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Scenes from Muir Woods (2003)
A delightful visit to the coastal redwoods of California. Experience the peaceful calm of an early morning stroll amongst these gentle giants, with serene scenes painted in soothing earth tones and the vibrant greens of a coastal forest.

A Splash of Green Green and brown are the dominant colors of most forests, and nowhere is that more true than at Muir Woods National Monument. On the day that I visited, the coast was socked in with fog, as commonly occurs in the summer, which lent a soft warmth and vibrance to these essential hues of nature. A Splash of Green
Path to the Woods Muir Woods is accessed using a series of walkways and paths, which are paved in sections but mostly made of wood. The paths and the fences that surround them are often quite pretty in their own right, and complement the woods through which they flow. Path to the Woods
The Clearing A somewhat rare "open space" at Muir Woods allows a view deeper into the forest. The Clearing
A Comfortable Resting Place This bench helps illustrate the sheer magnitude and magnificence of the redwoods at Muir Woods National Monument. Sitting on a bench like this one and gazing up into the canopy of trees is a truly humbling experience. A Comfortable Resting Place
Bridge Over Gentle Waters The stewards of Muir Woods endeavor to keep the park in a natural state as much as possible, and this includes usually leaving fallen trees and limbs in place rather than "cleaning them up". Here a large tree limb fell across Redwood Creek. The title of this image is shamelessly taken from a song by Simon and Garfunkel, but this water could hardly be considered "troubled" so I modified it accordingly. :) Bridge Over Gentle Waters
By the Riverside Giant redwood trees flank the sides of Redwood Creek, surrounded by green ferns and beds of fallen needles. Note the mossy branch on the right; in the summer, the constant humidity and fog allows the moss to grow everywhere. By the Riverside
Low Tide Redwood Creek flows through the middle of Muir Woods and is the focal point for the park and its network of trails. The water level is extremely low because this trip was in mid-September; California gets very little precipitation in the summer. I'd love to visit this spot in the spring sometime... Low Tide
Green Banks Here you can see even better just how little water was flowing through Redwood Creek on my visit. I really liked the contrast of the creekbed stones with the lush ferns here. Green Banks
Path of the Giants Trying to capture the essence of the giant redwoods using a camera is a hopeless task. They are not only too big -- they are too Path of the Giants
A Sense of Scale I normally try to avoid having people in my nature pictures, but in this case the other photographer imbues the scene with a useful sense of scale. A Sense of Scale
Smooth Flow In this location, Redwood Creek is concentrated into a narrow channel. This made the water a bit deeper than elsewhere, allowing it to appear like an actual creek rather than, well, just a bunch of wet rocks. :) The gentle flow of the low stream suits well the soft moss the covers the rocks above it. Smooth Flow
Deep Green Parts of Muir Woods are so overgrown with vegetation that it's hard to differentiate individual trees and plants. Photographers will generally advise you to avoid images like this one, where there is a lot of clutter and no central subject. In this case, however, I chose to view the whole of the forest as a single, wild mass of green. Deep Green
One Man Down Redwoods are gentle giants that can live for centuries, but like all living things, they do eventually die; they are also subject to the ravages of inclement wather. This is a particularly pretty section of the trail in Muir Woods, where one tree has come down among a grove of even larger giants. I am not sure what caused this tree to fall over, but it must have been pretty significant! One Man Down
Over the Streambed I liked how this mossy tree's many limbs branched in different directions, including some over the stream. Over the Streambed
The Forest Goes On Muir Woods National Monument isn't especially large; you can see it in a couple of hours (though you could easily wander among the giants for many more.) Many of the pathways also connect to longer trails that go all over the area. I wanted to keep going into the forest, but unfortunately, I eventually had to turn back... I hope I will be able to return someday soon. The Forest Goes On

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© 2003-2011 Charles M. Kozierok. All Rights Reserved.