Woody Plants: Arbutus menziesii

Two weeks ago, on President's Day, the demolition of my old foundation began.  To get way from the noise of the jackhammers, I took Morgan and Nellie to Redwood Regional Park:


View Larger Map

To get there, I drove up Redwood Road, turned left on Pinehurst, and parked at the Pinehurst Staging Area, which has a trailhead for the East Ridge Trail.  Although this is only fifteen minutes from my house, it felt like a completely different world as I walked along the peaceful ridge above a valley of massive redwood trees.  And, even though the redwoods are the stars of the park, I was much more excited to discover a scattering of madrones (Arbutus menziesii) all along the trail:

These beautiful trees gave me hope for the madrone I have been trying to grow in my yard, in spite of being told they are nearly impossible to grow successfully in cultivation.  I've had mine for a year and a half how, and it is still hanging on:

But it has yet to develop the graceful outline or the striking bark of the madrones in the park:

Here is how the bark has aged on a more mature specimen:

During the walk along the East Ridge trail, I crossed in and out of Alameda County a couple times.  How did I know that?  Because of these handy markers:

About half way through the hike, I saw this tree, which was one of the largest madrones along the trail:

Although it had been raining on and off all day, the sun came out as I neared the end of the hike, casting a soft glow over this pleasant vista as I made my way down the ridge to the car:

Now, two weeks later, the excavation of my old foundation continues.  But by the end of the week, they should be done removing the old, and start adding the new: