We officially declared today ‘Tree Hugging Day’, and we would have been doing that if these buggers had not been so damn big that we would have needed 10 people to accomplish a group hug. Following local advice, we retraced our footsteps (syn. tyre tracks) and drove south out of Eureka, along Highway 101 and took the turn off for the Avenue of the Giants – very appropriate. This was in fact the old 101, and the two run parallel to each other. It runs for 32 miles before re-joining the current 101. All pictures are filed as S1264. It will be no surprise to learn that there were no cacti or other succulent plants recorded at this stop.
I could give you lots of information about this stop, but it has been done so much better than I could do, at http://avenueofthegiants.net/ Yes, Eunice drove her car through that tree too!
I could tell you lots about the Sequoia, but again, it has been done so much better than I could have done at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia
Which leaves me just to report the only news worthy item (for me): I managed to put my back out as I got out of the driver seat of the Toyota Landcruiser. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last. It slows me down a bit and managing the pain is a distraction, but apart from that it’s just a matter of mixing rest with light exercise to prevent the muscle that has gone into spasm from ceasing up altogether. Over the weeks my back seems to have become used to getting out of the passenger seat rather than the driver seat.
I still managed to take a cool 251 images and a few video clips – so business as usual.
Tomorrow we drive over to Oakhurst for a day in Yosemite the day after, providing that the roads are clear.
Cheers
PK
The Cactus Trip Diaries 
Leave a Reply