Chapter 15
Furry Forest Dwellers
With Ranger Mark as their guide they drove past the Lady Bird Johnson Grove and drove deeper into the Park. They drove through miles of pine forest along the hills that overlooked the valley below it before forking off to the right and down towards Redwood Creek. "The Creek is surrounded by groves of big redwoods that are only accessible by special permit," explained Mark. "We want this part of the Park to remain as undisturbed by humans as possible. Many of the biggest and best remaining redwoods are here. Tall trees."
The road ended and Mark led Ed, Mary/Wheels, Snake and Doll further on barely discernable foot trails that were much more difficult to travel on than was the well-worn Lady Bird Johnson Grove loop. At many points Ed or Doll carried Mary while Snake carried Wheels over fallen trees, through stands of ferns, or up and down steep hillsides. When that happened someone had to carry two backpacks which together were heavier than Mary. Before long they were encountering redwoods, absurdly big ones, often with trunks ten feet in diameter and greater, with dizzying heights that reached out of sight up towards the sun.
"Overnight I could reconfigure myself to be bi or quadrupedal," said Wheels, though you may have to help me gather the requisite necessary materials."
"Absolutely," said Mary. "And if you could recline fully that would also be a big plus."
"Sounds like a plan," said Ed. "Mark, do you have a particular campsite in mind for us? How much further is it?"
"About a mile beyond Redwood Creek." said Mark. "You folks wanted someplace hard to find so that's where I'm taking you, though that makes it a bit tough to hike to. This spot isn't on any official map."
Before Ed could ask where the Creek was they were climbing down to a broad creek bed of mostly sand, dry rocks and boulders of various sizes and shapes. The bed looked to be a couple of hundred feet wide and wasn't deep relative to its surroundings, but it seemed like a deep canyon due to the monstrously tall trees that bordered it on both sides. At the far side of the creek bed was the Creek itself, shallow and less than fifty feet across.
"As the rainy season picks up over the next couple of weeks this will become a raging river," said Mark, as he led them across the relatively level creek bed towards a point where it appeared that a large log conveniently forded the Creek.
They encountered dozens of huge Stone-Coat foot prints covering the Creek bed. Mark wasn't surprised to find them. "We're starting to work with Stone-Coats to maintain roads and trails," he told the others, "but we find their tracks all over the place. They are a curious bunch. I suppose you folks aren't strangers to Stone-Coats since you travel in one and carry another one around."
"True enough," said Ed. Aided by Doll, Wheels was transporting Mary, moving over or around larger rocks, forest debris, and deep Stone-Coat footprints.
"My local Stone-Coat friends are mostly focused on the Ocean but also plan to help this forest survive for many thousands of years," said Mary, as they worked their way around the deep footprints that pressed a yard deep into the rocky Creek bed. "This forest with its rich carbon assets will become a spawning ground for them, much as for millions of years it has been for the salmon."
"Swell," said Ed.
"And here is our natural bridge," said Mark, when they reached the big fallen log. "The stream is shallow but too swift for a human to walk across. We got lucky when last rainy season the high waters perfectly positioned this hundred-foot length of tree trunk to form a natural bridge." He led everyone onto the fallen tree trunk which spanned the Creek. On the near-end it started out at least eight feet in diameter, with bark rough enough to provide traction but smooth enough not to trip. It proved easy enough to climb cross, as long as care was taken not to trip over remnants of protruding branches which had obviously been mostly cleared away by previous hikers. Only a dozen feet below, water rushed noisily northwest towards the Pacific.
"The log is from a huge Douglass fir," Mark mentioned. "They can match the redwoods in height but not in terms of bulk. There used to be Douglass fir trees over four hundred and fifty feet tall."
"But of course moron loggers cut them down about a century ago,” said Ed, anticipating the rest of Mark's story. “Say, I sense fish in the Creek," he said, as they reached the far bank and climbed down from the log. "We packed enough food for a week but we might want to supplement our diet with some yummy fish."
"Stuff always tastes better when you catch it and cook it yourself," noted Snake.
"Your campsite is along a smaller stream that should also have trout and maybe salmon," said Mark.
Progress became even slower; the group kept stopping to marvel at the huge trees as they passed by them. Many were massive beyond belief, and so tall that the tops couldn't be made out. Ed vowed to hook up with some birds later for some scenic flights through this forest.
"We're not seeing much of them visually in this heavy growth, but there is much wildlife in this forest," Ed mentioned.
"What kind of wildlife?" Doll asked.
"Some I recognize, some I don't," replied Ed. "Often I don't even know what sort of animal I'm sharing thoughts with. They don't have species names for themselves that they can tell me, of course. Most often I don't know what they are until I see them with my own eyes, or see them through animal eyes."
