March 19, 2010

Field Trip!

Destination Muir Woods, just north of SanFrancisco. Muir Woods is a redwood forest--full of redwoods and sequoia trees. The girls recieved junior ranger books--ie. a learning book-- to complete along the journey. Therefore, it totally counted as a school day---yeah!!
The weather was sunny and warm. The birds were chirping and the creek was flowing. Beautiful day!


You can't even see the top of this tree!


The Coastal Redwoods have been on earth for more than 150 million years! The oldest tree here was 1000years old---crazy, right? The oldest known tree is 2200years old.



The trees that stand alone in the forest sprouted from a single seed that is smaller than a dime!



The trees that grow close together (below) in circles sprouted from burls on the roots. These groups are also called a family circle.

Faith is learning photography quite well--she took our picture here:)



Redwoods can drink up to 500gallons of water a day! This creek provides that water for most of the trees. Fog and rain are the other water sources for these beasts!



You can see that some of the trees have been hollowed out from fires. Apparently fires are important for natural forests! Fires burn the dead leaves and stuff on the forest floor which makes the soil rich and full of food for the plants. The bark of the redwoods can be up to a foot thick and protects them from the fires. Inside the bark is tannin, a chemical, that makes the trees red, as well as protects them from insects and rot!


The girls worked hard on their ranger books but also enjoyed the forest!

We did a lot of walking, listening, and looking--especially up!





The girls had fun in the forest-- more than I would have thought for two princesses! Here they are "climbing" a huge rock!


It was a perfect photo op!



David had fun trying to count the rings on this fallen tree to determine its age while Dalaina was in awe of how soft the tree was under the bark!

Overall, it was an educational, fun, and just amazing afternoon!!! The size of the trees is just crazy:)