Calaveras Big Trees

Just a couple of hours away from Placerville reside the Calaveras Big Trees. Really, that's what they're called. If you get lost trying to find them, just ask: "Where are the Big Trees?" Love it.

These are the Redwoods that are short but VERY big around. You look up expecting them to go on forever...but they sort of just stop like someone lopped off the top.

Below: Adam decides to taste the tree. Bleck. He was spitting for quite a while. It's that chemical, Tanin. Bitter, bitter, bitter. (Below right: sap from the sugar pine. I asked Adam to taste that one for me, surely it would be sweet. He refused.)

The bark is hairy and soft.

Below is the Mother of the Forest. She's quite huge and such a sad sight to come upon. "In 1854 promoters stripped the bark (which of course killed it) for a "mammoth tree" exhibition and shipped the pieces east. First to New York, then London. The reassembled outer tree trunk delighted crowds and convinced the skeptical public that the Sierra's big trees actually existed." (Of course John Muir was outraged, which eventually lead to the protection of the Redwood forests.)

There are other awesome attractions here, but I'll let you discover them.

ABOUT REDWOODS Redwood forests once covered large parts of Europe, Asia, and North America, but ice-age glaciers and changing climates spared only THREE small areas of these majestic trees. The Coast Redwoods, grow along the coast of California and southern Oregon (these are awesome and my favorite). Inland, the Giant Sequoia climb Sierra Nevada slopes (where these photos are taken). And the third group are in a remote part of China, and are smaller and shorter than the first two groups. So, dare I say...if you are ever in Northern California (or China) these are something you should not miss.