In the shadow of giants

Mendocino Coast

By Jeff Miller

The morning mist clung to the river like a newborn to its mother. The wooden canoe barely rippled the water as it glided inland. Directly above, a bright blue sky was bookended by towering coastal redwoods and Douglas firs that lined each bank and kept the Big River in cool shadow. Off to the right some cormorants dove for breakfast, popping to the surface like bathtub toys. A hundred yards ahead a fish jumped, followed a moment later by the flash of a sleek seal in hot pursuit.

Suddenly the forest resounded with a rumble that quickly turned into a roar. On the far shore a loaded timber truck barreled out of the woods as it headed for a mill on the coast. In a moment it was gone, with no more reminder of its passing than the dust cloud trailing behind.

It was just another example of the drama between nature and man, preservation and progress, constantly being played out on California's Mendocino Coast, 150 miles north of San Francisco. For those who want outdoor recreation sprinkled with a dash of lumberjack history, the rugged 80-mile Mendocino Coast has a lot to offer. From the artist town of Mendocino or bustling Fort Bragg, visitors can explore in a variety of ways, including canoeing on the Big River, driving one of the best small roads in America, and hiking through redwood stands.

"People are looking for life experiences," said Bill Berry, superintendent of Mendocino County's seven state parks. "The Mendocino Coast provides you with that opportunity because of the incredible combination of water and land—rugged coastline and redwood forests."

It was the redwoods that first brought European settlement here. After being ignored for centuries due to storms, reefs, cliffs and lack of natural harbors, the region's wealth of timber was "discovered" in 1850. Within a few years, the local Pomo Indians were being displaced as lumber towns began springing up.

The Big River saw its fair share of logging operations—the remnants of which can be seen by those venturing upstream, where 100-year-old pilings and log dams picturesquely litter the riverbanks. Tidal for more than eight miles, the Big River is the longest unspoiled estuary in Northern California. Protected from speeding boats and jet skis, the river winds through a canyon bordered by stately firs and towering redwoods.

The mouth of the river is at the southern edge of Mendocino township, where canoes and kayaks can be rented. As I paddled upriver, I noticed the steep pitch of parts of the shoreline and couldn't help but respect the lumberjacks who had hand-felled the redwoods, then wrestled them from such rugged spots. Admiring the current crop of trees growing tall along the river made me want to get closer to them-it was time to change my mode of transportation and do just that.

In no time I was doing the Mendocino Coast two-step: Brake, gas, brake, gas, glide, turn, dip ... swing my auto, do-si-do. On famous California Highway 1, which hugs nearly the entire Mendocino Coast, driving can be a challenging but visually rewarding experience. In many spots the road is a cliff-hanging, narrow, two-lane ribbon of tight turns and switchbacks.

Highway 1's run up the Mendocino Coast starts in Gualala and goes to Westport before it curves east to meet its inland cousin, Highway 101 at Leggett. In that 80-mile stretch, drivers can visit the impressive lighthouse at Point Arena; wander the magnificent and sprawling Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens; shop the boutiques and local artisan shops of Gualala, Elk, Mendocino and Fort Bragg; ride the evocative old logging "skunk train" that now takes tourists on the 40-mile trip between Fort Bragg and Willits; and hike in several state parks.

Two miles south of Mendocino, I stopped at Van Damme State Park to walk along its 1.5-mile Coho Salmon Trail. Tracking the spawning run up the Little River, the trail also gives a good sense of the forest as it winds through Fern Canyon. Douglas fir, white fir, hemlock and hardwoods vie for space and sunshine with the mighty redwoods.

Park docent Sally Malby explained that a redwood can grow to 130 feet in 30 years, and over hundreds of years can top out above 300 feet. The world's tallest tree is a 367-foot redwood in Redwood National Park, near the Oregon border. The coast's heavy fogs provide redwoods with 30% of their moisture.

Sally also showed me numerous details of the forest I would have easily missed. The large tree stumps left from when Van Damme State Park was logged (1863-1893) are now nature's "planters"-providing a nutrient-rich place for new plants, shrubs and even redwood seedlings to grow. Closer to the ground, the thimble bush has little berries that look like thimbles. "Loggers loved this plant," Sally said. "They used the broad soft leaves for toilet paper."

Farther north on Highway 1, in Fort Bragg, a Georgia-Pacific tree nursery farm is open to the public and gives insight into how the logging industry handles reforestation. Each year Georgia-Pacific plants an average of one million new trees; five for each one harvested during the previous year. The industry also sponsors "demonstration forests"—small areas given a break from harvesting. I stopped at one, between Westport and Leggett, logged only twice since 1900. On a short path I found good-sized new trees and some majestic old redwoods. I also found a recently vandalized interpretative display. In Mendocino County, where 58% of the land is commercial forest, everyone seems to have an opinion about logging.

Logging proponents state that the percentage of redwoods preserved in parks and other reserves (225,000 acres in California's entire redwood region) exceeds that of any other commercially harvested species. A favorite expression of industry supporters is, "There are more redwoods today than when man first harvested the trees."

Opponents point to the death of irreplaceable old-growth forests (any redwood more than 200 years old is considered old growth). They say few commercially grown redwoods live beyond the average harvesting age of 50 years. Reportedly, only 4% of California's original redwood forests were still standing by 1980. Today, only 1 to 2% remain.

One place to see an impressive old-growth stand is at the junction of Highway 1 and Highway 101, near the town of Leggett. In the privately-owned Chandelier Tree Drive-Thru-Tree Park, 200 acres of virgin redwoods include the magnificent Chandelier redwood, which soars 315 feet and has a 21-foot diameter base that was cut decades ago to let cars drive through it.

Walking among the giants, I was awed by their size and inspired by their beauty. Touching one, I was surprised to find the bark felt feathery and light, hardly what I would have expected from such giants.

Periodically, I was pulled from my enjoyment of the trees by the sound of grinding gears and the throaty rumble of the ever-present timber trucks in the distance. Maybe it was just my imagination, but every time one went by, I could swear I heard a collective sigh of relief coming from somewhere high up in the branches of those mighty redwoods.

Jeff Miller is editor of EnCompass.

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