The Story Behind The Image(s); Avenue Of The Giants

Typical scene driving the Avenue of the Giants (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M5, Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 lens @ 20mm; 1/3 sec. @ f/8; ISO 200; tripod mounted

A few years ago, while on a road trip through Oregon and northern California, my wife and I happened upon Humboldt State Park and the thirty-one mile "Avenue of the Giants" in northern California.  Without hesitation I have to say this was the absolute quietest and most peaceful place I have ever had the pleasure to visit in my lifetime.  

This forest was stunningly quiet. Except for the occasional automobile every ten minutes or so, I mean no sound whatsoever.  I've never experienced that before nor since.  It was so quiet it was a bit scary.  No sounds of nature, no wind, no man-made sounds, nothing. Just absolute silence.  Very different.

The "Avenue of the Giants" is a small paved roadway right that skirts the eastern edge of Humboldt Redwoods State Park and parallels California Route 101 to the east and the South Fork of the Eel River to its west.  If you are in this area of northern California, you MUST NOT miss this drive.

Olympus E-M5, Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 lens @ 17mm; 1.3 sec. @ f/8; ISO 200; tripod mounted

Olympus E-M5, Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 lens @ 26mm; 0.6 sec. @ f/8; ISO 200; tripod mounted

Olympus E-M5, Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 lens @ 14mm; 1/3 sec. @ f/8; ISO 200; tripod mounted

Not only is the drive spectacular as one is surrounded by a forest of giant redwood trees, but there was hardly anyone else on the road.  I believe we saw more long distance bicyclists than cars.  I was able to stop my automobile at will and photograph without worrying about the danger of others traveling along the same road. 

It was so quiet, one time while stopped to photograph a nearby scene, I asked my wife to be perfectly quiet and still.  There was absolutely no sound whatsoever. As we stood there silently, after about a minute, we both could hear a bird take off somewhere in the distance. We both could hear the noise the birds wings made as it disturbed the air upon leaving its perch where ever it was.  And it was far enough away that we couldn't see it anywhere around us.  It wasn't close.  Quiet.  Very quiet.  I could probably say the feeling and connection I had to this natural habitat was somewhat spiritual.

I can't adequately describe the feeling I had while traversing through this natural area. The trees are nothing short of majestic, stately and of a height that is profound.  Ageless. The trees come right to the edge of the paved roadway as you can see in these images. Except for the road on which we traveled, California Route 254, as well as a few trails, for most of the thirty-some miles we drove through the forest was primal, untouched and as it has been since the formation of the land itself.

Since this was northern California, the only thing that I wondered was if a Sasquatch was lurking nearby watching us!  After all, this was Sasquatch country!  ;-)

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

All content on this blog is © 2013-2016 Dennis A. Mook. All Rights Reserved. Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution. Permission may be granted for commercial use. Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.