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Forests / Northern California, USA

Coast redwood forest

Tall trunks, coastal fog, and light finding its way through.

Fog softening the tall trunks of an ancient coast redwood forest.
Northern California, USAPhoto: National Park Service

Cool, moist Pacific air is part of the environment that supports coast redwoods. Fog also reaches the foliage and forest floor, connecting the forest to the nearby ocean.

The photograph invites a slower kind of looking. Follow one trunk upward, then return to the ferns and smaller plants at its feet. Scale feels different when there is no hurry to measure it.

Landscape background: NPS: About the redwoods

A few things to notice

  • Layers of trunks fading into the mist.
  • Small patches of sunlight on the understory.
  • The many greens between the forest floor and the canopy.

What might you notice if you stopped looking for the tallest tree?