRU GIANT REDWOOD TREES

The Redwood Trees in the Pacific Northwest of the US are among the tallest. largest (in terms of volume), and oldest trees in the world with a girth so wide that in three cases, a drive thru was hollowed at the base so cars, some models of pick-up trucks or mini-vans, can literally, albeit a squeeze, “drive thru.”  These trees are still alive with sufficient trunk at the base to survive.  All are privately owned and a fee is charged to drive thru, as many times as you wish, provided there are no long lines.  The car I was driving was a 2011 Nissan Altima 4 door with a width (without adding the side mirrors) of 71 inches and an overall height of 58 inches.

Coming from Oregon on my way down to Mendocino, California, along Highway 101, the first drive thru is the Klamath Tour Thru Tree, 19 miles south of Crescent City.*   The fee is US$5.00.  This was the least impressive of the three.  It just didn’t look giant enough.  Driving alone, I requested a carekeeper to click the camera for me.  

Me driving thru the Klamath Tour Thru Tree

The second one was further down 120 miles along the Avenue of the Giants in the hamlet of Myers Flat.  This one is called the Shrine Tree.*  Although bigger than Klamath, after driving through the avenue of giant redwood trees, the Shrine Tree was comparatively adolescent.  The friendly son of the owner who was the gate ticket guy offered to take a picture of me driving thru.  He later quipped that the Shrine tree has literally been a money tree for the family.  At US$6.00 a car, and the fact that the tree requires little maintenance if at all, the family surely had it made.

Me driving thru the Shrine Tree

And the very last, 50 miles further, before I veered off west to the Pacific coast was the Chandelier Tree in Leggett.*  Now we are talking.  This tree is big and tall and supposedly looks like a chandelier with its crown of leaves.  The Chandelier Tree is a 315 foot tall with a 6 foot (1.83 m) wide by 6 foot 9 inch (2.06 m) high hole carved in the 1930s. The fee was US$5.00.  I had to ask another driver to take a picture of me which in turn I did for him.  Ahh – the quandaries of traveling single.

Me driving thru the Chandelier Tree

Chandelier tree but not my car

*Note: Hours vary depending on season, generally open during daylight only.  The ticket booth clerks can advise whether your vehicle can go through.  At the Shrine Tree, the cashier has a long measuring stick which he just pulls out from his window and holds across the width of your car.

Klamath Tour Thru Tree: Klamath (Terwer Valley exit from Highway 101) Located North of Klamath Bridge. Address: 430 Highway 169, Klamath, CA 95548  Tel. 707 482 5971,  At times the ticket booth is unmanned and payment is on an honor system - dropping the exact amount in a box.

Shrine Drive-Thru Tree, and Drive-Over Tree: Humboldt Redwoods State Park 13078 Avenue of the Giants, Myers Flat, CA 95554  Tel . 805 735 1836 (at the southern end of the Avenue of the Giants)
 
Chandelier Tree: Take the Leggett exit where Hwy 101 junctions with Highway 1.  Address: 67402 (Hwy 271) Drive Thru Tree Road, Leggett, CA 95585 – Tel. 707-925-6363

MENDOCINO - SAME PLACE, NEXT TIME

Years ago, I overheard somebody mention Mendocino as a lovely village in Northern California, about five hours driving north from San Francisco.  Since then, it has always been on my wish list and late December 2011, a day before New Year’s Eve, I finally made it.  Early Spanish navigators bestowed the town’s name in honor of Antonio de Mendoza, Viceroy of New Spain (which included modern-day California).

It is indeed a relaxing soothing place to be in.  The New England-style Victorian homes, the waft of the Pacific ocean breeze, the snugness and “safeness” one feels as you meander around, the jagged bluffs, windswept headlands with easy trails, at dusk – Pacific coast sunset which has a spectacular red- orange hue far out in the blue sea, and the general sense of quiet cordiality, are just few reasons why Mendocino is indeed special.

Later, I found out Mendocino has been a film locale since 1904 for well-known movies such as The Summer of ’42, and Same Time, Next Year.  The village pretended to be Cabot Cove, Maine in the TV show Murder She Wrote.   Murder sleuth Jessica Fletcher’s house is now a Bed and Breakfast (see www.blairhouse.com).   
Sadly in real life, murders do happen in the greater Mendocino county.

You would expect a town like Mendocino to be pricey like Aspen, Colorado.  But it ain’t, restaurant prices are above-average but not haute cuisine high.  And there is good affordable ready-to-eat takeout at Harvest, the local supermarket. 

I stayed in a very cozy lodge called the Jug Handle Creek Farm for under US$50 a night, http://jughandlecreekfarm.com.    Shared bathrooms but one was humongous, and I mean the size of a room which can fit a king-size bed and more.  This bathroom has also the largest bathroom mirror I think in the world - with the L/W dimensions of a sedan. 

Truly Mendocino beckons.