Katelyn and I had an opportunity to take a "First Day" guided walk in Armstrong Woods and I learned so much I wanted to share it with you. We'd been to Armstrong Woods a number of times, but having a guide educate us along the way will make future visits all the more meaningful.
Walking in the forest is a somewhat spiritual experience. You realize the power of nature, and appreciate the time it takes for trees to grow. Definitely helps put your life in perspective!
On this trip we saw a man and his son of about 7 who was wearing a sweatshirt with the saying "May the Forest be With You" and that made me happy, to realize that others appreciated the power of being in a forest and were sharing it with young children.
Armstrong Woods is unique in many ways. First of all, the redwoods in Armstrong Woods are one of the only places in our neck of the woods where there are a substantial number of "old growth" trees. Many redwoods you see are "second growth" trees, or trees that have grown back after the original trees were logged. Read more about old growth and their importance here.
I had noticed the "fairy ring" or "family ring" as it's called many times before, and had read that this is one of the main ways that redwoods reproduce, by seedlings that grow up around a parent tree. In many places, the tree in the middle was cut down and you can still see the stump. There are only a few trees in Armstrong Woods that were cut, but here's an example of such a ring.
You see many examples of this where the middle tree, or "nursery tree" as it's known, is still living. It is sharing the nutrients of it's root system with other trees. This continues to happen, even if the middle tree is gone, its roots continue to support the other trees.
Many other rings you see in Armstrong have a "gap" in the middle where the parent tree is gone. Often the surrounding trees will have a "goose pen" in them. This name comes from the fact that early settlers did often corralled animals in these areas, since they didn't have wire or other fence makings they would take advantage of the ring of trees and fill any gaps with wooden stakes.
Our tour guide indicated that these goose pens are there because the tree in the middle decomposed, but in my research to write this blog it also sounds like the tree with the goose pen could have had the heartwood burn but the tree still lives. According to our guide, the goose pen shapes are formed by the ring of trees having to grow around a central tree. I imagine that both are true, it will definitely be something I look for in future hikes.
There was a recent fire in and near Armstrong Woods called the Walbridge Fire, one of the many "Lightning Complex" of fires that started in August 2020. It only reached the edge of the grove, so much of the fire damage we saw was from the fire prior to that, in 1926. Apparently redwood bark is nearly fire resistant, so many of the trees will survive a fire. Redwoods have long been studied to learn about their fire resistant properties, and some of that information is summarized here. It was amazing to look at the fire damaged trees and realize they have survived nearly 100 years since the fire that damaged the bark.
I'm sure there are many points of view on whether or not fire is good for the environment. From one point on our hike the tour guide pointed out that one side of the trail was recently burned, and the other hadn't burned in almost 100 years. Quite the contrast when you think about it's likelihood to catch fire again. Here's the video showing both sides of the trail.
One of the good things about fire is it burns much of the debris collected on the forest floor. This cleared ground also gives redwood seeds a place to grow. Since approximately 90% of all redwood seeds are killed by fungus before they ever sprout, having a cleared place to grow increases the chances of survival of the seeds.
Redwood trees rarely fall, due to the roots that spread our horizontally and entwine with all the other roots from other trees. One of the displays in Armstrong is a large set of roots. I didn't get a photo but this blogger did. One of the many things we learned from the tour guide is that these roots actually didn't come from a tree within Armstrong, but were imported there. The story goes that one of the nearby landowners had them wash down the Russian River into his property and didn't want them there, so he made an arrangement to have them moved to Armstrong. I would have liked to have seen how they did that because they are HUGE!
Our guide also told us that redwoods need a shallow water table due to the fact that their roots are shallow. That's one of the reasons they do well here, and don't do as well in other areas (like Santa Rosa where they are planted along the freeway) where the water table is much deeper.
There are some downed trees in Armstrong, apparently a few fell recently after a big rainstorm. The theory is that
they were growing next to a creek, leaning toward the light above it. Erosion due to rain-swollen creek waters exposed enough of the roots for the trees to fall.
Our tour guide had a lot to say about Colonel Armstrong and the Armstrong family that lends their name to these woods. He shared the fact that although the Armstrong family is given credit for preserving this grove of redwoods, the Colonel in fact owned a sawmill that produced nearly 5 million board feet of lumber.
According to the tour guide, the reason this grove was preserved was because the family lived in Cloverdale, and in the early 1900s there was no air conditioning, so his family came to Armstrong Woods to cool off in the heat of the summer. I believe that is probably true, my own father talked about their trips to Huntington Lake in the summer to escape the heat of Fresno. This photo shows a glimpse of what it was like in those days.
My research indicates that Colonel Armstrong was a businessman, and had many interests including selling lots in Santa Rosa to homeowners and encouraging them to plant French prune and Gravenstein Apple trees. He became friends with Luther Burbank and tried to form an administration to manage the grove, patterned after Stanford University's, with Luther Burbank as its first chairman. Unfortunately, that effort failed, but he continued his efforts to create a preserve. This was finally accomplished by his daughter Lizzie, when the property was purchased by the state in 1917. It was opened as a state park in the 30s as part of an arrangement that included Armstrong and the Sonoma Coast State Park. In the 60s the status changed to a preserve when it's unique ecological significance was recognized.
Everyone has probably heard of the value of redwood as lumber, and I always thought it was due to its sturdiness and ability to last a long time. It's also due to the fact that it doesn't warp or twist. In looking up at the redwoods, you can appreciate how straight they are, especially compared to other trees. Interesting to look at trees with a lumberman's perspective!
Another thing I learned is the name of the trees that die standing in place, "snags". You see lots of them, likely due to the fact that the trees rarely fall. Here is one of them I saw on this trip.
The last learning I'll share is about redwood burls. These are worthless to lumbermen, and were used back in the 70s for things like coffee tables. According to my reading, burls are highly prized to make furniture out of, and redwood burls in particular are very rare, so burl poaching is becoming a problem. Unfortunately, if someone removes the burl from a tree it will likely die.
The guide mentioned something about "genetic code" and I thought he was crazy, but my reading indicates the burl really does contain magical properties. In this park service publication, I read that "coast redwoods begin to develop burl as seedlings. As the tree grows, the dormant stems within the burl enlarge, giving the burl a bulbous, knobby look. Burls generally emerge in a bud-collar near the base of the tree, but may develop higher on the trunk and limbs as well. Regardless of the location of the burl, the unsprouted bud tissue serves a valuable evolutionary tool for survival. When a tree is stressed by drought, fire, wind damage or even old age, sprouts containing the exact genetic make-up of the parent tree will begin to develop from the burl. Burls ensure the redwood tree’s genetic future." Here are examples of burl growths I spotted on our walk.
Hopefully you've learned something from this blog and if you haven't already been there, are inspired to tour Armstrong Woods. Not only is there a flat, very accessible walk through redwoods, but there are more strenuous hiking trails within Armstrong and in the adjoining Austin Creek. Here are maps of those areas in case it's helpful. One last fun thing if you go, there are two trees named the icicyle tree and the dragon tree (shown below). See if you can find them!
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