DAY 56 MYERS FLAT - MIRANDA - PHILLIPSVILLE, CALIFORNIA

WHEN I WOKE THIS MORNING IN MYER FLAT, CALIFORNIA, THE RAIN WAS POUNDING SPIA HARD. PEEKED OUT THE DOOR AND COULD NOT SEE 50 FEET...FOG WAS SO DENSE...IT WAS POURING RAIN, AND, IT WAS QUITE COLD.

DECIDED NOT TO START WALKING AT DAY BREAK...I WOULD WAIT AN HOUR AND CHECK AGAIN.

AT 7:30 AM, FINALLY DECIDED I COULD SEE OK TO AVOID GETTING RUN OVER ON THE AVENUE.

FIRST THING I MEET IS THE ABOVE GUY ALSO TRYING TO SEE THROUGH THE FOG.

MYER FLAT, CALIFORNIA MARKET WAS ALREADY OPEN.

LOOKING BACK AT MYER FLAT, THE FOG WAS QUICKLY CLEARING AWAY...BUT IT WAS STILL RAINING BUCKETS.

A WAYS SOUTH ON THE AVENUE, WALKING FOR MIRANDA, CALIFORNIA,6 MILES AWAY, I COME UPON A LARGE NUMBER OF BINARY TREES - MULTIPLE TREES GROWING FROM A SINGLE ROOT - OR SO IT SEEMS.

THIS "FAMILY" ACTUALLY HAS FOUR (4) TREES GROWING FROM THE SAME ROOT...ONE IS HIDING BEHIND THE ONE ON THE LEFT.

A BIT BETTER VIEW OF THE RAIN...VERY DIFFICULT TO FOCUS ONTO RAIN WITH MY WEE POCKET CAMERA...AN SLR WOULD BE MUCH BETTER...BUT HEAVY AND BULKY TO CARRY.

AND THEN, WE COME UPON THE TREE WITH A HOLE IN IT. IN FACT, TODAY'S WALK PRODUCED AT LEAST A DOZEN SUCH TREES.

I BELIEVE I HAVE FIGURED OUT HOW THE HOLES GET STARTED AND WHY THEY ALL LOOK SO SIMILAR.

IT IS VERY DARK IN THE REDWOOD TREE GROVES...TRY TO LET THE CAMERA FIGURE IT OUT ON "AUTO", BUT SOMETIMES IT NEEDS A BIT OF HELP. NO LONGER HAVE MY "PHOTOSHOP" SOFTWARE...WITH PHOTOSHOP, I COULD MAKE EVERY PHOTOGRAPH NEAR PERFECT.

SAME TREE AS ABOVE, BUT WITH MORE CONTRAST.

A LOOK INSIDE. MY FLASH IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO REACH THE DEPTHS OF THESE HOLES...THEN, TOO, NEARLY ALL THE TREE HOLES HAVE BEEN BURNED ON THE INSIDE, LEAVING EVERYTHING BLACK AND DARK.

OH...YOU WANTED TO KNOW HOW THE HOLES GOT THERE ??

WELL, WE ARE TOLD THAT REDWOOD TREE BARK IS IMPERVIOUS TO INSECTS, DISEASE, AND FIRE.

NEARLY ALL HOLES ARE AT GROUND LEVEL AND REACH TO 100 FEET OR MORE INSIDE THE TREE. SOME OF THE CHAMBERS INSIDE ARE SEVERAL FEET IN DIAMETER AND COULD HOLD MANY PEOPLE.

MY THEORY IS THAT THE BARK IN SOME MANNER HAS BEEN PENETRATED...PROBABLY BY EARLY WOODCUTTERS (150 - 200 YEARS AGO)...OR PERHAPS BY THE HORNS OF ELK AND DEER...THOSE CRITTERS LOVE TO RUB THEIR HORNS AGAINST TREES.

IF THE BARK IS PENETRATED, INSECTS AND BACTERIA CAN REACH THE SOFT INNER PORTION OF THE REDWOOD TREE AND START EATING AWAY AT IT.

ALONG COMES A FOREST FIRE. REDWOOD TREES WITH INTACT HEALTHY BARK ARE NOT EFFECTED. TREES WITH BARK PENETRATIONS HOWEVER, ALLOW THE FIRE TO REACH THE FLAMMABLE INNER WOOD AND IT BURNS QUITE WELL (WE KNOW HOW EASY IT IS TO START A FIRE IN THE FIREPLACE WHEN USING REDWOOD OR CEDAR KINDLING, BOTH OF WHICH BURN QUITE EASILY).

OVER TIME, THE INJURED TREE CAN DEVELOP VERY LARGE CHAMBERS INSIDE. THESE HOLES SEEM NOT TO SLOW DOWN THE TREE GROWTH, BUT CAN CERTAINLY COMPROMISE THE TREE STABILITY; THE ROOTS UNDER THE HOLE NO LONGER HELP SUPPORT THE TREE.

I MAY BE COMPLETELY WRONG IN MY ANALYSIS...BUT IT MAKES SENSE TO ME.

MANY TREES ARE CUT AWAY TO MAKE ROOM FOR VEHICLES. THIS ONE, HOWEVER, IS NOT CUT AWAY AND ACTUALLY GROWS PAST THE WHITE LINE.

