Seeing the California redwoods is awesome for two main reasons: one, you get to feel the raw power of Mother Nature and, two, you get bragging rights. I’m going to focus on the latter because the former is really something you have to experience for yourself (and you should, because like whoa). And besides, once you’ve had that whoa moment, you’ll want to talk about your experience at cocktail parties and probably all you’re going to come up with is “I saw really big trees” and no one is going to care. So I’m going to help you out. Because while you’re pouring your date a glass of champagne, you’ll want to lean over the table and whisper seductively, “I once met a tree who was older than Jesus.”

5 Cool Things You can Say After Visiting the Redwoods

1 “That 25th story penthouse is cool and all, but I once saw a tree that was 30 stories tall.”

Because, yes, some of the tallest redwoods measure around 360 feet, or over 30 stories. That’s two Statues of Liberty, in case you were trying to do the math in your head.

photo: savetheredwoods.org

2 “I didn’t see the tallest tree in the world, but only because no one knows where it is.”

Yes, that’s right, the tallest tree in the world is lurking somewhere in California and no one knows where it is. Okay, that’s not true, there are people who know where it is but they’re not releasing that information to the general public. And who can blame them, really? Thousands of teenagers would probably descend upon it with pocket knives and leave it covered in things like J+M luvvv 4eva. Let’s be honest, we kind of suck as a species.

3 “I didn’t see the tallest tree in the world, but only because it was cut down in the 1930s.”

Of the two million acres of redwoods that used to cover California, only 5% remain. The other 95% were hacked down sometime before 1950, making it rather likely that the tallest tree ever is now part of someone’s dining room table. Did I mention we suck as a species?

4 “You’ll never guess what I just saw last week–a fire repellant tree!”

Okay so this one is a slight exaggeration. Redwoods aren’t fire repellant, perse, but because their tough, stringy bark contains very little resin, they are somewhat fire resistant. Some trees have been through multiple wildfires and are still growing. Their bark also contain polyphenols which ward off bugs and fungus.

And lastly…

5 “I once met a tree who was older than Jesus.”

Yup, some redwoods are over 2,000 years old. 2,000 years! How often do you touch something that was alive during the year 1 AD? Not very often, I’m guessing. The most amazing part is not that they existed 2,000 years ago (rocks existed 2,000 years ago, afterall), but that they were alive and growing then and they are alive and growing now. They are growing this very moment and, logging and lightning aside, they’ll be growing there for your grandchildren to see. We are nothing compared to these trees. Our history is their lifetime. Think about that today.

Where can I see redwoods? Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt State Park or Redwood National Park.

This post is part of the #SundayTraveler linky–Follow the link below for find more awesome posts.