So if you didn't already know this, redwood trees are really really tall. I mean REALLY REALLY TALL! On day 5 of our trip when we were headed up the northern coast, we detoured back inland to go to Armstrong Woods to pay a visit to these mind boggling beauties.
Caleb and I did a mile long hike in to Armstrong Woods in Guerneville, CA and it was such a wonderful experience and afternoon. SIDE NOTE: The town of Guerneville is just the cutest and is worthy of some wandering. We only went in to one shop but it was the quaintest book shop and we picked up a couple books and our big world map that we have framed on our gallery wall in our living room. Oh and it was only $5! Anyways, the woods...
I couldn't stop looking up and my jaw was on the ground the entire time. I've never seen anything like them before. Sure we have forest preserves in Illinois, but nothing like this. Our trees here are a joke! When we got back after this trip, I literally laughed at our "woods" haha.
By stopping off at the woods on our way up the coast it was a nice break from the car. The two mile walk in and out was not bad at all. I actually wish we could have gone deeper in to the woods! This would have made for an awesome day trip equipped with goodies for a picnic and all.
I had to actually take a panorama photo of the Colonel Armstrong tree to get the whole thing in the picture! On top of how tall they are, it's amazing how old they are, too. The Armstrong tree is approximately 1400 years old and the Jones tree is approximately 1300 years old. The woods were of course named after Colonel Armstrong.
The people who live here are so lucky to have something so beautiful in their backyard. I cannot wait to go back for another visit and take an entire day to explore. I highly recommend taking some time out your trip if you are in North Cal to explore the redwoods. I'm quite confident you will be just as amazed as I was.
Ca ca! ROAR! Wilderness explorers unite! ;)