Muir Woods National Monument
Though having woods as a national monument is not rare, but it is certainly commendable. Muir Woods is one such national monument in United States Of America. Former US President Roosevelt declared this as national monument in 1908 and named it as Muir woods National Monument
Muir Forest National Monument - History
Before that, this area had seen many transitions. The Miwak tribe, the original inhabitants of this area, had occupied this place many centuries ago. They also rarely came to the forest for hunting. At other times, only the towering trees, the sunlight streaming through them, wild animals, the water springs, birds roaming freely and immense silence prevailed.
But modern man came into this divine picture and then what followed was bound to happen! Gold was found in California and the flow of people in California increased many folds. This was the Goldrush.
Around that time, technological inventions were taking place by leaps and bounds. Trains had been invented and started running at many places. Transportation of wood became easy. After that, these woods experienced the period of deforestation and logging due to boom of timber industry. Then came the fire which resulted in burnt trees over vast area.
In 1903, a friend of the wealthy politician named William Kent took him to Redwood Canyon and urged him to buy all the land to stop deforestation. William Kent and his wife bought the entire forest, 611 acres, for $45,000 at the time.
The Mount Tamalpais Railway started in 1907 and the number of people visiting this forest increased tremendously. Many people were coming here for hiking and trekking.
Some regulations were introduced to prevent deforestation. The forest may have breathed a sigh of relief but Alas! another crisis was there which endangered the woods.. the water crisis. A company proposed a plan to supply water by making a water reservoir in this Redwood Canyon.
To resolve the issue, Kent donated all this land to the government and demanded that this area should be a protected forest, named after the great nature lover and environmentalist John Muir. As we have read at the beginning of the post that US President Roosevelt accepted that proposal and named it as Muir Woods National Monument.
"The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. " - John Muir
Location
Muir woods is located at about 20 kilometers from the city of San Francisco in the state of California, USA.
Travelling across the Golden Gate Bridge means of course shooting it and having lots of photographs of the fog and the bridge!! On that day too i.e. the last week of July 2022, on 29th July, there was lot of fog as usual. You can watch the video here.
Otherwise you can watch it by clicking on this link.
The road after crossing through the Robin Williams Tunnel and the very pretty village of Sausalito, takes several twists and turns.
The houses on the hill slopes, winding streets, pleasant cool air, beautiful flowers, the beach and relaxing atmosphere make Sausalito a truly delightful village.
We continue along the winding roads to Mount Tamalpais, passing through the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. San Francisco's famous fog accompanies us.
As we get closer to the Muir woods area, we start to notice that the surrounding trees are denser and taller.
Soon we reach Muir Woods. There is a ticket for entry.
As we enter through the entrance of the woods, we are surrounded by towering redwoods. There are very few redwood forests left in the world that are so ancient as this.
Once inside the woods, this is the only sign of human habitation. That too is the canteen near the main entrance. After entering the woods, no construction is visible.
If you are wondering what those people are looking at in the above two photos, please see this photo.
This is a slice of a redwood tree. Discovered in 1930 and after studying this slice, experts realized that this tree had lived for thousands of years. Those rings told the story of many centuries, sometimes there was a drought, sometimes there was enough rain, sometimes there was enough sunlight, sometimes there were fires. Now, the corresponding events in the human history are painted on it.
There are different trails in the forest. How difficult they are, how steep they are, how long it will take to complete them, all this information is written on the information boards. We can choose among them according to available time, desire and strength.
There are four bridges inside the woods. These bridges are built on springs. Redwoods Creek receives water flowing from Mount Tamalpais through these springs. These springs meet us at some places. Those springs and the water from the fog are the lifeline of these redwoods.
Redwoods have been on Earth for billions of years. Many trees as old as them and animals like dinosaurs as old as them are now extinct. But some species of redwoods have survived meteor strikes, floods, droughts, heavy rains, storms, fires, climate and environmental changes. Now if you are asked the question, "What is the oldest, tallest, largest living thing in the world?" The answer is of course the redwoods!
Most of the trees here in Muir Woods have been here for hundreds of years.
Whenever a tree dies due to fire or some other danger, as soon as this warning signal is received, many burl sprouts come up from its roots and grow in a circle around the main trunk. They are aptly named Family Trees.
But apart from this, plants also grow from seeds. In 1976, researchers noticed that the two-hundred-year-old tree was alone. No family trees were around it. It was then concluded that this must be a tree grown from a seed.
A group of trees and the grove has been named as Founders Grove in honor of Mr. Gifford Pin-chot, who played an important role in making this forest a protected area.
Living the life is not an easy job. Be it a human being or trees.. Look at these trees. In the journey of centuries, they have become like this.
On May 19, 1945, members gathered for the United Nations meeting at Muir Woods. The purpose was to pay tribute to President Roosevelt who had died a month before. But it was also hoped that the effect of this peaceful atmosphere, the proximity of the trees would lead to a step forward towards world peace.
The peaceful atmosphere, the sound of the spring, the occasional flapping of the bird's wings.. we are in a totally different world.
You can't stop clicking photographs in Muir woods.
This tree hollow was really huge. There are many such hollows in Muir woods. But the tree hollow that always appears in the Muir Woods photographs is in the next photo. This tree hole was big enough to accommodate for a good four or five whole human beings!! Look, there are two here.
The roots of redwood trees spread in large area around it.
'And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.'- John Muir
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