Trees of Mystery & A Small Rant

Okay. So, I've been excited to write this blog, since going to “Trees of Mystery” in Klamath, CA, about four or five days ago (what’s time). This place was wild from beginning to end. I went from awe-inspired, to excited and grateful, to confused and a little annoyed, to downright pissed, to educated and exhausted. So let’s go though that shall we? We decided to go to Trees of Mystery, because a very chatty, pretty cool, and wise older man told us we "absolutely had to go." In fact he said, "For years I drove past that place thinking, 'that's just a fucking tourist trap' but I finally went and it's actually cool as shit." And he wasn't lying. Overall, the experience was cool as hell.

For $20 you gain entrance to the park - parking is free, and everything inside the park is free. I'd bring water and a bag or backpack with your lunch packed and go early, because you can really lose the whole day in there. It's set up like a one way road - no one is making you go a certain way, but it's laid out so that you can just follow the trail and you'll hit everything there is to do, which is nice. This certainly isn't an amusement park or anything like that, but more just a stunning, redwood-forest, hiking trail, that has a A TON of amazing trees and a few “attractions,” which is honestly just as cool (and way more educational) as an amusement park. Basically, take your kids here. I kept thinking how fun of a place it would be for a little family (but tbh, just as cool for adults).

We didn’t look into the details of the place before going, but if you want a play-by-play of the park here goes:

Near the beginning there is an amazing canopy of netted bridges for an aerial view of the redwoods. It honestly was a little scary for me, but still really fun. I’m not kidding when I say though, that if you’re afraid of heights, or wobbly bridges, this isn’t for you - take the path along the bottom. I’m not even afraid of heights, but I just kept thinking, “Metal rods drilled into these trees and the weight of all these humans can’t be super healthy for the trees,” and I kept getting in a tizzy about how they could fall, etc. They’re seemingly very stable, by the way, that was just my anxiety talking lol.

After that, there is the Cathedral Tree, which had this beautiful poem at the base of it, and music playing a tree song. It was really beautiful. It’s half of a “fairy ring,” which is a full circle of redwoods that grow together. This specific tree has ten smaller trees grown together at the base, making the alter. We sat and meditated at the cathedral tree for awhile. We laid on the benches and looked up at the formations of the high tree branches. We listened to the song, and maybe even shed a tear? I’m pretty sure I did, seriously, these trees are amazing. I also couldn’t help but notice how many people and families walked right past this spot without more than a second glance, just to get on to “the next thing,” which was, the Brotherhood Tree.

It had a little museum like hut next to it, with SO MUCH information about redwoods, and other trees in the pacific rainforests. There is a video about the Brotherhood Tree which is almost 300 feet tall and 19 feet in diameter at the trunk. It talked about how, at the top of the tree in the branches, is an entire ecosystem of little crabs, birds, and bugs. The redwoods hold so much moisture that they make a good home for many sea creatures, which I think is incredible. I think it’s sweet that the Brotherhood Tree is “dedicated to the Brotherhood of Man: all races, creeds and colors.” But I did find myself questioning why it wasn’t called the Motherhood, or Mother tree (call me a feminist) - as so much of the information about Redwoods talks about mother trees and how they really do sprout baby trees from really successful ones, like the Brotherhood tree. But we can move on from that…

After a long walk around the brotherhood tree (not kidding, 19 feet in diameter, remember?) there is a ski-lift type ride to the top a mountain where there's a big observation deck. The ride is about 7 to 11 minutes long depending on how many times it has to stop and the views all the way up are insane. My recommendation would be to eat here, at the observation deck before heading back down. If you want, you can hike down from the top (but it says you have to be an "experienced" hiker and have the "right shoes”). It’s a 1 mile, steep, rugged hike, and even though we had the right shoes and could have hiked, we honestly wanted to ride the cart back down. We only rode it once, but it doesn’t seem like there was a limit, if you wanted to do it more than once.

Then are a few more awesome tree structures, including one that was struck by lighting and burnt "from the inside out." And a "candelabra" tree, which is a tree that falls, and then several trees grow out of the top of, in a little line across the fallen trunk. So many neat places to stop, stare, and wonder about the intricate beauty of our natural world.

