Mr. Roberts and A REALLY BIG TREE

The final in the series, for now, of Mr. Roberts and friend. This one was taken at the Wawona Tree in Yosemite. The tree was hollowed out in 1881 and fell down in 1969. 

Click on image to see it larger.

I can't really explain what it's like to see a really giant tree lying flat on the ground. I was standing next to one up along the Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt County, California last fall and the story about it falling includes a neighbor miles away saying when it came down it sounded like a huge train wreck. Nobody was there to witness it falling, but it took several other trees down at the same time. And if you're thinking "big" tree I'm talking BIG TREE. You'd stand at the roots and you couldn't see the other end. Redwood forests are amazing places. Now people cutting holes through redwood trees so nutcases can drive thru, not so crazy about that. However, I did ride through this one as a child in a green Oldsmobile. For a kid it was a pretty interesting experience.

To see old postcards of the Wawona Tree and other drive-thru trees click on Image-Archeology.com.  And to read a wee bit about Redwoods click here. 

It was BEARABLE

Remember when I said Mr. Roberts didn't marry the woman standing next to him in Yosemite Valley? Remember I said a bear was involved. Well, here's one of the shots of her with a bear. 

Now, Mr. Roberts was quite an interesting man, sailing the high seas, living aboard ship in the 1930s in Alaska, and then on an expedition to Antarctica. Did he draw the line with women feeding bears. We'll never know.