"Could you tell us what lives in this forest, Ranger?" Doll asked Mark.
"I can give you a quick rundown," he replied. "You have elk and black-tailed mule deer, of course. In and around the streams you might encounter fishers, river otters, beavers, or muskrats. Around logs you might also find assorted salamanders, frogs, lizards, and snakes, as well as some very colorful banana slugs. Then you've got smaller mammals such as assorted shrews, moles, voles, mice, chipmunks, squirrels, opossums, a dozen kinds of bats, porcupines, and two colorful species of skunks."
"That will be nice," Ed interjected. "What about predators?"
"Plenty of those," said Mark. "You have owls, hawks, minks, gray foxes, bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, and black bears. And as luck would have it, due to conservation and migration nowadays there are even gray wolves and grizzly bears."
"Two of our favorites," said Ed.
"What about jants?" asked Snake.
"Yes, there are scattered jant colonies throughout this forest," admitted Ed. "Med-ticks too."
"Good," said Doll. "You can help us all become jant buddies like you."
"Swell," said Ed.
The trail branched off and they followed the path even less taken, which was even more difficult to traverse than the main path had been, until it intersected with a path that was relatively straight and well defined.
"Elk and deer make nice trails such as this one, so watch where you step," noted Mark. "The critters make very practical paths but they climb over things they can climb over or push through obstacles instead of cutting a path around things like people would do. And I hope you all wore your tick and mosquito repellent."
Snake performed the Herculean task of carrying Wheels as well as his pack and Doll's, while Doll carried Mary. Ed did well to carry himself and his own oversized backpack. Attached to the outside of the pack was a tent as well as the recliner that Wheels had recently fabricated, which made the whole mess weigh almost eighty pounds and as awkward as hell.
Just when Ed was about to announce that he couldn't go a step further they at last reached a small clearing alongside a giant fallen redwood that had fallen. "This is where I figured Snake and Doll could camp," pronounced Mark.
"Looks good to me," said Snake, as he lay his packs down. "What about your spot for Ed and Mary? We'll set them up first."
"Other side of the log," said Mark. He led them along the log and around a truck-sized root-ball at the terminus of the fallen redwood, and to a moss covered little area surrounded by seven-foot sword ferns.
"Nifty, said Ed. Private but only about a hundred feet from Snake and Doll."
"Less than fifty feet if the direct route over the log i
s taken," said Doll.
"And only a dozen yards from the stream," said Mary. "I love the sound of running water."
"I'll be located back across the Creek at the base camp with Mara and the others," said Mark, before he left the campers to themselves. "We're a radio call and less than an hour away."
"Swell," said Ed.
Ed and Snake set up the tent, while Doll attended Mary as she rested in her recliner. Once the tent was up Wheels moved into it and sank a net of nanotubing through the bottom of the tent and deep into the forest earth to draw out materials for his transformation to a recliner. Within an hour Mary was napping comfortably in the tent, isolated from mosquitoes, ticks, and other pesky critters. After the exhausting hike to this place Ed was more than ready to share nap-time with Mary, but Snake insisted that he first explore the immediate area with him.
"Create an image of this area in your mind, Ed," advised Snake. "Every tree and fern, every log and little animal trail. You never know when you might need to know the detailed layout where you're hiding out and be able to navigate around even without any light."
"Makes sense," said Ed. "By the way, if you and Doll keep your visicoms handy I can give you bird-eye views including owl night views, if needed."
"That could come in handy," Snake agreed.
"And you better keep this hunk of Wheels," said Ed, as he handed the flashlight-sized extension of Wheels to Snake. "It will work as long as you stay within a mile or so of Wheels. It will jam any drones that show up. You can also talk with Wheels using it, and he can in turn talk to us. Wheels can make up another portable unit for us to hang on to."
"Sounds good," said Snake. "Doll and I will make all the meals and gather fire wood and so forth. You just hang out with Mary."
"Thanks Snake."
"I hate to bring this up but Mary looks weaker every day."
"We've noticed."
"I can't believe that I'm bringing this up either, but if you're buddy enough again with the jants now, might a med-tick help her?"
"I don't think so," said Ed. "I suppose I should check in with the local jants though; the forest here houses millions of our little friends."
"What a comforting thought!" Snake remarked.
Snake returned to the campsite he would be sharing with Doll, while Ed returned his attention to Mary. He got almost continuous reports on her vital signs through the implants. She remained as well as could be expected but she never even woke up when he finally settled down in the tent with her for his own much needed afternoon nap. At least here they were far from the beach and its nocturnal Stone-Coats.