Then you come along to a section of trail called "The Trail of Tall Tales," which rounds the park out with a plethora of wood-carved sculptures and speaker boxes that tell "the tall tales" of Paul Bunyan. In fact, I hadn't mentioned it until now, but the whole place is dedicated to Paul Buyon: "The worlds greatest logger." There’s a massive sculpture of him and his pet ox, “Babe,” at the entrance of the park.

An example of the stories that are told along this path is: Babe is blue, because “he was so cold when Paul found him that he was blue and shiverin’ and even though he warmed up and grew a somethin’ mighty, he stayed blue forever!” Imagine that quote coming out from little speaker, of a cartoon-sounding western voice, next to a sculpture of Babe.

At this point, I thought, “This is cute and fun for kids.” I’m a sucker for any kind of storytelling element. But then we come along and they start talking about how Paul "discovered the redwoods" and was the “first and only man who had ever been able to cut down a tree this size, because of how massive he was himself.” And I thought, “Well that’s problematic of them to be saying Paul, a white man, discovered these forests...when there were definitely indigenous people living here before him."

But we proceed, and I keep my mouth shut. We go on and they tell a story of Paul's dog "digging up so much land that he may even be responsible for that place called the Grand Canyon." And I roll my eyes. The how Paul was famous for logging "more wood," and "faster than any other logger," and blah, blah, blah, and now I'm like, "Why is this beautiful forest dedicated to a man who was cutting the trees down?" I turn to Grayson and start a little spitfire rant about how annoying that this park has said NOTHING about the indigenous people who originated here, and instead dedicated an entire, long section of the park to tell stupid lies ("tall tales") about a lumberjack and his logging buddies. I go, "Couldn't they instead tell us the actual history of the land? Or the cultural stories of the tribes that lived here? Or is that not as family friendly because it includes us Europeans stealing and ruining all the land?" Grayson nods, and says he was thinking the exact same thing.

So we finish up the tall tales trail, a little turned off by the whole place (but still in wonder and amazement of the trees), we end up in the gift shop. As we start to walk around, we're looking at each other in annoyed amazement at all the consumerism bullshit, and little Paul Bunyans you can buy, etc., etc. But then, at the very end of the gift shop (I'm not kidding, you could almost miss it) is a Native American Museum. A big one, called "End of the Trail Museum" with TONS of stuff, and SO MUCH information about all the different tribes, all across the U.S. Thank god, a little recognition for the true stewards of this land.

I mean, it was a truly incredible museum; we spent like 2.5 hours in it, reading and learning about the different cultures and way of life for the people who lived in all the regions of this land originally. I have about 100 pictures on my phone from it because it was so much that I wanted to be able to read again and integrate into my knowledge of history. Indigenous culture, history, and stories are something that Grayson and I had been craving more of for this whole trip - because as we drove across the country, we realized how little we actually knew about the history of this country, the true history. Even still, there is so much more learning to do, but I think it's important to do it. We, as a people, can't use the excuse that "our schools didn't teach us," and just accept that, "everything is fine now."

It isn't fine. I'm by no means an expert, but the more I learn, the more I realize we are still no where near a place of "equality," in this country (for SO many groups of people). I try to live my life without judgment, but I watched white family, after white family, walk right past the End of the Trail Museum, without even glancing in. How? To us, it was one of the most magical pieces of "Trees of Mystery," but to many others, it seemed like something they couldn't be bothered with. It disgusted me in the same way it disgusted me to watch people just walk past the Cathedral Tree without actually appreciating it. It just felt disrespectful - to come to such a beautiful place, and only focus on the "cool attractions" like the canopy and the sky trail. But I digress.

Overall, this place is a gem, if you take the time to really appreciate everything it has to offer. It was one of the most informative experiences I've had in a long time. I learned more about the actual forests, and the indigenous people of this country than from any textbook ever. If you're ever in Northern California, it's worth the $20.

~Your growth and peace are within reach~