REDWOOD TREES WHICH ARE CUT AWAY FOR TRAFFIC REASONS ARE PARTICULARLY IN DANGER OF DEVELOPING HOLES WHERE THE BARK HAS BEEN CUT AWAY...BUT IT TAKES TIME AND THE AVENUE WAS NOT CONSTRUCTED UNTIL THE 1920'S AND 1930'S...NOT LONG CONSIDERING THE 2,000 YEAR LIFESPAN OF MANY REDWOOD TREES.

A STREAM...NOT PARTICULARLY UNUSUAL, BUT DID NOT SEE MANY STREAMS DURING MY 24 MILE WALK TODAY.

AN ITTY BITTY STREAM RIGHT ON THE ROADWAY EDGE.

THIS IS MIRANDA, CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL. THE SCHOOLS TAKE UP MORE THAN HALF THE AREA OF THE ENTIRE TOWN.

A VINTAGE PICKUP TRUCK PARKED ON THE AVENUE IN MIRANDA, CALIFORNIA

MANY CALIFORNIA MAPS AND BROCHURES INCLUDE A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE MIRANDA JAIL...FIGURED I BETTER INCLUDE ONE ALSO. THE JAIL AND "REDWOOD PALACE"ARE IN MIDTOWN (ABOUT 4 BLOCKS LONG) ON THE AVENUE OF THE GIANTS

NEXT DOOR TO THE JAIL - OPPOSITE SIDE FROM THE "PALACE" - IS THE "AVENUE CAFE", SPECIALIZING IN PIZZA.

DECIDED TO STOP IN FOR A SECOND BREAKFAST AND WAS TREATED TO A PERFORMANCE FROM A MASTER PIZZA CHEF. CAUGHT THIS ONE IN FLIGHT.

STEPHEN, THE CHEF, SAID THEY WERE GETTING READY FOR THE SCHOOL KIDS WHO WERE BREAKING FOR LUNCH IN ABOUT 30 MINUTES...I QUICKLY FINISHED MY HAM, EGGS, POTATOES AND COFFEE AND LEFT BEFORE THE RUSH.

ANOTHER VIEW OF THE AVENUE CAFE...VERY NICE RESTAURANT FOR SUCH A TINY VILLAGE...PROBABLY HAVE GOOD CLIENTS IN THE SUMMER TOURIST SEASON.

THE AVENUE CAFE, MIRANDA, CALIFORNIA.

WALKED THE AVENUE OF THE GIANTS FOR 12 MILES - ONE WAY - OVER THE DISTANT HILLS.

ON THE WAY, DISCOVERED MICHAEL SHEARER, GLASS BLOWER. HE HAS A VERY NICE BUSINESS LOCATED BETWEEN MIRANDA AND PHILLIPSVILLE, CALIFORNIA. HE IS FOUND ON THE NET AT ravenhawk083@yahoo.com

SUCH A ELEGANTLY CONSTRUCTED CHIMNEY...MUST HAVE BEEN AN EQUALLY ELEGANT HOME. LOCATED JUST NORTH OF PHILLIPSVILLE, CALIFORNIA.

PHILLIPSVILLE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT

MEXICAN RESTAURANT AND DANCE HALL IN PHILLIPSVILLE, CALIFORNIA.

WALKING BY ON MY RETURN TO MYERS FLAT, A VOICE CALLED TO ME FROM THIS BUILDING...GOOD THING YOU WEAR BRIGHT YELLOW PANTS...ALMOST GOT YOU.

THE VOICE WAS FROM THE OWNER OF THIS INN. HE WAS TALKING ABOUT MY NEARLY BEING HIT BY A VEHICLE IN MIRANDA..

TWO DOGS RAN AT ME AS I WALKED ON THE AVENUE...I DODGED THE FIRST ONE BY STEPPING INTO THE ROAD...AND WAS NEARLY HIT BY THE VOICE FROM PHILLIPSVILLE. HE REMINDED ME OF MY CLOSE CALL WHEN I WALKED BY HIS BUSINESS AN HOUR OR SO LATER.

YES...IT WAS STUPID OF ME. I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE DOGS AND DID NOT HEAR THE VEHICLE APPROACHING - EVEN THOUGH IT WAS WELL UNDER 25 MILES PER HOUR, THE SPEED LIMIT THROUGH MIRANDA.

ALL IN ALL, TODAY WAS RATHER UNEVENTFUL.

DAILY REPORT: WALKED 24 MILES ROUND TRIP MYERS FLAT - PHILLIPSVILLE - MYERS FLAT. COUNT 12 MILES.

SEE YOUR IMPACT.ORG: CREDIT 12 MILES @ $0.02 PER MILE = $0.24 FOR THE DAY.

DROVE SPIA 3 MILES SOUTH OF PHILLIPSVILLE TO THE SMALL VILLAGE OF REDWAY, CALIFORNIA, WHERE WE HAVE TAKEN AN RV SPOT # 20 FOR ONE NIGHT.

IN THE MORNING, WILL WALK BACK TO PHILLIPSVILLE AND THEN ON TO THE MUCH LARGER TOWN OF GARBERVILLE, CALIFORNIA, ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTH OF REDWAY.

AFTER THAT, WE SHALL SEE