September 10, 2016: Redwood Grove at Henry Cowell State Park, Felton, California

All images copyright Casondra Sobieralski 2016. Please contact photographer for use permissions.

Kevin and I had a fun afternoon on this Saturday.  We taste tested at the Mole and Mariachi Festival benefiting the historic Santa Cruz Mission.  It is run by the State Park Service, so it is the only California mission I have toured so far that actually tells, even emphasizes, the Native American side of the horrible story, amen.  [Short synopsis for the East Coaster audience of my blog: the Spanish missionaries decimated HALF of the indigenous population of this state, and basically enslaved the rest in an effort to "save" their "heathen" souls.]  

Filled up on mole and history, Kev and I continued on to Henry Cowell State Park where we participated in traditional dances with some of our local, thankfully remaining, Coastanoan tribes at an Ohlone Festival.  

And when I ran out the door with unbridled enthusiasm for it all... I forgot my camera.

Kevin had to head north before the traffic onslaught, though, so when I took him back to his car, I also grabbed my DSRL.  --and headed back to Henry Cowell to explore what I could before mountain lion feeding time.

I chose Redwood Grove, a simple .8 mile loop with lots of screaming children to scare off the crepuscular predators.  While I have no mariachi bands to show you, and no Ohlone ceremonial garb, I offer you -- lovely trees at dusk. 

As always, you can click on images to see them larger.

Bear emerging from a redwood tree

Close-up of Bear emerging from a redwood tree

Similarly, "Frog" leaping from a redwood tree

Burl with fern

Horizontal and vertical lines

Now here is a good Western tale:  Allegedly General Fremont and Kit Carson slept inside this redwood tree when they passed through these here parts (prior to the Mexican-American War of 1846).  I took the following photos *inside* the tree. 

I took the "tree cave" photos using the LED bike light I had in my fanny pack.  The purple comes from the white LED.

This is not an exposure problem. Rather, it is an example of an ALBINO REDWOOD!  Who knew? (--according to the trail guide marker.) Apparently trees can come in albino varieties, too.