Calaveras Big Trees

Calaveras Big Trees is like no other place on Earth! Here you will find the Sierra redwood trees, the largest trees in the world. Many tower between 250 and 300 feet tall, but it is hard to imagine trees this size without actually seeing them. Sometimes comparisons are used to help one visualize the size of these giants, like the fact that a sierra redwood many contain enough wood to build 40 five-room homes; a tree may weigh 4,000 tons; they are as tall as the Statue of Liberty. And while their height is impressive, the real wonder of a sierra redwood lies in its bulk. Many of these trees have diameters in excess of 30 feet near the ground, with a corresponding circumference of over 94 feet. It is almost beyond belief that there were those who would have destroyed this unique and wondrous Forest of Giants to satisfy their greed. Thank goodness enough cared to step in and stop the destruction before all was lost.

This was our second hike to the Big Trees. We hiked in both the South and North Groves, for a total of about 7 miles. It was a beautiful fall day in late October and we were delighted with all the fall colors throughout the park.

The South Grove contains about 1000 large sierra redwoods – also known as giant sequoias. The lack of human influence is an outstanding feature of this preserve. Many Sierra redwood groves were severely disturbed following their discovery by settlers in the late 1800s. The Calaveras south Grove Natural Preserve offers a unique opportunity to visit and study this ancient forest ecosystem in its primeval condition.

The trail through the North Grove is an easy, flat 1.5 miles. Inside of the grove you will find markers along the trail that explains and give history of some of the more spectacular trees such as the Three Graces of Greek mythology, The Pioneer Cabin Tree, The Abraham Lincoln tree, The Sacrificial Tree, The Father of the Forest, Old Bachelor tree, Siamese Twins and the Granite State Tree. Views of giant sequoias’ with special twists and formations can be seen.

Mt. Tamalpais Hike

One of the things Dan and I looked forward to when we knew we would be back in the Sacramento area were the many hiking opportunities. Although we like to hike new places as often as possible, we also have our old favorites we like to return to again and again. Our favorites within striking distance of Sacramento include Feather Falls, Mt. Tamalpais, Castle Peak, Pt. Reyes, and Calaveras Big Trees. After things settled down for us following Morgan’s arrival, we got busy taking advantage of the autumn weather to get in as many hikes as possible. As it turns out, the good weather extended well into November, allowing us several opportunities to hit the trail.

We decided to make Mt. Tamalpais our first hike. Mt. Tam (as many refer to the mountain) is just north of San Francisco’s Golden Gate and rises to 2,571 feet at the summit. On a clear day, visitors can see the Farallon Islands 25 miles out to sea, the Marin County hills, San Francisco and the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, hills and cities of the East Bay, and Mount Diablo. On rare occasions, the Sierra Nevada's snow-covered mountains can be seen 150 miles away. We were lucky to be there on a clear day to witness this awesome panorama.

More than 50 miles of trails crisscross the park, taking you up and down ravines, across meadows and above the fog layer. We chose to hike the Matt Davis-Steep Ravine loop that begins and ends at Stinson Beach. The 7-mile loop features a bit of everything, with waterfalls, redwood, Douglas fir, and oak forests, grassland, canyons, and views galore. Here are some pictures of our Mt. Tam hike.

Morgan Dean

Since traveling full time is a different way of life from most of the people we know, we are often asked questions about how we manage the logistics. For instance family and friends will ask us where we are going next, how long we will stay in one particular location, and how we make those decisions. Being relatively new to this ourselves (on the road for about 14 months now), we are still figuring some of that as we go along. We usually have the next four to six months planned in advance, but one of the definite advantages to this lifestyle is being able to relocate easily, which gives us lots of flexibility if things come up that alter our plans.

Meet Morgan Dean, my newest grandchild. I guess you could say Morgan was one of those (wonderful) things that changed our plans. We hadn’t specifically planned to be back in the Sacramento area at this time until I heard that my daughter Cory was pregnant, and due in September. That bit of good news helped shaped our plans to travel back to California for the Fall, and when we happened upon the hosting position at the Grasslands Regional Park, things sort of fell into place. Here are a couple of pictures of Morgan.

Grasslands Regional Park

To paraphrase Simon & Garfunkel – “Alaska is just a dream to me now…”

I can’t believe it’s been seven weeks since my last blog entry – so much has changed between then and now!! Coming from the far North to central California we have covered thousands of miles and settled into a totally different way of life, at least for the next few months. It was an amazing trip, we saw and experienced so much, and it’s almost impossible to capture this with words or pictures. And now, here we are in Dixon, California, in October, enjoying 80 degree weather when just last week I checked the weather in Fairbanks, Alaska and it was 1 degree. One. Snow already blanketing the ground. So hard to comprehend we were there only a few short weeks ago! This traveling way of life never ceases to thrill, surprise, and delight me!

So here we are in Dixon, as Park Hosts for the Yolo County Grasslands Regional Park. We settled in to our new temporary home the first week in September and soon met with Yolo county staff to finalize the arrangements and go over our duties as Park Hosts. Although Dan and I are both former long-time Sacramento area residents and Yolo County was always a close neighbor, neither of us knew much about the area beyond the city of Davis. It has been fun exploring the rest of the county and getting to know more about this still mostly rural part of central California. Notwithstanding the presence of the University of California, Davis in its midst and the State Capital just down the road, Yolo County remains a relatively rural agricultural area, home to the multi-billion dollar California tomato industry, which dominates 90% of the tomato market in the United States. Grasslands Park is right across the street from acres and acres of tomato fields and the first month we were here, we couldn’t believe the truck loads of tomatoes running day and night as they finished harvesting the late summer crop.

Grasslands Park is a 320-acre park that contains significant natural resources and habitat for wildlife species, and also serves a variety of existing active recreation uses, including model airplane soaring, archery, and horseshoes. As Park Hosts, our duties include opening and closing the entrance gate at dawn and dusk; maintaining the park host living area; and walking through the park to monitor guest usage. We are really enjoying our stay and our assignment, and like saying “we live in a park”!