The tallest and among the largest and oldest living things on the surface of the planet, the California redwoods, are lone survivors from an ancient time of great giants. Despite cataclysmic events that shook the earth's surface, various species of redwoods have stood the test of time, surviving as legends on earth for millions of years while other species perished. These wild beasts are proven experts of survival; they can survive fire, flood, windstorms, drought, and earthquakes. Redwood trees are believed to have even survived the great meteorite crash on earth that caused widespread geologic and climatic change. These resilient giants also have an internal armor of tonic acid that keeps them from being invaded by pests.
Protected from the outside-in, these timeless Neanderthals seem almost invincible. But despite their miraculous survival through the greatest tests of the ages, the gentle giants are extremely delicate when facing the world's climate today.
Sprouting from seeds the size of oatmeal flakes, these gentle giants have been known to grow as tall as 380 feet (by the record-breaking Hyperion Sequoia sempervirens). Yet their roots only extend as deep as 12 to 14 feet deep even at maturity. A mature sequoia's roots grow wider than they do deep and can occupy over 1 acre of earth, containing over 90,000 cubic feet of soil. Fascinatingly, the mass of matted roots and soil has to maintain the equilibrium of a tree that is cowering nearly 300 feet tall and weighs about 2 million pounds. Imagine you are 200-400 feet tall and the only thing holding you up are your toes in the sand.
As a keystone species, the tree groves rely on a balanced ecosystem while supporting every element of the foggy coastal forests of the Pacific. Their roots grow outward holding entire forests upward while creating space and canopy for a number of living things among the trunk beds. The vast natural sculptures are completely hollowed out by water-- leaving a cool center that provides shelter and sap for the wildlife on the ground floor. When in times of great need, they are even known to help one another as each redwood works as a team within a shared root system in the entire forest--so that they never have to rely solely on their own sap for hydration.
Like the redwoods, humanity often seems linked beneath the surface. We are more a group than our isolated surface first reveals. The redwoods can teach us great lessons about survival. The graceful sages show us that we’re all from the same root system and can carry on side by side with deep connections at great distances. We too can be delicate and strong one in the same. You see, we share an ancient story in human history of growth, preservation and persistence towards a greater future. The redwoods don't seek to alter their environment for survival, but rather learn how to bend with the tides of life, letting it be, and instead learn to thrive as the wondrous creations that they are. Even in death, when a redwood falls and dies, it creates a luscious habitat for a new grove and continues to live out its purpose long after its passing- standing as a testament of rebirth after tragedy. Similarly, the sensei trees can teach us to grow and pave the way for an entirely new destiny.
In the bitter history of humans against the great giant redwoods, however, the story has not always been so triumphant. Before 1968, the year the Redwood National Park was established, tree grove after tree grove had been chopped down for profit. Thankfully the head of the National Park Service, Stephen Mather, and a league of founders—prominent conservationists John C. Merriam, Madison Grant and Henry Fairfield Osborn— declared the state of the redwood forests an emergency and began their quest to preserve what was left of the redwoods in Northern California. Due to these sustainability efforts, the redwoods are still standing tall and thriving today-- a reality many never could’ve imagined during its darkest hour. The story of the survival of the redwoods gives us hope that we can build a new future while cherishing the most important aspects of our ancestry and descendence.
The redwoods share in the mantra that a clearing can create a new era of life, setting the stage for new life in a grove of wondrous trees far more beautiful and timeless than the aged ancestors that came before them. This gives voice to the message that just like the redwoods, we can create space for what we want to bloom around us.
Many an artist and poet has proposed that the mysterious beasts have a secret language to communicate and thrive with balance through times of great adversity. When you walk alongside these ancient giants it's hard to deny that each redwood seems to have a strong presence and a soul. Afterall these resilient beings, as nomads through time, can tell us each a story that sounds all too familiar to our own. We must remember that the redwoods tell us our own history, their journey as our journey, their wisdom recants our own.
We too have a complicated root system that grounds us, growing side by side, each of us on a separate quest of our own accord— yet reliant on the branches of one another. There’s a wisdom in the trees that speaks to every passing visitor. An experience awaiting that cleanses the soul— wipes clean the surface of the past and lets no one leave these woods the same as they once stood. A story that reminds us of the nature of life in a moment's passing tide.
We can even compare the trees themselves to human creations: branches like archways, trunks smashed up like an accordion, leaves sung in lifted caper. Yet nothing can imitate the laughter of the leaves by babbling brooks or the birds singing as carolers of the canopy. The wind pulsating through the trees like a live choir of voices whispering from a world unknown, luring passengers deeper and deeper into the depths of the forest.
The trees speak to the earth as aged grandparents, cackling at the ignorant twists and turns of the waters, humans following the same patterns. For they know the true value in patience and perseverance while the water playfully lags and pulls at its own accord. Turning a blind eye to rocks and boulders, they sway as the youthful waters rage with anticipated courage and adventure. But we cannot forget that the true nomads through history live in the forests, having traveled far and wide distances through the ages.
These woods have a lot to teach us-- showing us the ways of a balanced life. They grow in the way of the sun— pressing onward towards the light. Yet they do not mourn the drought or the rains- they rather embrace life for what it truly is: a journey. They’re all in the journey together, joined at the root in a commemorative march. They carry each other through with no disregard to the complex ecosystem surrounding them. They take only what they need of the soils, giving back their nutrients, lending a hand to other beings, and leaving just enough space for the ivy and ferns to thrive.
As humans we are naturally destructive to the balance of delicate ecosystems like the forests in Northern California. Yet we must respect the boundaries of nature in order to walk side by side with mother earth and help it thrive on a journey of its own. In the end, we share our destinies; humans and nature. We are equals, one in the same, none of greater importance than the next. One without the other and both of us are extinct.
Presently, these woods are riddled with footprints of tourists and boisterous chatterings. But I hope you too get that brief moment of solitude beneath the treetop canopy and learn things about yourself you never imagined. I hope you see something so awe-spiring it pushes you forward and holds you back one in the same. I hope it rejuvenates your heart and soul in a cathedral of silence, as every hidden chorus hums your name.
While words cannot truly capture what it feels like to walk beneath the opalescent treetops, we can forever hold these lessons as truths and pearls of wisdom to take with us along each of our separate journeys. We can also encourage others to embrace innovations that accelerate solutions to our world's biggest climate problems and we can encourage global cities to lead the world in that change.
There is a presence of beauty in every corner of the indelible paradise that lives among and beneath a redwood canopy and I consider myself lucky to have been able to bear witness to its most humbling treasures from the largest trees in the world to the deepest canyons. The passing moments in the wooded paradise left me feeling like I had been there for an eternity. I feel that there’s something special deep within the woods that shows you a side of yourself you cannot find anywhere else in the world. Travel from Cathedral Grove to Founders Grove and see for yourself as the trees come to life and bring you to your knees.
Like many other travelers in Northern California, I hope its beauty is still here in 100 years. I’d like to think that these wild landscapes will still remain for many years to come to provide the same blessings to my children and my children’s children for many generations to come. For where else will we go for a quiet place where all can retreat away from city smog to an island of wilderness in the middle of an urban landscape? The redwoods teach us one final lesson; that we share in our destinies; humans and nature. We are equals, none of greater importance than the other. We'll need to rely on each other to preserve the timeless beauty of the natural world.
A Quote to Remember:
"Living for others is the rule of nature. Rivers don’t drink their own water. Trees don’t eat their own fruit. Sun doesn’t give heat for itself. Flowers don’t spread fragrance for themselves."
